Legacy In Wood: How A Darjeeling Village Remembers The Departed With Benches

The road to Beltar village in Darjeeling’s Kurseong district is flanked by mountains on one side and green tea gardens on the other—the picture of scenic beauty. One can enjoy the views by sitting on the many benches, made of iron, stone or concrete, placed along the five-kilometre road in West Bengal.

These benches are more than places to rest and take in the vistas; they are memorials. All have the names of deceased persons with their date of birth and death. Each bench tells a story of a life.

One such bench denotes a long life well-lived: In the holy memory of Chandrakala Sinchuri, this platform has been constructed by her family for the peace of her soul, it says.

Another speaks of a life cut tragically short: In memory of Lassang Lama (2005–2022).

They have been installed by the local villagers in memory of their dead loved ones.

Every part of India has their post-death rituals to ensure peace for their dead, most are of the rituals followed are by religious programs. In Hinduism, for example, pind daan rituals are performed to help the souls of departed ancestors attain peace and salvation.

But erecting benches is a unique way people of hilly areas of Darjeeling to satisfy themselves that their near and dear departed ones will find peace in the afterlife, while continuing to serve the community. There is a profound and practical philosophy behind this.

The tradition began, according to Bhaskar Rai a resident of Beltar village, because there were no means of transport in the hilly areas except walking and the slopes and ascents on the mountains make for difficult walking and weary travellers. “Our ancestors started installing benches in memory of dead relatives so that tired people can rest,” he says.

He erected a bench dedicated to the memory of his deceased elder brother Siak Thapa. “We believe that when tired travellers rest on these benches, deceased persons’ souls get immense peace,” Bhaskar says.

This tradition has been a long-standing one, with the earliest memorial bench on the road being installed 83 years ago in 1941.

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Beltar village came into being when tea gardens were established. Locals say that centuries ago people migrated from nearby areas to work at tea gardens and the garden management provided them with land on which to live. The village’s population largely comprises Other Backward Class (OBC) and Scheduled Caste (SC).

There is no written document about the history of this unique tradition, and historians differ on when this tradition came into being.

Dr Sudash Lama, a 43-year old Assistant Professor of Ancient Indian History at North Bengal University says that since it was a common sight for villagers, they had no curiosity about it.

“As far my knowledge goes, this tradition has been going on for more than 150 years,” Lama says. Such tradition is seen in Himalayan area of Nepal and it is believed that migration from Nepal to tea gardens of Darjeeling and Dooars may have brought this here. The British took over Darjeeling in 1835 from the Monarch of Sikkim as a gift and started operating tea gardens from the mid 19th century. “They brought Nepalese workers from Nepal to work in the tea garden. I believe they brought this tradition with them,” Lama says.

However, Shibu Chhetri, a journalist for more than three decades in Darjeeling believes that this tradition has been in existence for more than two and a half centuries. The tradition, according to Chhetri, began as far back as the 1800s when Darjeeling was part of Nepal. “Nepalese were already living here and they were following this tradition,” he says. Proof of this is hidden deep in the forests that surround the village. “There are a few wooden benches in deep forest which were erected in mid 19th century,” he says. At one time, people would also leave an earthen pot of hot water near the bench to help travellers cope with the chilly hillside weather, he added.

Permission to install such benches has to be obtained from the requisite department through a written application. In areas where there are tea gardens, an application is made to the tea garden management for installing benches and if the area belongs to the forest department, then an application is made to the forest department.

Bhaskar says, “If a bench is installed on tea gardens land, it will help tea workers as they can rest on the bench when they are tired of plucking tea leaves, so we easily get permission.” But, if the land belongs to the forest department then they apply to the forest department for permission, which is a tough task.

Either way, the tradition of memorialising the dead is kept alive. “Whenever someone in our family dies, we install a bench in their name so that people walking on this path who get tired can sit here and rest for a while,” Rama Thapa, a 65-year-old villager of Beltar, who was resting on a bench, says. He says that he too has erected benches when his family member died.

This culture of dedicating benches in the name of the deceased is deeply instilled in the people of this region. Many families who have left the area make a trip back to erect memorial benches for their dead relatives. A bench erected in the memory of Bharat Singh next to Siak Thapa’s is one such example. Bharat Singh was from Bihar and had been working as a watchman in a tea garden. He was retired and living at his native village in Bihar. Bhaskar says, “He died in his village, so his wife and son came here and installed this bench in his memory, in keeping with the tradition.”

Erecting benches is also telling of the deceased person’s status in society as the expense varies. An average sized iron bench takes Rs 2,000-2,500 to erect, and those are more commonly seen. Concrete bench, which have a larger seating capacity, are more expensive and a denote higher economic condition of the deceased and their family. However, these donations are voluntary; there is no obligation on every family to donate things or erect benches. If they do not donate, it is not frowned upon. “Our society does not discriminate with them on the basis of if they have donated something or not,” Bhaskar says.

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Apart from installing benches, the villagers do many other things in memory of their dead relatives, which aim to make the community’s rugged mountain life easier.

Other donations include cooking and eating utensils to the society formed by villagers. As there is no marriage hall in the village, often people donate things that are needed for such celebrations. Bhaskar says, “Society helps us with these things during marriages and other functions... cauldrons and other utensils, benches, chairs etc.” This is how the village ensures that each one of them has what they need to celebrate or commiserate life events.

This reporter saw a few of the benches were in bad conditions as they are not maintained by the local authorities. Brigen Gurung, chairman of Kurseong municipality, says, “Since these benches are constructed individually, no panchayat or municipality maintains them and neither do we keep any record.”

Some in the village fear that this centuries-old tradition seems to be fading and migration is playing a role in it. Shibu Chetri says, “Now there is rampant migration of youths from mountains. They are getting uprooted from their tradition and that is why the bench erection tradition is decreasing fast. We are hardly seeing new benches.” Others hold on to hope. Bhaskar believes the tradition will live on. He says, “We are taking forward our ancestors’ tradition and we are making aware of our children to ensure that the next generation too follows this tradition.”

This appeared in the print as 'Seated Epitaphs'