The house of Sir. George Everest, Mussoorie

Navrang India December 27, 2015
George Everest. www.bradyharanblog.com


 House of George Everest, first Surveyor Gen. of India. TopYaps

George Everest (4 July 1790 - 1 December 1866) was a Welsh surveyor and Geographer, and the Surveyor General of India 1830 through 1943. In 1816, Everest became assistant to Colonel Lambton, who was about to start the long and hard task of the Trigonometric Survey, a task that finally took 25 years. In 1852, a well-known Indian  mathematician working for the Great Trigonometric Survey of India, Radhanath Sikhdar, thought he had discovered the highest summit in the world. This was confirmed several years later by the Surveyor-General of India, George Everest.

Built in 1832,  Sir George Everest's House and Laboratory, also  called   ''Park House,'' is  located  in Park Estate about 6 kilometers (4 miles) west of Gandhi Chowk / Library Bazaar, (West end of the Mall Road), in Mussoorie, a famous hill station in the state of Uttarakhand. This hill station was first established by the British Military Officer Cap. Young in 1827.  From his house, which is perching atop a small peak, in the back  drop of the snow capped majestic Himalayas in the north, one can have a breathtaking  panoramic view of the Doon Valley on one side and  of the Aglar River valley to the North. On one side was the town of Dehradun, on the other, was the  Happy Valley. Incidentally,  Mussoorie was the Dalai Lama’s first Indian home before Dharamsala, and Happy Valley  has  a fairly large Tibetan settlement. Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 before complete ill-legal occupation by China.
George Everest of British India Survey department once visited picturesque  Mussoorie and was mesmerized by the charm and serene green environment.  He owned a house  in Mussoorie,  which he bought from General Whish and kept it for about 11 years.  

Mt.Everest.www.cbc.ca

This historical house now  under the authority  of the Tourism Department  until recently was in bad shape. In George  Everest's days, water was scarce so  there were  underground water cisterns  outside the house  to meet the  water requirements. They were not ice pits and  were mainly   underground water tanks sunk  quite deep. Unfortunately, now  they lay uncovered in the front yard, filled with trash and litter,  posing  danger  to  humans  and  cattle,  particularly, during winter and  snow fall when  the ground is wet and slippery. 

The interior was  not in poor state with faded walls and falling plaster, however, most of the wooden beams supporting  the  ceiling, kitchen, door frames and  window  frames  stood the  test of  time.  Responding  to  several appeals  from  the conservation  groups and media, now the house has been well protected with periodic white washing and proper fencing  to prevent  trespassing and graffiti on the internal walls. The house that reminds us the legacy of George Everest, after whom the highest peak in the world is named against his wish, during the British era is accessible by road  although the road is very rough beyond Haathi Paon. The place still  retains the old charm and  attracts+ a lot of people, in particular, many history buffs and adventure-seekers.

The tourism department has a proposal to improve the entire area in the near future.

Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_EverestPark House