Lepchajagat – Green Valley Homestay

LEPCHAJAGAT

Lepchajagat, as the suggest the means a village of the Lepchas. Jagat means “world”, in one sentence one can describe the place as “the place of the Lechas” or the village of the Lepchas. . Lepcha’s are actually people of very old habitat of the hills. These people belong to the scheduled tribes of that region and basically come from Sikkim tribal groups. The language here is Lepcha or Sanskrit, much older than Hebrew. Once Lepcha used to be the mother tongue of Sikkim. Many people believe the word Lepcha comes from the name of a fish Lepcha which was found in these region. Just like the Lepcha Fish, the behaviors of these people are very calm and quite. These people basically speak Lepcha, Tibetian and Nepali. Located in the sub division of Darjeeling hills in the state of West Bengal, India. Lepchajagat is a perfect place for the nature lovers. Lepchajagat is about a 16 km away from Darjeeling main town. But Hindi is also a common language used to communicate with the tourists. On the way to Lepchajagat you will come across Sukhia, Rohini, Sonada, Kurseong and Ghoom.  At Lepchajagat the climate is though very cold in the winters but cold wind does not affect too much. From NJP it takes about 3 hours 30 min to reach Lepchajagat. There are dense forests of Pine, Oak, Shaal, Shegun, Rhododendron and Camellia on all sides. At the eastern and western side there are high rise mountains along with lush green tea gardens on the way. Lepchajagat recently became a popular tourist destination. This Village is the habitat of nearly 40 to 45 families. Actually Lepchajagt is a small isolated village offering a magnificent view of Mt. Kanchenjunga at its fore front. After the place was taken over by the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation it became a reserved forest area. From Lepchajagat on one side the road has gone directly towards Sukhia, Manebhanjan, Sandakphu and another road has gone towards the WBFDC Forest Bunglow. From Lepchajagat Kanchenjunga is very clearly visible. Here you will get to see deer, Guineafowl, and a wide range of birds. At Lepchajagat there is a view point, locally named as Hawa Ghar, where you can sit and watch the Sunrise along with Mt. Kanchenjunga. It is basically a small hill top, the route to this hill top is between the pine forests, there are sitting arrangements available in form of chairs. From Lepchajagat the Sunrise is worth watching. The religion here is mainly Buddhism, some people follows Christian also. Thus Lechajagat comprises with dense forest area, with full of Oak, Pine and Rhododendrons along with the magnificent Kanchenjunga view, a wonderful bird life and serene tranquility. Lepchajagat is also famous for the sunrise at early morning and sunset at the dawn. Lepchajagat is situated near to Kalimpong, Kurseong, Darjeeling, Chatakpur, Ghoom, Jorepokhro, Sukhiapokhri. Lepchajagat is a quite peaceful place with complete silence and away from the busy life. The nearest railway station is NJP, one can hire a four wheeler to reach Lepchajagat. Lepchajagat can be reached by both the ways, one is via the Mirik route, from NJP you will come across Mirik, then Thurbo Tea Estate. Then via Sukhiapokhri, while passing by Pashupati and Simana view point. Then one will reach to Lepchajagat. Or, you can also take the Pankhabari route via, Kurseong, Sonada and Ghoom. From Ghoom station just takes the left hand side you will straight reach to Lepchajagat. From Lepchajagat, Manebhanjan is about 11 km. From Lepchajagat, the way to Dhotrey is and Chitrey is about 19 km. The nearest market is Sukhia. Best time to visit is between October to June.