Batasia Loop
AN ELGIN EXCLUSIVE FEATURE By Katyayini Kesharwani
An old photograph of Batasia Loop, Darjeeling.
This War Memorial, built at the centre of Batasia Loop, which in itself is an engineering marvel, is created to honour and serve as a memorial for the Gorkha soldiers of Darjeeling who sacrificed their lives in various operations and wars after India’s independence.
This 9-foot statue of a Gorkha Soldier is built next to a cenotaph which carries the roll of honour of the soldiers who died along with the dates. One can get a 360-degree view of Darjeeling from here as well as of the snow-covered peaks of Eastern Himalayas.
Hope is what keeps us ticking. Hope, the fuel of life, I say.
Batasia Loop was created by the British to resist such sharp descent. It’s hard to even realize how the toy train descends as it completes the whole loop through a huge circular area and on a gentle declivity and revisits its track near the beginning of the loop through a tunnel underneath. It is considered as one of the greatest engineering feats. This engineering marvel is a 20-minute drive from The Elgin, Darjeeling. The 360-degree view of Darjeeling and the snow-covered peaks of Eastern Himalayas from the loop will definitely leave you mesmerised.
