The Himalaya have always intrigued man. They have been looked upon as being steeped in mystic and magic.
There are, indeed, many intriguing places in the Himalaya and chief among those is one like no other in the whole world; nestled in the shadows of the high Himalaya, a place that is unique and geographically located within the Latitudes 26 deg 31’ to 27 deg13’ North and Longitudes 87 deg 59’ to 88 deg 53’ East – the Darjeeling Hills!
At the foothills, lie the seven valleys facing the Himalaya where one can feel the powerful confluence of divine energies and it is owing to this as well as the perfect climate and geography that in these seven valleys grows what no other region in the world can grow – Darjeeling Tea!
Darjeeling – a tea that has no peer, is an elixir beyond comparison and has also been referred to as “the Champagne of teas” is a product of Camellia Sinensis var Sinensis.
First planted by the British in the hills of Darjeeling in the mid 1800’s, the Camellia Sinensis flourished in these Hills and soon Tea as an industry blossomed here which in turn brought about the development of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway ,the world famous “Toy Train”, along with Hydroelectric power to the Hills, besides many other projects.
In due course, these shaped the future of the Hills as a wildly popular historic tourist destination and ultimately a UNESCO World Heritage site status for its railway. In essence, it was Tea that put Darjeeling on the world map, earning it a Geographical Indication right.
