Morgan House Kalimpong

Morgan House Kalimpong

Morgan House Kalimpong or Morgan House is a British colonial mansion built by an English jute baron Mr George Morgan in the 1930s on the hill station of Kalimpong, Kalimpong district, West Bengal. Today, the mansion is a hotel managed by West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC). Earlier this property was also known as Singamari Tourist Lodge or Durpin Tourist Lodge.

Location:

Morgan House is built on a sixteen acre estate atop the mountain of Durpindara. It is situated three kilometers off the center of Kalimpong town and has a clear view of the Kangchenjunga mountain range. The mansion and the estate is surrounded by the Kalimpong Cantonment area and overlooks the valleys of Relli, Kapher, Deolo and Labha^[3] in various directions.

Morgan House is 75 km from Siliguri, 52 km from Darjeeling and 75 km from Gangtok by road. Nearest railway station is in New Jalpaiguri and nearest airport is in Bagdogra.

History:

Morgan house is a British colonial mansion built in the early 1930s. The building was to commemorate the wedding of an indigo plantation owner with a jute baron Mr George Morgan.

The property was used as a summer retreat and elaborate parties were hosted. It passed into the hand of trustees after Mr and Mrs Morgan died without heir. It was further handed over to government of India post Indian independence. During 1962, after then prime minister Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru was taken ill, plans were made to convert this house into a government rest house.

However, due to sudden demise of Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru, this plan was abandoned. In 1965 it was handed to tourism department and in 1975 it was finally handed over to West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation. Since then it is being managed as a boutique hotel and is open to tourists.

Popular culture:

Indian actors and celebrities such as Uttam Kumar, Supriya, Kishore Kumar, Amit Kumar, Leena Chandavarkar, Nargis, Sunil Dutt and Om Prakash have stayed in this lodge and their testimonials can be seen framed in the lounge. Actor Utpal Dutt was also a regular visitor.  American ambassador in India Chester Bowles stayed here.

This lodge is also considered to be haunted and have been featured in several lists of haunted lodges and hotels.

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BUXA FORT

BUXA FORT: A SILENT WITNESS OFTHE FREEDOM FIGHT IN INDIA

Buxa Fort is a mute witness to a long history, some of which are dazzling in the tales of valour of the marching soldiers & the fearless freedom fighters, while some are cruel ones with sadistic prowess of the ruler over the subjects who dared to protest.

The inscription of the text of the message of the prisoners to Rabindra Nath Tagore

Situated at an altitude of 867 metres (2844 feet) on the Sinchula Range of the Eastern Himalayas inside the Buxa Tiger Reserve in the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India, & guarding an important route to the Kingdom of Bhutan, this fort –cum-detention camp is a nice place to visit. For the patriotic Indians, this fort, though in ruins now, is a place of National heritage & an equal to the most holy pilgrimage places, as this was the place where the British detained many freedom fighters including Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in early twentieth century.

HISTORY OF BUXA FORT

The actual ancient history is shrouded in mystery, though many believe that the first Koch King of Kamtapur (present day Cooch Bihar) Sangaldwip constructed the fort with bamboo & wood in the 7^th century CE.

The fort was an object of dispute between the Kings of Bhutan & the Koch Kings, as the military importance of the fort was very high, as it guarded one of the most important routes to Bhutan. The fort was later occupied by the Bhutanese army, & the King of Bhutan used it to guard the famous Silk Route that connected Tibet with India through Bhutan.

THE FORT AS IT IS NOW

The Koch King requested the British to reoccupy the fort by defeating the Bhutanese, which the British did & captured the fort which was formally handed over to the British on November 11, 1865 as part of the Treaty of Sinchula.

The British rebuilt the fort & the old bamboo & wooden structure was replaced by stone.

The fort was later converted into a high security prison to detain the freedom fighters who fought against the British. The fort, almost inaccessible at that time, was only second to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman Island in notoriety. The small cells devoid of the basic facilities, the cruelty of the guards, the dense forest surrounding the fort with wild carnivorous animals like tigers & leopards roaming freely & the inhospitable terrain of the area as a whole made the fort-cum-prison a veritable hell on earth. After India’s freedom, the fort was abandoned.

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