Happy Valley Tea Estate

History

TE: tea estate, F: facility, T: religious place, I: institute Abbreviations used in names – TE for Tea Estate Owing to space constraints in the small map, the actual locations in a larger map may vary slightly All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map |mark-coord1= | label-pos1=left|label1= Arya TE| numbered1=TE| mark-title1= Arya Tea Estate (TE)|label-color1= #800000 |label-size1=11| mark-size1=12|shape1=l-circle| shape-color1=#87A96B |shape-outline1=white|label-offset-x1=2 |mark-coord2= | label-pos2=left|label2=Happy Valley TE| numbered2=TE| mark-title2= Happy Valley Tea Estate (TE)| shape-color2=black| label-size2=13|label-color2=black |mark-coord3= | label-pos3=left|label3=Lebong & Mineral Spring TE| numbered3=R| mark-title3= Lebong & Mineral Spring Tea Garden (TE)| shape-color3=#87A96B |mark-coord4= | label-pos4=left|label4=Darjeeling railway station| numbered4=F| mark-title4= Darjeeling railway station (F)| shape-color4= #A40000 |mark-coord5= | label-pos5=right|label5=Chowrasta | numbered5=F| mark-title5= Chowrasta (Darjeeling) (F)| shape-color5= #A40000 |mark-coord6= | label-pos6=left|label6=Mahakal Temple| numbered6=T| mark-title6= Mahakal Temple, Darjeeling (T)| shape-color6= #C42222 |mark-coord7= | label-pos7=right|label7=Observatory Hill View Point| numbered7=F| mark-title7= Observatory Hill, Darjeeling (F)| shape-color7= #A40000 |mark-coord8= | label-pos8=left|label8=Raj Bhavan| numbered8=F| mark-title8= Raj Bhavan, Darjeeling (F)| shape-color8= #A40000 |mark-coord9= | label-pos9=right|label9=Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park| numbered9=F| mark-title9= Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (F)| shape-color9= #A40000 |mark-coord10= | label-pos10=left|label10=Himalayan |labela10=Mountaineering|labelb10=Institute |numbered10=I| mark-title10= Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (i)| shape-color10= #87410E |mark-coord11= | label-pos11=right|label11=Darjeeling Ropeway | numbered11=F| mark-title11= Darjeeling Ropeway (F)| shape-color11= #A40000 |mark-coord12= | label-pos12=left|label12= Lloyd’s Botanical Garden| numbered12= F| mark-title12= Lloyd's Botanical Garden (F)| shape-color12= #A40000 |mark-coord13= | label-pos13=left|label13= Peace Pagoda| numbered13= T| mark-title13= Peace Pagoda, Darjeeling (F)| shape-color13= #C42222 |mark-coord14= | label-pos14=left|label14= Batasia Loop| numbered14= F| mark-title14= Batasia Loop (F)| shape-color14= #A40000 |mark-coord15= | label-pos15=left|label15= Ghum Monastery| numbered15= T| mark-title15= Ghum Monastery (T)| shape-color15= #C42222}}

It is the second oldest tea estate of Darjeeling (after Steinthal Tea Estate, which was established in 1852), G.C. Banerjee was the next owner of Happy Valley Tea Estate. He with his wife Annapurna Devi and three daughters (Nonimukhi, Monmaya and Savitri) lived there for some time. Annapurna Devi was related to the Ganguly family of Khandwa; her maternal uncle was Kunjalal Bihari, father of the famous cine Gangulys. Nandini Balial (Ganguly), a young prolific writer in LA is the great granddaughter of Late Monmaya Debi.

In March 2007, after remaining nearly dormant for nearly four years as the tea industry had experienced a slump, the estate was bought over by S K Bansal, of Ambootia Tea Group, which established a new factory within the premises, and started modernization process, replating and switching to organic farming. Finally, the estate reopened to public in 2008, with the original factory turned into a working museum. It also displayed single piston slow-speed engines, and the shaft machines and sells tea-related mementos. Today, over 1500 people worked in the tea estate and processing unit.

In 2008, the hand-rolled tea produced by Happy Valley was chosen to be sold at Harrods in the United Kingdom, with price ranging from to per kg, besides this, it is also available at Mariage Freres in France.

In late 2022, due to a long going financial distress, Happy Valley along with 5 other gardens were handed over to Mr. Sushil Kumar Agarwal of Lemongrass Organic Tea Estates Pvt. Ltd. (LOTEPL), a Joint Venture between MLA Group and KK Group. With this acquisition, the Sushil Kumar Agarwal led LOTEPL manages 9 Tea Estates in Darjeeling region.

Overview

The tea estate is spread over 177 hectare, at a height of 2100 m. The bushes in the garden are very old — the minimum age is 80 years, and some are 150 years old. Very little re-plantation has been done in the recent past. Situated around 3 km north of town, below Hill Cart Road, accessible via Lochnager Road from Chowk Bazaar, this tea estate is the closest tea estate to Darjeeling town, and tourists often visit the garden. The months of March to May are the busiest time here. when plucking of First Flush season and processing are in progress. It is open all 7 days a week from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

LOTEPL group

The gardens of the Lemongrass Organic Tea Estates Private Ltd. are: Ambootia, Nagri, Chongtong, Moondakotee, Happy Valley, Mullootar, Sepoydhoorah (Chamling) and Sivitar.

References

References

1. and, at a height of {{convert. 2100. m. Hooghly]]. In 1929, Banerjee bought the Windsor Tea Estate nearby, and merged the two estates under the name of Happy Valley Tea Estate.[http://www.darjeeling-tourism.com/darj_000025.htm Happy Valley Tea Estate]
2. (15 November 2007). "India Brews a Stronger Cup". TIME.
3. (25 March 2008). "Tea factory to be open to tourists". [[The Hindu]].
4. (31 May 2008). "Harrods to sell hand-rolled Darjeeling tea". Indian Express.
5. "Six tea gardens change hands in Darjeeling".
6. "Happy Valley Tea Estate". Lonely planet.
7. "5 Places to Visit India Tea Plantations".
8. "The Finest Organic Darjeeling Teas". [Gourav Jain].
9. Jain, Gourav. "Happy Valley Tea Estate – Lemongrass Organic Tea Private Limited".