Kalimpong

Kalimpong is an important city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. The city is tucked in an elevation of 1,250 metres (4,101 ft). The city is also of great importance as the Indian Army’s 27 Mountain Division is located on its outskirts.

Kalimpong is well famed for its educational institutions. The city overlooks the Teesta River and thus is adorned with an optimum temperate climate, natural environment and tourists spots. The city is also famed for its horticulture, including a wide array of orchids and nurseries.

The city is mainly dominated by the Nepalis and indigenous Lepchas, other ethnic groups and non-native immigrants from other parts of India. It also serves as a religious centre of Buddhism. The famed and sacred Tibetan Buddhist monastery here- Zang Dhok Palri Phodang holds a number of rare Tibetan Buddhist scriptures that are well preserved till date.

Kalimpong serves as the closest Indian town to Bhutan’s western border and thus has a small number of Bhutanese nationals residing here. The predominant language here in Nepali, while others like Lepcha, Limbu, Tamang, Kirat, Hindi, English and Bengali are also spoken.

Kalimpong also serves some of the exotic foods to its visitors. The must-try cuisine here is momo, which is a steamed dumpling made of pork, beef or vegetable cooked in a wrapping of flour and served with watery soup. Another lip-smacking snack is Wai-Wai, which is a packaged Nepalese snack made of noodles which are eaten either dry or in soup form. Also do try Churpee, which a kind of hard cheese made from yak’s or chauri’s (a hybrid of yak and cattle) milk, is sometimes chewed. Apart from the aforementioned ones, there are many other snacks too to be enjoyed here. The city serves the best tea one could have ever drunk.

Top places to be visited at Kalimpong includes- Deolo Hill, Canopy Walk, Lamahatta, Samdruptse Hill, Zong Dhog Palri Fo Brang Monastery, Mangal Dham, Hanuman Temple, Thongsha Gumpha, Tharpa Choling Monastery, Kalimpong Roman Catholic Church, Thongsa Gompa and Siddheswar Dham.