Dream destination

Kurseong Railway Station

If you dislike the severe winters of Darjeeling and want to enjoy a bracing climate, Kurseong is the ideal place, writes Sanjog Dutta

If you want to derive the pleasure of being in alpine surroundings without worrying about higher altitudes and bone chilling weather, then there is no better place than Kurseong. The clean, well-kept town of Kurseong is halfway up at an altitude of 4,860 ft and is 33 kms from Darjeeling. The peace, serenity and healthy climate make it a great tourist destination, and has attracted famous personalities like Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Mark Twain. The Toy Train or the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway runs on level with the street. As the train leaves the town, mists envelope the landscape, then all of a sudden, they are gone and your dazzled eyes get their first view of the mighty monarch, Mt Kanchenjunga. A viewer standing at Eagle’s Craig gets the view of the plains lying below just as if you are God watching down upon your children on earth. White orchids are grown in plenty here and bestow it with the local name ‘Kharsang’ which in Lepcha language means, “Land of the White Orchids”. The nearest airport, Bagdogra is 60 kms away and the nearest major railway station is New Jalpaiguri about 53 kilometres from Kurseong. Ceded to the British by the King of Sikkim in 1835 as a small village, it gained prominence in 1880 and soon the small hamlet became a tourist destination for the colonial authorities and a place for sanatoriums where the sick would recuperate.

Civic administration

The main civic administration body is the Municipality, which is over 125 years old. It is located at 13, Downhill Dowhill Road. The current Chairman is Mr PC Agarwal Mr. Krishna Subba while Mr Robin Kumar Pradhan was his predecessor. The Municipality is divided into 20 wards and each has a ward commissioner who is in-charge of the individual ward.

Reputed schools

With its temperate climate, Kurseong is the seat of several educational institutions. It has its fair share of renowned schools, which were mainly established during the British rule. The most reputed ones are St Helens Convent, Goethals Memorial School, Dowhill Girls School and Victoria Boys School, Himali Boarding School, Cambridge English Boarding School and many more. The English medium schools are mostly affiliated to the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), while the Nepali Medium Schools are affiliated to the State Education Board i.e. West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE), Calcutta. Some of the schools are also affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). On 16 May 2005 Himali Boarding School was appointed as the first Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) centre in north-east of India. The students have the option of sitting for the globally recognised, A and AS (equivalent to year 12 school board examination) level examinations of CIE or the school’s own year 12 school board examination.

Some of the popular Nepali Medium Schools are St Alphonsus School, St Joseph’s Girls School, Pushparani Boys High School, Scottish Mission Girls School, Rama Krishna Girls School.

Higher education

In terms of higher education Kurseong doesn’t lag behind. Kurseong College is affiliated to the University of North Bengal which provides undergraduate courses in Arts, Science as well as Commerce (Honours and General). Darjeeling Polytechnic College offers Diploma in Civil, Electrical, Computer and Mechanical Engineering.
Near Darjeeling, at St Mary’s Hills, Eastern Forest Rangers College provides training courses to the would-be Forest Rangers of India. There is a West Bengal Forest School near Deer Park and Victoria Boys School, Dowhill which also provides training for foresters as well. On the way to Darjeeling at Tung is the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) which offers various vocational course in plumbing, motor mechanics, book binding etc. Holy Cross Institute in St Mary’s Hills offers higher secondary course in Commerce via the vocational stream.

Demographics

According to 2001 census, Kurseong had a population of 40,067. Males constitute 51 per cent of the population and females 49 per cent. Kurseong has an average literacy rate of 84 per cent, higher than the national average of 59.5 per cent: male literacy is 88 per cent, and female literacy is 80 per cent. In Kurseong, 6 per cent of the population is under 6 years of age.

As you leave the small town you can find acres of verdant slopes covered with tea bushes, one of the finest varieties of Darjeeling Tea is found in the tea gardens surrounding Kurseong. Visitors there can have a first hand experience of how tea-leaves are processed and prepared for production by visiting the nearby tea factories. Kurseong is well connected by roads. The Toy Train takes about 5 hours from New Jalpaiguri to Kurseong.

Even though Kurseong may not be as glamourous as Darjeeling, there is a tranquillity and peace about it that draws visitors to it time and again.

Coordinator, St Joseph’s School – North Point, Darjeeling