www.kalimpong.info

Here is a photo from the flickr set of select Holi photographs by Praful Rao from 2009 and 2010.

Click here for the entire set.

Enjoy

The Telegraph
RAJEEV RAVIDAS

CRPF personnel at the Kalimpong library on Thursday.
Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Kalimpong, Feb. 25: A citizens’ forum here has demanded the immediate withdrawal of CRPF personnel from Kalimpong and sought their redeployment on NH31A as the presence of the central force is likely to be exploited by anti-Gorkhaland elements.

In a letter faxed to President Pratibha Patil today, the Citizens’ Rights Forum said the situation in the hills was not “potentially explosive” to justify the deployment of the CRPF.

The letter signed by forum president N.P. Dixit said the only purpose of deploying the CRPF in the region was to ensure free movement of vehicles on NH31A even during strikes in the hills in keeping with a Supreme Court order.

Of the two companies of the CRPF deployed in the subdivision, one has set up base at Reang, off NH31A near Rambi, about 30km from here, while the other is billeted at two places in town.

The forum feared that anti-Gorkhaland elements could exploit the presence of the CRPF in the urban areas by provoking them into “unpleasant and retaliatory actions”. This, the letter said, could only result in “chaos, disturbance and violence” all around. “We (therefore) urge you to recall them (the CRPF) from the towns of the hills and re-deploy them on the highway at the earliest.”

K. L. Tamta, the inspector-general, north Bengal, said the CRPF company camping in Kalimpong was meant to be stationed on the highway at Rangpo on the Sikkim border. “Because of lack of adequate accommodation there, they are being kept in Kalimpong. Once the accommodation is arranged, they will be shifted to Rangpo,” he said.

————
www.kalimpong.info

(Click here for Part 1 and Part 2 of this series)

Photographs from the 2010 Kolkota – Kalimpong Charity Bike Ride for DGH – Part 3:

19. DGH band about to start marching.

20. DGH Band leading the bikers thru Kalimpong Town

21. “Oh when the Homes goes marching in”

22. Being welcomed by students of Central Tibetan School

23. Kesang Bhutia (Principal, Central Tibetan School) felicitating Caroline

24. Ken Hammond with the girls of Central Tibetan School

25. On the last mile up to the Homes on Murray Road

26. We did it – Archie and his daughter Christine all smiles as they reach the destination

27. Bengal Bikers at DGH Gate

28. Well done guys – the team at the gates of DGH.

29. Time to relax – it is actually over!!

30. Cheers

This is the last post from the series. See photos from Part 1 and Part 2.

(All photographs & captions courtesy Mr. Sushil Marda)

(Click here for Part 1 and Part 3 of this series)

Photographs from the 2010 Kolkota – Kalimpong Charity Bike Ride for DGH – Part 2:



9. Bikers on the hill road after Sevoke.

(Gentleman in yellow helmet is 82 years old). Hats off!
-admin

10. A well deserved rest just after Birick slide zone.

11. Ken Hammond, group leader, zipping past.

12. Way to go, guys!

13. Taking time out for a photo

14. Steep incline – need to walk

15. “Homus” ko babas – Sushil Marda, David Goodwin, Kishore Pradhan. Sonam Gompu, David Foning outside Sood’s Garden Retreat to welcome the bikers.

16. Bikers outside Sood Garden Resort

17. Bikers being felicitated by Mrs. Hishey of the DGH local committee.

18. Mr. Philips (CEO – DGH) greeting the bikers.




(Click here for Part 1 and Part 3 of this series)

(All photographs & captions courtesy Mr. Sushil Marda)

Much thanks to Mr. Sushil Marda for the photographs and information.

The last leg of the Kolkota to Kalimpong bike ride was the 70 km Siliguri-Kalimpong stretch.

Here’s the description and motivation for the ride (from Ken Hammond’s Blog – goinghomeday.blogspot.com):

The February 2010 charity ride covers some 670 kms, starting in Kolkata and finishing at Dr. Graham’s Homes School, Kalimpong India. 21 cyclists (19 UK+1 Germany & 1 Zimbabwe), are volunteering their time and financing their own trip and stay in India, to ride 7 days to raise money for the kids of this exceptional educational institution in the foothills of the mighty Himalayas.

On the last day of the journey, Feb 20th, 2010, 19 bikers (meant to be 20, but Rev. John Webster, the main organiser, had to drop out at the last minute) left Siliguri at 6am for a 70 km ride to Dr. Graham’s Homes, Kalimpong. A large part of the ride, especially after Teesta is steep uphill, so it’s no mean feat. Upto Teesta, the bikers were more or less together. The going got tough after that, but all bikers made it (reportedly several had to walk up the steep inclines). The first few bikers were at Sood’s Garden Retreat, 9th Mile, Kalimpong by about 1:30-2 pm, the last of them by 3pm. They then rode through town, past a reception at Tibetan school, and then the final push uphill to Dr. Graham’s Homes, where they reached by 4:30pm.

From the blog:

..we were led through the high street of Kalimpong accompanied by the DGH fife and drum band playing the school anthem. All along the street masses of people greeted us with cheers and clapping – what a heart warming and splendid welcome! Thank you Kalimpong!!

We stopped briefly at the Tibetan school whose principal Kesang Bhutia, also an ex-student and classmate (’72) was there with his students to greet us. He looks just the same as he did 36 years ago (I still think he was 44 yrs old back then!!).

Not quite done though – we still had another 500 ft of climbing (about 3km) before we finally hit the school grounds! Lining the route from the stores to the Jarvie Hall were excited children clapping and cheering us on – an emotional, poignant moment for the riders but even more so for me. Words cannot express the gratitude I felt to be able to experience this moment with my son next to me!

Philip Gibson gave a welcoming and warm speech – thanking us not only for our achievement but also for our support of the Homes. The next deed was indeed a joyous one – playing postmen/mistress by delivering letters in special envelopes to some of the sponsored children from their sponsors back in the UK.

Here are some photos:

1. Bikers Being welcomed by Mr. Philip (CEO – DGH) and David Foning (Bursar – DGH) at Siliguri (Hotel Sarovar Premiere)

2. Bikers Setting off for Kalimpong on 20-2-10

3. Bikers crossing Sevoke Military Station

4. Crossing Sevoke

5. Setting off from Coronation Bridge

6. Near Kalijhora

7. Some of the bikers, somewhere along the way!!

8. Vanda Goodwin Fraser puffing it up an incline.

(Click here for Part 2 and Part 3 of this series)

(All photographs & captions courtesy Mr. Sushil Marda)

From Kalimnews

GJM President Bimal Gurung at the memorial service in Kalimpong’s Mela Ground

More pictures & details at Kalimnews.

————
www.kalimpong.info

A neat collection of never before seen photographs of Bhutan is on display at an exhibition in Delhi.

Here’s a sample from BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8486717.stm

The Telegraph

Gurung gestures at the Kalimpong crowd. (CF Lepcha)

Kalimpong, Feb. 7: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha president Bimal Gurung today said his outfit would drive away the top administrative and police officers from the hills and run its own regime if the next round of tripartite talks did not bear fruit.

Addressing a rally 5km from Kalimpong town, he said the hills had people experienced enough to run the administration. “We’ll chase out the DM, the SP, the DSP and the SDOs. We have already done a detailed study…. We know how much money is required to pay the salaries of staff and how to generate revenue.”

In Darjeeling, Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri revealed that a “secret” proposal Gurung had sent to the Centre dealt with an interim arrangement — till the 2011 Assembly elections — for the area they wanted as Gorkhaland. “Every point in our proposal will have to be accepted. There will be no compromise on Gorkhaland,” he said.

The Morcha students’ wing has already given a call to stall movement of government vehicles in the hills after Thursday night’s police baton charge on a group fasting near Siliguri for permission to hold a rally in the plains. In protest, a constable was beaten up brutally and two state buses were torched.

Gurung said Delhi would announce the dates for the fifth round of talks on February 9 or 10. “Since the talks will be held at the political level, I expect (chief minister) Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Union home minister P. Chidambaram and myself to take part in it,” he said.

He warned that he would not accept “someone like (state urban development minister) Asok Bhattacharya representing the state”. “I will not talk to those who have come through the barbed wire fence from Bangladesh,” he added.

Gurung also took potshots at Sikkim chief minister Pa- wan Chamling, suggesting he had a hand behind a Sikkim resident’s petition in the Supreme Court against frequent Morcha blockades on National Highway 31A, the only road link to the Himalayan state.

At Birpara in Alipurduar, in the plains, police today arrested over 300 Morcha supporters who had assembled for a rally flouting prohibitory orders. They had planned the rally in memory of a Morcha supporter killed last year in a clash with Adivasis opposed to the demand for Gorkhaland.

————
www.kalimpong.info

Pictures from kalimpongonlinenews.blogspot.com

See more pictures at http://kalimpongonlinenews.blogspot.com/2010/02/pix-d.html.

Picture from kalimpongonlinenews.blogspot.com

Visit Kalimnews for more pictures.

Pictures via Himalaya Darpan

Visit Himalaya Darpan for more pictures.

The discovery of the photograph of the Tibetan Mirror Press and its editor Mr. Tharchin (or Rev. G. Tharchin, or Tharchin Babu) necessitates the stitching together of some past stories…

Dr. Sonam Wangyal’s essay about Tharchin Babu titled “Kalimpong’s Lonely Warrior” had a wonderful description of the editor of the Tibet Mirror Press and Kalimpong personality.

However, Tharchin, a Ladakh-born Tibetan who made Kalimpong his home is remembered not for the way he dressed or looked but for a journal he wrote. … Tharchin Babu is and will forever be reminisced for Tibet Mirror which was the only Tibetan language journal ‘in the whole world’. It was read from the grand monasteries of Lhasa to the Oriental departments of esteemed European universities, and it was eagerly awaited upon by the foreign offices of Washington, Peking (Beijing), London, Moscow and New Delhi. When the Chinese presence in Lhasa intensified Tibet Mirror responded with salvos of anti Chinese, anti communist and anti Mao Tse Tung articles.

The photograph from the previous post then put a face to the description. We also see the elegant and proud sign of Tibet Mirror Press back then in 1957.

Then we have yet another photograph that I had taken in Dec 2008 of the present state of the poor press:

It is a pity that Kalimpong’s rich and colorful history has been reduced to this.

Kuensel Newspaper
Contributed by Tshering Tashi
Co-author of Bold Bhutan Beckons

19 January, 2010 – Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel (1594-1651?), who died more than three and half centuries ago, perhaps never visited Kolkata in his times, but a statue of him sits on the landing of a staircase on the third floor of its Asiatic Society building.

The 250-year old statue is a work of art and measures about six feet. The wooden plaque below it reads, “Brass Image of Dhurm Raja. Found at the capture of the Buxa Duar on 7 December 1864.” In bold letters, it is printed, “SAID TO BE HUNDRED YEARS OLD.”

The statue is believed to have been found by Captain Hadyat Ally in the Buxa duar foothills, one of the duars (gateways) to Bhutan. Captain Ally donated it to the Asiatic Society in the City of Joy.

Bhutan fought a war against the British in 1864-65. The small Bhutanese army, equipped with stones and matchlocks, were no match for the British army’s mortar’s and rifles. On November 12, 1864, the Governor General of India issued a proclamation of war against Bhutan. By the end of November, preparation of all military operations had been completed. By 19 December the British had annexed the Bengal duars, which includes the Buxa duar.

This water colour was painted by Lt Col. Armstrong (Engineers) at Dalimkote during the Bhutan war of 1865. It is currently on sale on e-Bay.

Buxa duar is what Bhutanese know today as Pasakha, part of which is still in Bhutan’s possession. This duar is one of the oldest towns in West Bengal. According to American scholar John Ardussi, an expert in Bhutanese history, “Buxa was truly the most ancient trade mart between India and Bhutan, going back centuries.”

However, Nicholas Rhodes, who has compiled the duar war documents, has raised some doubts about the size of the fort in Buxa capable of housing such a statue. Paintings and written records of that time do not show or mention any large monastery.

But records maintained by Captain Warren, a british officer, who served during the duar war, says that ‘Buxa itself consisted of a large two-storied house, substantially built, with carved verandahs on the upper storey – this was used for a hospital and as officers’ quarters.”

So where could such a statue have come from? Before the Anglo-Bhutan War, in addition to the Buxa fort, Bhutan had three other hill forts. The first fort is the Yongla goempa and the only one in present Bhutan. The second fort hill is between Kalimpong and Sikkim, India. John Ardussi, describes the location, “The Damsang Dzong is on a hill above Pedong, on the road from Kalimpong up to Tibet. This small hilltop fort is at least of 17th century vintage, and is now in ruins. Ardussi said, “The Bhutanese during the 18th century took over this area and held it until the British seized it in the 1865 war.”

The third and the most likely place for the origin of the statue is the fort hill of Dalimkote. It is a long way from Buxa, about 45 miles west and much closer to Kalimpong. According to Ardussi, Buxa and Dalimkha did have a monastery during the 18th century. Kalimpong district was annexed by the British after the war, along with 18 Duars that had previously been part of Bhutan.

Dasho Zepon Wangchuk supports Ardussi. He knows that the Paro monk body appointed the chief abbot of that monastery. Oral history records Lam Sangay Dali Jamtsho as the last abbot of the fortress. Oral stories, commonly told in Haa, talk of how Lam Sangay built a replacement monastery in Haa after the fortress of Dalimkot was razed to the ground.

Written British records describe the attack on the fort of Dalimkot, “a detachment of 400 infantry with the artillery, went up against Dalimkote, on the 6th of December…”

After ten hours of bombing the fort, the British took possession of it. The British suffered, “eight of their men were killed and fifty-six wounded.”

Ardussi explores another option. “When this war broke out, or at the threat of war, might not the Bhutan government have had the monk body transport this large statue to the frontier, for the purpose of imposing a kind of “protective” guardianship?

According to the librarian of the Asiatic Society “scrolls of paper were found with the chant of Aditya inside the statue.” In the Rigveda, the Adityas are the seven celestial lords. For Buddhists, it is a normal practice to put scrolls of paper with appropriate chants inside statues. Without these chants, a statue is just an art piece.

————
www.kalimpong.info

Title: Anderson Bridge
Caption: 20th November 1933: The new Anderson bridge over the Teesta Valley in Bengal, with the old suspension bridge in the background. The new bridge links the road between India and Tibet. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
Date created: 20 Nov 1933
Photographer: Keystone/Stringer
Collection: Hulton Archive
Credit: Getty Images
Source: Hulton Archive

Title: Darjeeling, Cane Bridge c 1865.
Caption: INDIA – JANUARY 11: Photograph by Samuel Bourne of a footbridge over the Tista River leading into Bhootan (Bhutan), near the Indian town of Darjeeling, (now Darjiling, in West Bengal). Bourne, a pioneer of travel photography, began his working life as a bank clerk. ln 1863 he went to India where he established a studio in Simla, in partnership with Charles Shepherd. Between 1863 and 1870 he undertook several photographic expeditions, including trips to the Himalayas, producing a collection of landscape views unsurpassed in technical skill and compositional elegance. By 1870 the Bourne and Shepherd catalogue contained 2,000 views from all parts of the subcontinent. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

Date created: 11 Jan 2005
Photographer: Science & Society Picture Library/Contributor
Collection: SSPL
Credit: SSPL via Getty Images