Jaigaon
From Wikitravel
Jaigaon is a city in West Bengal.
==Understand==Jaigaon: A Search for the Name’s Meaning
In the first week of January 2006 Shri Shankarnath Pradhan of Samaj Kalyan Sangh asked me if I would write an essay on the etymology of the name “Jaigaon”. Not realizing the difficulties such a responsibility would impose upon me I casually accepted the assignment. The job was easier said than done. In order to find the etymology of any place one has to try and find out the first recorded mention of the place so that a fairly accurate pronunciation of the name is obtained. Having done that one can then decide on the language of origin and ferret out any associated history with the name. For example let us consider the name ‘Banarhaat’. It is generally explained that it stands for a “congregation of monkeys” (haat, congregation or gathering; bandar, monkeys). The original name was from the Mechi composite words, ‘Panar-haat’, where pana stands for water. In that area the Mechis congregated to collect drinking water but after River Diana changed its course the place became very prone to floods and over the years the name changed to Banarhaat (bana in Mechi is floods). Keeping in mind that in interpreting a meaning, phonetic similarities to a language of popular currency can be misleading I ventured into the past. My search first led me to Grunning’s Jalpaiguri District Gazetteer (1911) but Jaigaon was conspicuous by the absence of any reference and a much more recent Jalpaiguri District Gazetteer (1981) proved no better. W.W. Hunter’s statistical accounts of Jalpiguri (1876) too refused to acknowledge the existence of Jaigaon. A minor reward came my way in John Claude White’s book on Sikkim and Bhutan of 1909. White had traveled from Sikkim via Tibet to Bhutan to attend the enthronement of the first king of Bhutan in 1907 and returned following the watercourse of the Toorsa River. His entry reads as follows, “I was not sorry to reach Jaigaon, Mr. Trood’s comfortable bungalow, where I was most hospitably entertained, and where I stayed for three days to recruit and transact some work with some of the tea gardens in the frontier.” White’s entry of 1907 strongly establishes four facts: (i) the place in question was called Jaigaon even in 1907, (ii) the village existed prior to that year, (iii) there was tea garden, and we know from other sources that the plantation was called Jaigaon Tea Estate, later named Toorsa Tea Estate and (iv) since a tea plantation existed there must have been a reasonable amount of people living there. At this juncture the temptation to conclude that Jaigaon was a Hindi/Nepali term meaning ‘a village of victory’ (jai, victory; gaon, village) was quite overpowering but the historical absence of any battle being contested here compelled me to try for a Bhutanese antiquity, after all the place once did belong to Bhutan. The sheer lack of reference baffled me and the few Bhutanese sources I contacted were more baffled than I was. The next best thing I could do was to look up the records of the various Missions sent by the British to Bhutan for minutely detailed accounts had been maintained of each undertaking. However, these Missions (George Bogle, 1774; Dr. Hamilton, 1775; Kishikanta Bose, 1815; Samuel Turner, 1783; Pemberton, 1837/38; and Ashley Eden, 1864) never once mentioned Jaigaon in their reports. Just when all the sources were drying up and I was about to through the towel in I chanced upon a map drawn by Lieutenant Samuel Davis, a surveyor who had accompanied Turner’s Mission of 1783. The map gives a fairly detailed picture of the route taken by the Mission with towns, villages and forts inserted and in the bottom half of the map a village is marked ‘Jaygong’. The phonetic similarity was too much to ignore but what was even more astounding was the location: it was almost the precise location of the present-day Jaigaon. The village is placed just to the east of the Toorsa River and directly west of Suntalabari. In the north-westerly direction was Buxaduar and about thirty miles north, as the crow flies, was Chhuka. ‘Jaygong’ was unmistakably ‘Jaigaon’. The location is interesting because today we know that Jaigaon lies approximately 26° North and 89° East and 223 years ago Davis had put Jaigaon just short of 27° North and just fraction over 89° East. Considering that the name was Jaygong, according to and during the time of Davis, which was much before any influence from the plains of India could penetrate into Bhutan the word has to be Bhutanese (Dzongkha). It is my belief that ‘Jay’ probably stood for ‘Jhya’, the Bhutanese word for tea and there is a good possibility that some tea trees could have grown wild in this area. For the difference in spelling we must keep in mind that Davis was notorious for mis-spelling and of the many examples we will choose just three: he chose to write Bootan and Boutan for Bhutan, Dalai became Delai and Wangdu Phodrang became Wandipore. The second half of the name ‘gong’ is obviously ‘(s)gang’ meaning a hill, spur or a ridge. A more positive proof of ‘gong’ being a corruption of ‘gang’ is found in the spelling of Parogang which Davis spells as Parogong. I would like to, till some more meaningful explanations come to the surface, conclude that Jaigaon is a distortion of the Bhutanese ‘Jhyagang’ meaning a ridge of tea plants.
The town's only attraction is that it is on the border of Bhutan. Otherwise, it has a dearth of sites of interest and totally lacks charm. However, as many Bhutanese like to cross the border to take advantage of India's cheaper telephone/e-mail rates and restaurant prices, the town does offer a wide selection of eateries and telephone offices.
[edit] Get in
- From Phuentsholing, walk over. There is only the border gate that divides the two towns.
- Buses traveling to/from Phuentsholing make a stop here.
[edit] Get around
The town is small and can be covered on foot, though an autorickshaw is recommended for the journey from the main bus terminal, which is located slightly out of town. Jaigaon lacks quality infrastructure, and during the rainy season the streets are muddy and difficult to negotiate on foot.
[edit][add listing] Do
- Non-Bhutanese or Indian citizens exiting or entering Bhutan are required to get their passport stamped at the Indian immigration office, which is located next to the cinema hall (there is a fork in the road when entering the town - marked by a statue - immigration is a short way up the road on the left). Indians can get a permit to visit Thimphu or other parts of Bhutan by submitting proof of identity proof, such as an election card or passport, at the Bhutanese immigration office.
- Make telephone calls and send e-mails as the rates here are much lower than in Phuentsholing.
[edit][add listing] Buy
- Asian Book Distributors, J.P. Centre, N.S. Road., ☎ +91 3566 736-182. As a supplier of book stores in Bhutan, AB Books is an excellent place to pick up titles on subjects related to Bhutan and Buddhism and at much cheaper prices than over the border edit
[edit][add listing] Eat
- Hotel Anand, MG Road, near Bhutan Gate (see sleep section). A vegetarian restaurant serving various cuisines, including Chinese and Indian. Reasonable food and quite cheap, though the Indian dishes are (obviously) more authentic.hotel vatika is the most succesful running hotel of jaigaon.
- Hotel Kasturi, near Bhutan Gate would be the choice for discerning travellers. It offers both non-vegetarian and vegetarian cuisines. The ambience is good, waiters are well mannered and its airconditioned.
[edit][add listing] Drink
Move towards Phuentsholing and can go to Hotel Dechen where all the indian foodstuffs are available at a very gunuine and nominal rates. Can also contact Mr. R. K. Roy the Manager of The concerned Hotel. U can also avail the foreign liquirs of Royal Bhutan. The only place in Phuntsholing to get 'South Indian Dish' You can cantact the Manager 0 or the bhutan no. 00975-17612136, 253229, he is a mastermind and offers 25% special discount to the customers who comes reading this information. He also helps the people to make the visit visa to Thimphu or any part of Bhutan.
- hotel Devi, Opp: Super market, N.S. Road Jaigaon, ☎ 03566-263174,264710. It has a smsll cozy dining room serving fresh food, Staffs and the manager always there for prompt service....they serve in money back gurantee condition....If the guest is not satisfied with the food. *****Rates cheaper than the Competetors. edit
[edit][add listing] Sleep
- Hotel Devi, N.S. Road. Tel:+91 3566 263-174, 264710; Mobile: +975 17726939. Located in the center of town - all basic facilities. 300rs to 650rs
- Hotel Anand, MG Road, near Bhutan Gate. Tel:+91 3566 263290, 263990, 263182 and 265479. Mobile: 934037706 (India), 17605923 (Bhutan). E-mail: ashokagarwall@hotmail.com. [1]. 350rs to 1,200rs - rooms with A/C and without.
- Hotel Kasturi, could be a good choice. Rooms are clean and moderately well furnished. Rates are moderate.
[edit] Cope
The banks in Jaigaon are not authorized to change foreign currency.
[edit] Get out
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