Lebong, below Darjeeling
On a spur below the town, Tibetan families have woven carpets since 1959. Here is what the craft center is, what you can watch there, and how to visit without getting in the way.
Photo: Kushagra Dhall / Unsplash
2 October 1959
The center opened months after the Dalai Lama left Tibet. Zhu Dan, wife of Gyalo Thondup, raised its first funds, and Tenzing Norgay sat on the founding committee.
Photo: Prasanta Kr Dutta / Pexels
Hermitage, 2,143 m
Locals still call the spur Hermitage. It sits at 2,143 m (7,030 ft) on the Lebong road, and the 13th Dalai Lama lived on this hillside during his own exile, from 1910 to 1912.
Photo: Nilendra Jyoti Halder / Pexels
Today
Some 130 Tibetan families live and work on the site, with a crèche and a school on the same ground. It is a home and a workplace first, and a place to visit second.
Photo: Aman Kushwaha / Pexels
The workshops
The workshops make carpets, thangka paintings, carved folding tables and leather boots, and the center has sent its work to 36 countries. A hall of photographs remembers the first refugees.
Photo: Hrishikesh More / Unsplash
Visiting
If the weavers are at their looms, stand in the doorway rather than walking in, and ask before you photograph anyone. Thangka painters and woodcarvers work nearby.
Photo: Arjis Kundu / Pexels
Planning it
The center is closed on Sundays, so we fit it into an afternoon on another day, often after a Tiger Hill dawn. If a carpet tempts you, ask about shipping it home before you buy.
Photo: Arto Suraj / Pexels