Kalimpong has not lost all its glory

It is a pity indeed that the town planners in Kalimpong, with all its rich history, now have to plan out activities in the evening to keep tourists engaged enough to prolong their stay in the town beyond a day or two

Editorial, EOI, 16 February 2024 : On the seventh anniversary of the formation of Kalimpong into a district, they were dreaming of the old glory of what was once the centre of Tibet trade. 

It is sad indeed that a town that once used to bustle with the footfall of traders from the surrounding areas and beyond, Tibetans from Chumbi Valley in Tibet, Drukpas from Bhutan, and Marwaris from mainland India, not to speak of the indigenous Lepcha, Bhutia and Gorkha population, used to mingle together; when huge mule caravans used to cross the Jelep La pass to arrive in Kalimpong to unload the consignments of wool these animals were carrying from Tibet.

It is a pity indeed that the town planners in Kalimpong, with all its rich history, now have to plan out activities in the evening to keep tourists engaged enough to prolong their stay in the town beyond a day or two. Tibet trade is a thing of the past and there is little chance that it will be revived in the near future, despite efforts by a section of businessmen and forward-looking local residents that border trade with Tibet be resumed across the Jelep La, the way it had been revived across Nathu La two decades ago. 

Jelep La being a sensitive border, it may not be possible to open this pass for trade till the boundary between India and China is settled. Even the Nathu La trade has come to a halt since the outbreak of the confrontation between the Indian and the Chinese armies in 2017. Now after the Galwan clash in Ladakh, there is little chance that cross-border relations between India and China will be revived in the near future.

The hills of Kalimpong still possess, however, sufficient subjects of interest to engage the attention of tourists; if there is an imaginative approach to work on them. There are already efforts to promote rafting inn river Teesta which flows along the foothills, and also homestays for tourists to experience the day-to-day life of the people of Kalimpong. 

The possibility of promoting religious tourism remains largely unexplored, however, though this can bring in international tourists to these hills. There is a rich legacy of both Buddhism and Christianity in Kalimpong. 

There are monasteries in and around Kalimpong town which represent all the major sects of Tibetan Buddhism; Nyingma gompa on the Durpin Hills, Drukpa Kagyu gompa in the heart of the town, Gelug, Sakya and Karma Kagyu gompas close to the Topkhana area. 

The embalmed body of the Ninth Shabdrung of Bhutan is preserved in the Drukpa gompa at Pedong. These are of interest enough for travellers in the Buddhism tourism circuit. Bhutan House which is also not far is a living testimony of the relation between Bhutan and Kalimpong in the past. 

Kalimpong has been the place from where Christianity has spread to these hills. The MacFarlane Memorial Church and Graham’s Home are again the living testimony of this. The Katherine Graham Memorial Church at Graham’s Home which was damaged in the earthquake of 2011 has lately been repaired and reopened for Sunday service. Tourists need to be told of all these attractions of Kalimpong.

Courtesy & source- Echo of India

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