JHANDI DHARA : AT THE ROYAL COURT OF KANCHENJUNGHA |
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The rain had no plan to stop on that hazed afternoon.
When day was young the clouds were playing with trunk of tall saal and pine. As there was no Sun in sky a patch of foggy veil with bone rattling wind blowing from mountain was engulfing us all.
The road that cuts the rocky bed of
Himalayan foothill of Darjeeling finally
stopped at a village near Lava. This is a
village named Jhandi which at first
look seems too ordinary.
Soon rain came again and this time
it was a heavy downpour.
A small yet beautiful wooden house
on the edge of hill was booked for me –
I booked it from Calcutta even without
reading any review. The man from
travel agency only told me that if I am
lucky to meet the ‘Queen’ I will never
think twice to revisit.
Queen !!!
Yes - she is here, though not visible
now by any chance. She is here behind
the curtain of cloud overlooking us
from time immemorial. My wife was
unimpressed as usual. Every time you
select a wrong – she teased me.
Wrong place ?
We are here in Jhandi which is 6205
ft from sea level and there are hardly
25 families living in this small village.
It is still an isolated chamber where
‘Queen’ gives a special audience to her
subject. Will ‘Queen’ awake tomorrow
? Will she unfold her curtains ?
Will this subject win a luck ?
My own mind was running askance
and trying to hide tension by braving a
cosmetic smile.
Hot lunch was served soon at the
wooden house very intelligently
designed and tastefully decorated. As
the rain was showing no sign of ceasing,
I parked myself under a cozy cover
of blanket. Sleep grabbed me in few
seconds there.
When I woke up at 5 pm, it was still
raining and clouds were knocking at
the panes of my window glass. It was
so foggy outside that even trees below
the hills were no more visible.
“Have you ordered evening snacks
and tea?” I asked like a lazy man
almost sure of returning home with a
broken heart. My wife caught my frustration
in a moment. She knows
returning home without meeting the
‘Queen’ is a defeat of mine and I would
take time to recover from that shock.
Soon hot vegetarian snacks and tea
arrived.
We all started our evening chats covering
politics to cricket. As night walks
in, electric lights of the house started
fluctuating. Our caretaker who last
shown his face around 8 pm went back
to his hut. In that dark and isolated hill
top, four of us were ready for a long
sleep not before locking all doors
tightly.
It is night here at Jhandi – I peeped
through the balcony to check the sky.
There were no stars, the sky was overcast
with clouds. Outside rain drops
were washing down the hill and the
drumming caused by clatter of the
raindrops on the wooden roof was
loud. The rhythm caused me to go back
to sleep again.
The dawn broke next day like a dark
evening.
There was no Sun and no sunlight –
the white and gray clouds were now
colliding with our wooden house and
every glass panes was wet. My wife
was not ready to mourn for this
gloomy day. She has her own homework
ready in her smart phone.
“We will visit Lava monastery and
that British tea estate with heritage
bungalow – Do not sleep and please
talk to the boy to arrange a car” – She
put her point over me.
When you settle your score to visit a
monastery and a tea estate in lieu of
seeing the ‘Queen’, it is painful.
However as a lover of heritage and
colonial history I found reasons in this
consolation prize.
My teen-aged son was overjoyed.
“What if ‘Queen’ does not give us an
audience? We have seen clouds floating
inside our rooms last night – Have
you ever slept with a cloud in your life?
is it not an experience to remember.”
He lectured me and I found no reason
to counter him.
Soon we rode a jeep that took us 9
km from Jhandi to a picture post card
green valley of tea gardens. The stiff
ride upwards finally culminated at an
extraordinary well maintained lush
green field where wooden benches
were placed facing towards the tea
estate.
Back to that there is a British bungalow
of 1882 when tea plantation was
started here by a British company.
Known as Samabeong tea estate the
bungalow now looks like a movie set
where everything looks antique yet
authentic. The refurbished and well
decorated bungalow was equipped
with several guest rooms and a fantastic
lounge with rich collection of books
and gramophone records. In its wooden
floor, fire place, high back chairs an
aura of British era prevailed strongly
with lot of vintage black and white
photos and other old furniture.
“Can not we stay here next time ?”
My wife placed her hope to me. “Yes
we can if they ensure a meeting with
the ‘Queen’ from here,” I replied
insipidly.
An answer like this cannot please
any wife of the world – So mine was
not an exception.
We reached Lava by noon and went
straight to Buddhist monastery that
houses Buddhist deity
Avalokiteshwara with 1000 hands.
Breaking a wall of fog, we scaled a
road that led us to the back courtyard
of the monastery.
“Why are we going to the backyard ?
Is there any special purpose for this ?”
I was getting perplexed and then a
ray of hope flashed in my mind. Is it
the time for great Tibetan monastery
debate a unique way of learning the
Buddhist doctrine by Tibetan school ?
Am I going to be a fortunate to witness
it without any plan ? Will Buddha
smile today at me ?
Buddha really smiled that day – As
soon as we arrived, a board placed
there read that the monks are debating
!!!!!!!!!
This tradition of monastery debate
actually came from Tibet where it was
first introduced in the year 793 by king
Trisong Destsen. There in his presence
monks used to debate on philosophical
and spiritual teachings of Buddha. I
was thrilled to feel that without any
expectation a rich side of Buddhism
would be exposed to me.
In that vast courtyard there were
atleast 200 monks and nuns in their
religious dress. They were in various
groups and each of the group was led
by a senior monk who was conducting
the debate. In every group some questioners
were challenging, rest of the lot
and defenders were giving equally
energetic answers.
Watching Buddhist monks debating
on academic subject is a lifetime
achievement for any one.
I placed myself as close as possible to
that grand assembly and kept my camera
shutter on in every single gesture
of those radiant monks.
Tibetan Buddhism always focuses on
Buddha’s teaching in the light of logic
and this culture they adopted from
India many years ago. This debate is a
serious business with a dramatized
expression where loud talking questioner
and defender clap and overreact
to create a super normal ambiance. For
every question, the defender needs to
answer within a given time and his
wrong answer is criticized by rest of
the group. There are mock punishments
for poor answering and even a
pretending of physical abuse. I witnessed
it almost by rubbing shoulders
with them and they entertained my
enthusiasm.
The debate that was started with
invocation of Buddhist God Manjushri
continued for nearly 40 minutes and
after that a discussion was carried on
for another 20 minutes.
Even in late afternoon there was no
change in weather. It was that same
wet and foggy.
Ordering lunch over phone we
rushed back to Jhandi’s wooden nest.
As soon as we alighted from the vehicle
the clouds burst open again.
Do not mourn for ‘Queen’ anymore
– you have witnessed a unique thing
there in monastery and be happy – My
wife again tried to be as sympathetic
with me.
Even that night as well we all went
to bed listening to the rhythm of falling
rain. It is again dark here in Jhandi. It
is again almost soundless like a lonely
planet.
My 73 years old father in law was
one who first looked outside next
morning over the window. It is calm
now and rain is gone. Removing the
curtains and opening the window he
exclaimed and told to her daughter –
‘call him , his ‘Queen’ is here.’
I was ruthlessly pushed by my wife
from sleep as she was more excited
than me.
“She is there – rush!” she exclaimed.
I did not rush but looked over the horizon
from balcony.
With a blue background, a long
range of snow peaks of Himalaya were
slowly emerging from the caverns of
clouds. One by one, the royal court of
‘Queen’ was appearing before me. First
I found Kabru -1 and Kabru- 2 two of
most important peaks of
Kanchenjungha range.
By that time I was armed with my
camera, my father in law suggested me
to go a place near our cottage from
where the range looked more majestic .
I rushed there without putting my
jacket on. It is because when the
‘Queen’ calls, you have to run.
‘Queen’, that Kanchenjungha, third
highest peak of the world is now slowly
removing her cavern. She is distinctive
in every sense. An amazing amalgamation
of 5 snow massive peaks in
one group is rare and imagine, except
one, all are more than 8450 mt tall !!!
Up on the sky, over the blue horizon
an army of snow capped peaks along
with ‘Queen’ were emerging. Peaks
such as Mt Rathung, Kokthang,
Kabroo, Pandim, Talung,
Kumbhakarna, Siniolchu all came forward
to bid us good morning.
The picture is more than perfect
now. The glory of Himalaya is now
before us, with Kanchenjungha dominating
the horizon like a ‘Queen’.
My wife had to nearly drag me from
there as we were getting late. We had a
train to catch home back.
As soon as our last bag was placed in
the boot of the car, I looked over the
horizon once more. Kanchenjungha
was still smiling and silently inviting
me for a quick revisit.
I smiled too to render my consent of
coming back as soon as it can be.
Travel Logistics :
# Jhandi is a small village in Darjeeling region of Bengal.
# It is 57 km from Siliguri a city very well connected via train, bus and air.
# Malbazar a small station is just 32 km from Jhandi – One can come from Malbazar as well.
# Bagdogra is the nearest airport.
# Staying options are limited 0 so please book in advance.
# Useful website – www.jhandi.com
# Some home stays are now coming up.
# Nearest place of interest are Lava, Neora valley national park and Kolakham.
This article was published in The Hitavada on 22nd April 2018
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