Rock Garden, Darjeeling

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The terraced garden

The Rock Garden (also known as Barbotey Rock Garden)^[1] at Chunnu Summer Falls and Ganga Maya Park, near it, are recently added tourist attractions in the hilly town of Darjeeling in the state of West Bengal, India. It is a show piece meant to lure tourists back to Darjeeling after political agitations disrupted the visit by tourists in the 1980s. There is another rock garden in Darjeeling known as Sir John Anderson Rock Garden, which is part of Lloyd's Botanical Garden.^[2]

Background

The British secured Darjeeling from the Raja of Sikkim in 1835 and developed the area. They introduced tea gardens in the area. Townships sprang up, hotels were built and the population in the area grew rapidly. From a mere 100 souls in 1839, the population had shot up to 10,000 by 1849. Spread on hill slopes at an altitude of 2,134 metres (7,000 feet), the town and the area became a major centre of tourist attraction.^[3]

In the eighties, the movement of the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) was in full swing in the Darjeeling Hills. The unrest affected the arrival of tourists and Darjeeling started losing out as a tourist destination. With the formation of Darjeeling Gorkha Autonomous Hill Council (DGAHC) in 1988, relative peace returned to the area. Since tea and tourism were the mainstay of the economy of the region, DGAHC initiated efforts to lure the tourists back to Darjeeling. “We are now focusing on not only Darjeeling town as a tourist centre, but also the region outside it,” D.T. Tamlong, principal secretary, DGAHC told Frontline.^[4]

Chunnu Summer Falls in the garden

Rock Garden

It is situated about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Darjeeling. While proceeding from the town along Hill Cart Road, one has to turn right, well before reaching Ghum. The road descends rapidly into the valley. With sharp bends all the way, there are breathtaking views at many points. Tea gardens dot the hill slopes.^[1]

Constructed by The Gorkha Hill Council Tourism Department,^[1] it was inaugurated by Subhash Ghising, the GNLF supremo.^[5] The Rock Garden is not one in the conventional sense. A multi-level picnic ground terraced around a natural waterfall, its attraction is in it “being a sort of road-side facility but with a little too much concrete.”^[6] The garden offers a beautiful view of a hill stream cascading over rocks along the slope, done up with flower gardens and sitting spaces at different levels. There also is a small lake. With tourists pouring in large numbers, tea shops and snack kiosks have come up.^[7]

Ganga Maya Park

Tourists enjoying Gorkha folk dances at Ganga Maya Park

Ganga Maya Park is further down the road, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the Rock Garden. Named after an innocent victim of police firing during the GNLF agitation, “it meanders down the course of a chortling mountain stream, past gazebos, clumps of flowering shrubs and trees, over humped backed bridges under which koi-carp coruscate, and into a circular lake with paddle boats and a waterfall.”^[6] It has a small lake where boating facilities are available^[4] Gorkha folk dances are performed to entertain the tourists.

Step aside

Good road conditions are essential in the hills, not only for comfortable rides but also for safety. The poor maintenance of the roads often led to protests by transporters’ associations. Amongst the bad roads in focus is the one to Rock Garden and Ganga Maya Park. DGHC maintains a vast network of roads and that they are in the process of repairing different stretches. Since it is difficult to get bitumen on time, repairs get delayed sometimes.^[8]^[9]

Satyajit Ray’s Kanchenjungha (1962) helped the world discover the charm of Darjeeling, Raja Mukherjee’s directorial debut Bidhatar Khela (2007) renewed the magic of the town. Mukherjee, who had never been to Darjeeling before, was overwhelmed by the place and was surprised that the beauty of the hills has not been properly exposed to the world. After two trips to the town, he decided to capture every possible place here — from St Paul’s School to Mount Hermon, from Hotel Viceroy, Ganga Maya Park, Rock Garden, Happy Valley to even Morgan’s House in Kalimpong — in his movie.^[10]

Gallery

A view of Darjeeling from the road to Rock Garden
A tea garden on the way to Rock Garden
The first glimpse of the falls and garden
A portion of Chunnu Summer Falls
The lake at Ganga Maya Park
Rock Garden
Rock Garden
Rock Garden
Rock Garden
Rock Garden
Rock Garden
Vehicles crowd in
Gangamaya Park
Gangamaya Park
Gangamaya Park
Gangamaya Park
Gangamaya Park
Gangamaya Park

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rock Garden, Darjeeling.

↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Places of interests". Barbotey Rock Garden. exploredarjeeling.com. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
↑ "Places of interests". Lloyd Botanical Garden. exploredarjeeling.com. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
↑ Agarwala, A.P. (editor), Guide to Darjeeling Area, 27th edition, pp. 49-52, ISBN 81-87592-00-1.
↑ 4.0 4.1 Chattopadhyay, Suhrid Sankar. "Return of the Queen". Focus on Darjeeling. Frontline, Jan 1-14, 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
↑ "Darjeeling Tea Cup". Chunnu Summer Falls. pbase.com. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
↑ 6.0 6.1 Gantzer, Hugh & Colleen. "Land of the thunderbolt". Features. The Hindu, 18 June 2000. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
↑ "Darjeeling – Queen of hill stations". Chunnu Summer Falls (Rock Garden) & Gangamya Park. West Bengal tourism. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
↑ "Bad roads trigger 3-day wheel strike". Calcutta, India: The Telegraph, 24 January 2007. 2007-01-24. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
↑ "Hill wheel strike off - Ghisingh ‘assurance’ satisfies transporters". Calcutta, India: The Telegraph, 29 January 2007. 2007-01-29. Retrieved 2007-07-02.
↑ Chhetri, Vivek (2006-09-11). "Hills await reel magic to shoot to fame - Starry heights". Calcutta, India: The Telegraph, 11 September 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-02.