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Takdah

  • Darjeeling District, West Bengal, India
  • 27.0375° N, 88.3604° E
  • 2-10 °C Nov-Feb, 6-17 °C Mar-Apr and 11-19 °C May-Oct
  • mid-May to mid-Oct and average annual rainfall is 382 cm.
  • INR
  • Bengali, Hindi, English, Nepali

General Information About Takdah

Takdah - A beautiful mountain village Near Darjeeling The weekend visit this unbelievable place in the heart of the mountains and tea gardens. Not many know about this small hamlet, a treasured secret because it's yet to develop as a full-fledged tourism place. A dreamy place where the sun and clouds play hide and seek with joy and mist descends at its own will, the foggy trails, the flourishing orchids and the magnificent mountain views – if all these are making you want to leave your desk just now, then Takdah is just the correct place for you.
It is in Darjeeling District’s Runglee Rungliot area, which is 27 km from the main city of Darjeeling. Situated at an altitude of 5100 feet, here you can take a walk in the cedar and pine forests, stopover at a local orchid garden, drop at some of the famous heritage British bungalows and watch the local women pick tea leaves from the boundless bounces of tea gardens.
While after India's independence the British have left the place, the houses and many other establishments they built were left behind. Most of these houses were built between 1905 and 1915. They now either belong to some locals or have been taken over by establishments like schools. Takdah also spelt as “Tukdah” was a British Cantonment area and you can still see the memories of the British Raj in the bungalows and gardens of Takdah. In Takdah, you can stay in a heritage bungalow built in 1908 decked up with modern amenities for the tourists who want to re-live the days of the Raj.

Best Time To Visit Takdah

October to March is the best time to visit Takdah and the nearby areas. This is the time the sky remains clear and you can enjoy the chill of the winter.

Amazingly there are several great places of interests and sightseeing attractions here within short distances. There are nice soft trekking routes as well. You can take a vehicle and visit the places. But you can't cover them all in a day. Here are the main attractions:

1) Some of the finest tea gardens of Darjeeling district are located in Takdah. You can walk down or take a local taxi tour to some of them and enjoy the tea gardens on rolling hills. The main tea estates in Takdah are Rungli Rungliot, Gielle, Namring, Jinglam, Poomong, and Teesta Valley estate. You can also visit the estate factories and watch the tea processing (in winters the factories usually remain closed). I have visited many tea estates in Darjeeling district, but Rungli Rungliot is one of the prettiest ones and most picturesque. It's about 2kms downhill from Takdah market area. The lush tea garden landscapes surrounded by mountains and Teesta flowing far below makes a stunning ambience.
There is a saying that a monk had apparently named this tea garden when he was searching for the best tea in Darjeeling district. In fact, the name Rungli Rungliot actually means 'Thus far and no further'. The former Director's wooden Bungalow on a hilltop has four luxury rooms with lovely views.

2) Further down from Rungli Rungliot you will reach the Gielle Bhanjyang Bazaar, also known as Gandhi Chowk. Once there used to be a statue of Mahatma Gandhi here, but no longer so. This is the border point of Jinglam Tea Estate and Gielle Tea Estate. From Gielle Bhanjyang Bazaar crossing point, if you go down you can reach Namring, Jinglam and Poomong tea estates. But why should you come to Gielle Bhanjyang? Because from here you can see many places in one go like Kalimpong Town, Durpin Dara, Mangpoo, Rambi Khola, Takdah, Ranju valley, 6th mile, Tiger Hill etc.

3) Takdah has a great Orchid Center spread across a vast stretch of area. It's about half a kilometre from the market area towards 6th mile. Here you can see many different kinds of unusual and colourful Himalayan Orchids being cultivated and grown. Many tourists come to Takdah particularly to visit the Orchid Center. The Orchid Center which was one of the best in Asia was neglected for a long time. But now the state government has taken a fresh initiative to revive the centre.

4) There is a small monastery in Takdah whose actual name is Dechhen Pema Tshoiling Monastery but locally known as Takdah Monastery. A steep uphill boulder road after the market area leads to a steep stairway. You will need to climb several flights of stairs to reach up to the Monastery. But once there, the views are awesome. From here you can get a sweeping view of Rungli Rungliot Tea Gardens, Teesta Valley Tea Estate and Durpin Dara View Point, Kalimpong etc. I had taken the first picture of Rungli Runliot Tea Garden on this page from the monastery premises (near the entrance).
The monastery was built in 1985 and follows the Buddhist Nyingma sect. Lama Karma Gyaltchen was in charge and head monk of the monastery until 2007. While everything is nice about this monastery, the pet dog of the head lama can be a nuisance. The small dog is not yet used to the visitors and keeps barking incessantly.

4) Visit Tinchuley, another lovely hamlet about 3kms away from Takdah and famous for its lovely views of Himalayan range including the snow peaks of Kanchenjunga and spectacular sunrise views.

5) Lamahatta Village with its magnificent gardens and views of Kanchenjunga is about 12kms from Takdah (40 minutes).

6) Another nearby place is Mongpu where you can visit the orchid nurseries, the famous museum of poet Rabindranath Tagore, and see the vast Cinchona plantations.

7) Visit the lovely orange orchards located in Bara and Chota Mangwa (both about 12kms from Takdah). The small factories here produce fresh orange juice and you can buy a few bottles of them. Tastes delicious and absolutely fresh.

8) A great place to visit by car is Triveni - the confluence of rivers Teesta & Rangeet.

9) Visit the Durpin Viewpoint located about 10kms from Takdah. You can get a spectacular view of Teesta river meandering through the mountain landscapes. You can also get a lovely view of Kanchenjunga from here.

10) Peshoke Tea Garden Viewpoint is about 14kms away and offers a wonderful view of the tea gardens on hill slopes.

11) As I mentioned earlier, several British bungalows and houses were built in Takdah in the early 1900s (some 14 of them) during the British Raj days. I love to go around watching the amazing architectures of such houses, the lovely gardens they have and the aura around them.
Some of the well-known houses are The Takdah Club House (about a km away, was abandoned for a long time but now a Forest Rest House), Rani Kotthi (now converted to a church), Forest Guest House, Sonpur House also known as Takdah Palace built in 1911 and located near the Club House (it's in ruins now), Old British Post Office etc. Some have been converted into schools like Green Shields Academy, Griffith High School etc.
Note that you won't find tea stalls anywhere in Takdah other than in the market. So while on a local sightseeing tour, you may like to carry a flask full of tea.

12) You can take a nature walk through pine and cedar forests, or through villages. The thickly wooded coniferous forests here are maintained by the Forest Department. You can take a shorter trek path through the forest up to Lamahatta, enjoy the views of Kanchenjunga and return via Tinchuley. The entire trek takes about 4-5 hours.

13) Dokan Dara is a local haat (i.e. bazaar) that sets up weekly on Thursdays. If you visit Takdah on a Thursday, don't miss this out. You will see villagers coming from nearby places to pick up vegetables and other essentials. It's a great way to get a glimpse at the local life and culture.

Takdah is about 60kms from NJP (the nearest railhead) as well as Bagdogra (the nearest airport). It takes about 2.5-3 hours to reach Takdah by car from NJP or Bagdogra. Siliguri, the nearest town is about 52kms from Takdah, Darjeeling is 28kms away (about 1.5 hours by car) and Kalimpong about 40kms (2 hours).


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