Kurseong

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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New Jalpaiguri - Siliguri - Darjiling- Gangtok Road Map

Kurseong (कर्सियांग) is a town in Darjeeling district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The economy is based primarily on education and tourism.

Location

It is the headquarters of the Kurseong subdivision. Located at an altitude of 1,482.55 metres (4,864.0 ft), Kurseong is 32 kilometres from Darjeeling and has a pleasant climate throughout the year. Kurseong is 34 kilometres from Siliguri and is connected to the city by road and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway. The nearest airport is at Bagdogra and the nearest major railway station is New Jalpaiguri, which is about 45 kilometres from the town.

The Mahananda River originates east of Kurseong in Darjeeling district at an elevation of 2,100 metres. It flows through Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary and descends to the plains near Siliguri. It touches Jalpaiguri district.

Etymology

The origin of the name is unclear; stories suggest it comes from the Lepcha language word for "small orchid", kurson-rip because of the little white orchids (Coelogyne cristata) dotting the valleys, or perhaps the term for a stick made out of a local cane.(O'Malley 1999, p. 216)

History

The original inhabitants were the Lepcha people, who named their home "Kurseong", because every spring it was alive and bright with Kurson-Rip orchids. In the remote past, Kurseong was a part of the Kingdom of Sikkim, even before the British came to India. However, in around 1780 the Nepalese conquered and annexed Kurseong and its surrounding areas. Then came the Gurkha War, which the Nepalese lost. The 1817 Treaty of Titalia restored Kurseong to Sikkim.

With its mountains providing a cool and dry environment in the summer, Kurseong was a favourite of the British. Nevertheless, they found travelling there from the plains of Bengal difficult, even on warm sunny days because of the mountains. Although a road was built from Kurseong to Darjeeling from Titalia in the 1770s and 1780s, its irregular maintenance soon made the new route, the Military Road, almost useless. The next route, Hill Cart Road (now Tenzing Norgay Road), opened in 1861 and fared better.

Nevertheless, in 1835 the British decided that Darjeeling would make an excellent sanitorium and summer residence for their military and civilian officers along with their families. Negotiations with the Chogyal of Sikkim, Tshudpud Namgyal, provided them a strip of hill territory in Kurseong for an annual fee. As one of the hill stations on the road to Darjeeling, Kurseong began to develop.

Kurseong is home to one of the oldest municipalities in the state of West Bengal. Established as an independent Municipality in 1879, it did not become a Sub-Division until 1890, when the District of Darjeeling was formed. Kurseong and the District were added to the Rajshahi Division (now West Central Bangladesh) by the British Raj for the Bengal Presidency. In 1908, they were transferred to the Bhagalpur Division in the same Presidency.

कर्सियांग

कर्सियांग की एक व्यस्त सड़क

कर्सियांग (Kurseong): कर्सियांग दार्जिलिंग जिले में में स्थित है. यह सिलीगुड़ी से 34 किमी है. यहाँ के मूल निवासी लेपचा लोग थे. कुर्सियांग पश्चिम बंगाल के चुंनिंदा सबसे खूबसूरत पर्वतीय क्षेत्रों में गिना जाता है. कर्सियांग के पूर्व में महानंदा नदी का मूल है जो महानंदा वन्यप्राणी अभयारण्य से बहती हुई सिलीगुड़ी के पास समतल क्षेत्र में प्रवेश करती है. यह अपने ऑर्किड, चाय के बागानों और पहाड़ी सुंदरता के लिए विख्यात है. खूबसूरत पहाड़ियों के बीच बसा कुर्सियांग समुद्र तल से लगभग 1500 मीटर की ऊंचाई पर स्थित है. इस शानदार हिल स्टेशन को बसाने का श्रेय भारत में अंग्रेजों को जाता है. कुर्सियांग के आसपास कई खूबसूरत पहाड़ी मौजूद हैं, उन्हीं में से एक है डॉव हिल्स. डॉव हिल्स प्राकृतिक खूबसूरती के मामले में काफी ज्यादा उन्नत माना जाता है. लेकिन अपनी कुदरती सुंदरता के अलावा यह पहाड़ी अपने भुतहा अनुभवो के लिए भी काफी कुख्यात है. कर्सियांग से आगे दार्जिलिंग 32 किमी है.