Mungpoo (also referred to as Mangpu Cinchona Plantation, or rendered Mungpoo) is a village in the Kurseong 24 Bidhan Sabha Constituency
Rangli Rangliot (community development block) in the
Kurseong subdivision
Kurseong subdivision is a subdivision of the Darjeeling district in the state of West Bengal, India.
Subdivisions
Darjeeling district is divided into the following administrative subdivisions:
Police stations
Police stations in the Kurseon ...
of the
Darjeeling district
Darjeeling District is the northernmost district of the state of West Bengal in eastern India in the foothills of the Himalayas. The district is famous for its hill station and Darjeeling tea. Darjeeling is the district headquarters.
Kurseon ...
in the state of
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
History
The ancient
Incas, in what is now
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
, knew that the bark of a tree had miraculous property of curing
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
.
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
established the botanical genus of
Cinchona
''Cinchona'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing at least 23 species of trees and shrubs. All are native to the Tropical Andes, tropical Andean forests of western South America. A few species are ...
in 1742. Dr. Thomas Anderson, Superintendent of Royal Botanical Garden at Calcutta, started his experimental trial for cultivation of Cinchona in the Darjeeling Hills and in 1862 selected the Mangpu hills for commercial cultivation. After successful establishment of Cinchona plantation at Mangpu, it was extended to Munsong, Rongo, Latpanchar and
Ambotia.
The Directorate of Cinchona and Other Medicinal Plants started functioning in Darjeeling in 1862, initially for growing Cinchona trees and to produce the life-saving anti-Malarial drug,
Quinine, from its bark. Later, other medicinal or specialised plants were also grown.
The Nobel laureate poet
Rabindranath Tagore visited Mangpu quite often between 1938 and 1940. He used to stay at the residence of his protége
Maitreyi Devi
Maitreyi Devi (or Maitreyī Devī; 1 September 1914 – 29 January 1989) was an Indian poet and novelist. She is best known for her Sahitya Akademi Award-winning novel, '' Na Hanyate'' ().
Biography
Devi was born in 1914. She was the daughter o ...
, who was herself a renowned poet and novelist. Maitreyi Devi's husband Manmohan Sen was at that time the director of the quinine factory in Mangpu. The bungalow has now been converted into Rabindra Bhavan, a museum containing Tagore's photographs, paintings, writings, and other paraphernalia. The museum also contains furniture that was designed and carved by Rathindranath Tagore. Maitreyi Devi recorded the stay of Rabindranath in her book ''Mangpute Rabindranath'', the English translation of which is called ''Tagore By The Fire Side''.
Geography
Location
Mangpu is located at
Mangpoo is 32 km east of
Darjeeling. The elevation varies from .
Area overview
The map alongside shows the eastern portion of the
Darjeeling Himalayan hill region
Darjeeling Himalayan hill region or Darjeeling Himalaya is the mountainous area on the north-western side of the state of West Bengal in India. This region belongs to the Eastern Himalaya range. The Darjeeling district except the Siliguri subdiv ...
and a small portion of the
Terai region in its eastern and southern fringes, all of it in the Darjeeling district. In the
Darjeeling Sadar subdivision 61.00% of the total population lives in the rural areas and 39.00% of the population lives in the urban areas. In the
Kurseong subdivision
Kurseong subdivision is a subdivision of the Darjeeling district in the state of West Bengal, India.
Subdivisions
Darjeeling district is divided into the following administrative subdivisions:
Police stations
Police stations in the Kurseon ...
58.41% of the total population lives in the rural areas and 41.59% lives in the urban areas.
There are 78 tea gardens/ estates (the figure varies slightly according to different sources), in the district, producing and largely exporting
Darjeeling tea. It engages a large proportion of the population directly/ indirectly. Some tea gardens were identified in the 2011 census as
census town
In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics.
India
In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...
s or villages. Such places are marked in the map as CT (census town) or R (rural/ urban centre). Specific tea estate pages are marked TE.
Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.
Demographics
According to the
2011 Census of India
The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...
, Mangpu Cinchona Plantation had a total population of 25,000 1,109 (49%) were males and (51%) were females. There were 64 persons in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The total number of literate people in Mangpu Cinchona Plantation was 1,023 (92.25% of the population over 6 years).
Education
Saraswati Higher Secondary School is an English-medium coeducational institution established in 1945. It has facilities for teaching from class VI to class XII.
Gyanpith Higher Secondary School is another coeducational school located at Rungbee Division of Mungpoo which is under the WBCHSE curriculum. Sarada High School is also a coeducational school located at Mungpoor Division of Mungpoo which provides education up to Madhyamik level. Labdah Junior High School is another coeducational school which provides education till class 10. Kasturi High School is the only school in Mungpoo which is Nepali medium till class 10 for both boys and girls.
Other than these school there are numerous private/primary schools in Mangpu viz., St. Joseph's School, St. Mangal Academy, Good Start Academy, Dolphin Nursery School, Labdah CP Primary School, Gramsewak Primary School, Hill Angels' School, St. Anthony' School, Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Welfare School, Green Hill Academy, Siddhartha Memorial School, Green Mountain English School, etc.
Healthcare
Mungpoo Government Cinchona Plantation Hospital is located below Nali Dara (which is the central meeting place of the whole Mangpu region).
Dowhill Central Hospital, with 40 beds, is located at Dow Hill and Latpanchar Cinchona Plantation Hospital, with 12 beds, is located at Latpanchar.
Road connections
Mungpoo is located at a distance of 52 km from Siliguri, 40 km from Kalimpong and 32 km from Darjeeling town. Nearest Railway station is New Jalpaiguri Railway Station (NJP) and nearest Airport is Bagdogra Airport (IX-B). Mungpoo is almost 88.8 KM far away from Gangtok and 67.3 KM away from Mirik.
References
{{Darjeeling District
Villages in Darjeeling district