Indreni Bridge — Local services in West Bengal

Mirik' is a small town and a municipality of Darjeeling district in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Mirik subdivision. The name Mirikcomes from the Lepcha words Mir-Yok meaning "place burnt by fire".

Mirik Bazar began a commercial centre of the region where people from the surrounding villages and teagardens came to trade and buy their necessities. The present lake area was a marshland with thick growth of sweet flag (Acorus calamus, locally called bojho). A playground stood in the present garden area where the British officers played polo.

In 1969, the West Bengal tourism department began the process of acquiring 335 acres of land from the neighboring Thurbo tea estate. The work of developing this land into a tourist spot began in 1974 when Siddhartha Shankar Ray was the chief minister of West Bengal. The tourist spot, which included the newly built lake and the Day Centre, was inaugurated by the next chief minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu, in April 1979. With the flourishing of tourism, Krishnanagar developed on the other end of the lake with hotels and restaurants catering to tourists.

Mirik became the sub-divisional headquarters of Mirik subdivision on 30 March 2017.

Mirik has become a tourist destination for its climate, natural environment and easy accessibility. The centre of all attraction is Sumendu Lake, surrounded by a garden named Savitri Pushpaudyan (after Savitri Thapa, a martyr soldier of INA) on one side and pine trees on the other, linked together by an arching footbridge called Indreni Pool(named after Indreni Thapa, a martyr soldier of INA). A 3.5-km-long road encircles the lake and is used for walks with the view of Kangchenjunga on the far horizon. Boating on the quaint boats and horse riding are available.

Mirik has an average elevation of 1,495 m (4,905 ft). The highest point is the Boker Monastery at about 1,768 m (5,801 ft). Mirik lake at about 1,494 m (4,902 ft) is the lowest point. Mirik is 52 km (32 mi) northwest of Siliguricity and 49 km (30 mi) south-southwest of Darjeeling town.

The climate is pleasant almost all the year round with temperatures of a maximum of 30 °C in summer and a minimum of 1 °C in winter.

Area overviewEdit

The map alongside shows a part the southern portion of the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in the Darjeeling district. In the Darjeeling Sadar subdivision 61.00% of the total population lives in the rural areas and 39.00% of the population lives in the urban areas. In the Mirik subdivision80.11% of the total population lives in the rural areas and 19.89% lives in the urban areas.1 There are 78 tea gardens/ estates (the figure varies slightly according to different sources), in the district, producing and largely exporting Darjeeling tea. It engages a large proportion of the population directly/ indirectly.[3] Some tea gardens were identified in the 2011 census as census towns or villages.[4] Such places are marked in the map as CT (census town) or R (rural/ urban centre). Specific tea estate pages...

Great photography spot or rather the only photography spot over mirik lake. Used by tourists to cross over to other side of the lake. You can also enjoy the chilling breeze blowing over the lake. The view of the town with the Buddhist pagoda is satisfying. You can also cross over to the other side of the lake for some horse riding to...

It's just a foot bridge to cross Mirik lake to go to other side of lake. It has become a photography spot as view from the bridge is good. The bridge itself looks beautiful. There are horses at other side for short distance riding and for taking photographs...