Told in the hills
A lake that was made for visitors
Mirik's name is commonly explained as coming from the Lepcha 'Mir-Yok', given as a place burnt by fire. For most of its history this was a quiet corner of the hills, with forest, small farms and, from the late nineteenth century, tea gardens such as Thurbo and Okayti on the slopes around it. The marshy hollow below the town was a meadow and a seasonal pond rather than a destination.
In the second half of the twentieth century the West Bengal government developed the hollow into a lake and the town into a tourist centre, adding gardens, the footbridge and lodges. A Kagyu teacher, Bokar Rinpoche, later founded the monastery on the ridge above, and Tibetan, Lepcha, Gorkha and Bengali families built a small town around the water. Mirik's tourism is young by Darjeeling standards, which is part of why it still feels so easy-going.
Pinned to the board
Did you know
The Mirik Lake path is roughly 3.5 km round, and the lake itself is about 1.25 km long.
Pashupatinagar, a market town in Nepal, lies about 15 km from Mirik near Sukhiapokhri.
Thurbo, Okayti and Gopaldhara, three gardens around Mirik, are all well-known Darjeeling tea estates.
