The local story
Senchal, the ridge that waters Darjeeling
Tiger Hill is the top of the Senchal ridge, the highest ground near Darjeeling at about 2,567 m (some sources give 2,590 m). Long before it became a sunrise stop, the ridge mattered to the town for something plainer: water. The Senchal lakes, reservoirs in the forest below the summit, still supply much of Darjeeling's drinking water, and the forest around them has been protected for more than a century. In 1915 the area was declared the Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary, one of the oldest sanctuaries in India, about 38–39 km² of oak, rhododendron and planted cryptomeria.
The local account says the British once kept a military post on Senchal, and that it was abandoned in the 19th century because the cold and damp made the men ill; a few ruined walls in the forest are pointed out as its remains. Whatever the full story, anyone who has stood here at a January dawn will believe the part about the cold. The sanctuary still holds barking deer and the rare Himalayan black bear, and its birds are best heard on the walk down, after the cars have gone.
The view is the reason most people come. From the summit Kanchenjunga, at 8,586 m the third-highest mountain on Earth, spreads across the northern horizon and catches the first pink light a few minutes before the sun clears the eastern hills. On very clear days, mostly from October to December, Everest, Lhotse and Makalu show as small points far to the west, beyond the Singalila Ridge. A viewing pavilion with ticketed levels now stands on the top, and on a busy morning several hundred people share it.
