Government House, Darjeeling

"Government House, Darjeeling, was provided as an official residence for the Lieutenant-Governor in the time of Sir Ashley Eden (1877-1879). The portion of Birch Hill on which it stands used to be called The Shrubbery and there was a small house on the site of the present one which Sir Ashley's predecessors used to occupy sometimes when they went to Darjeeling. It was purchased from the Cooch Behar State in 1877 and additions and alterations were carried out by the Public Works Department to adapt it for the Lieutenant-Governor's residence, only small portions of the original building being retained. The grounds were laid out in 1878 and the reconstruction of the house was finished by the end of 1879, it being first occupied in the summer of 1880. In order to provide suitable accommodation for State and public functions, the Durbar Hall was built to the North of the house by Sir Charles Elliott (1890-1893) linked up to the house by a covered passage. This is the only part of the old building still in existence, the main house having been so damaged by the earthquake of January 1934 that it had to be entirely demolished, a new Government House in ferro-concrete being built in its place in the time of Sir John Anderson which is expected to be ready for occupation by the summer of 1936.

Round about the time when the Lieutenant-Governor was succeeded by a Governor, various other buildings were erected in the grounds – the Guest House in 1911 and the Cottage in 1913. Richmond Hill and Rivers Hill where the Private and Military Secretaries live were purchased in 1914 having been in existence as private houses for a good many years previously. A terrace garden was designed and made by Lord and Lady Lytton in 1926 just to the North of the Guest House, while to the South of the Guest House and between it and the A.D.C.'s quarters is a sunk water-garden made by the Hon'ble Lady Jackson in 1928."

This is the entry on Government House, Darjeeling, from the book -- The Story of Government House (1935) by N.V.H.Symons, M.C., I.C.S.

During a devastating earthquake in January 1934, the Governor's House that had been laid out in 1878 on The Shrubbery, Birch Hill, Darjeeling, had been severely damaged and had to be pulled down. The only part of the earlier structure not to have been damaged was the magnificent wooden durbar hall built to the north of the house by Lieutenant Governor Sir Charles Elliott (1890-1893).

After the earthquake, Sir John Anderson, Governor of Bengal (1932-1937) took up residence in the smaller residences of his senior staff on the same grounds and supervised the construction of a new house, the present Raj Bhavan, Darjeeling, in ferro-concrete. Its design was taken from an un-implemented plan and blue-print of the Maharaja of Burdwan for a house the Maharaja was planning to raise in Darjeeling. The building took two years to build, being completed in 1936. From the outside , the building is unattractive in the extreme. But its interior is delectable.

Two features of it are particularly appealing. The first is the wooden paneling on most walls with the names of the tree species etched on tiny metal strips in each room. This is a matter of detail but I find it infinitely important. Who, aside from architects and plant taxonomists would think of the kind of timber that has been used in anything wooden that one sees in a building? These little strips tell us that Panisaj, Chikrasi, Malagiri, Siris, and Birch have been used extensively. Knowledge of sources, be it of a statue, or a wooden wall is at one level rather meaningless in a world that is always in flux. But at another level, it is that knowledge which gives one a 'visa' to a fuller enjoyment of the world.

The second feature is Anderson's installing of a central horological device in the building manufactured by a firm in Leicester, England. This consists of old-style wall clocks operated not by mechanical method in the conventional style, but by electrical energy released from a central control house, locally called the Master Clock. The same electric-cum-mechanical pulsation charges all the wall clocks in the house. There were thirteen such clocks there initially, of which now nine survive.

Sir John was involved in a life-threatening incident in Darjeeling.

Shortly after the earthquake, on 5 May, 1934, at the Lebong Race Course, Darjeeling, while the horses were being led in, an attempt was made by two youths inspired by the ardour of the then on-going armed struggle, to assassinate the Governor. Sir John was standing in his box facing the course, while a superintending engineer with the civil works department by the name of Tandy-Green stood not far, as steward and starter of the race-meet. Hearing a shot, Tandy-Green looked round and saw a man pointing a pistol at the Governor to take a second shot, the first having missed aim. Tandy-Green rushed at the man, brought him down and, rolling together with him, landed at the bottom of the steps where he pinned the assailant to the ground until others came to his assistance. Sir John Anderson survived, completely unhurt.

Areas now known as the Jawahar Parbat, The Shrubbery area and portions of the Government House estates falling outside the main grounds of the Government House (now known as Raj Bhavan, Darjeeling) were handed over to the Government and Government agencies from time to time.

The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park was established in 1958 for research and conservation of Himalayan fauna. It is located below the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute or HMI on the slopes of Jawahar Parbhat. The Darjeeling Zoo is one of the most highly regarded in India as it is a sanctuary to rare wildlife. The zoo is home to the Siberian tigers (the only ones in India), red pandas, Himalayan black bears and the Tibetan wolves. This zoo also houses a Snow Leopard Breeding Centre.

The Governor of West Bengal visits Darjeeling and is in residence at the Raj Bhavan twice to thrice every year. During his visits some staff members from Raj Bhavan Kolkata also move to Darjeeling to cover his visits.