Step - Aside Deshbandhu Museum

Step into the beautiful valleys of Darjeeling and witness the place where one of the great freedom fighters of India took his last breadth. Step Aside Deshbandhu Museum is a two-storied white building where Chittaranjan Das stayed for two months before his demise and the museum houses all his personal articles and furniture he used during his stay.

About the Museum

A historically significant museum, Step Aside Deshbandhu Museum is located inside a two-storied beautiful white building in Darjeeling where the great patriot and freedom fighter from Bengal, Chittaranjan Das lived the last two months of his life. The building was built during the 1900s and the first floor where he lived and took his last breath has now been converted into a museum where all his personal possessions are preserved.

Chittaranjan Das was known as ‘Deshbandhu’ which means ‘a friend of nation’ because of his relentless work and contribution towards the free India movement during the British Raj. The museum was inaugurated on November 5, 2007 by the former justice Smt. Manjula Bose with an aim to enlighten the youth about the great freedom fighter and the rich history of our country. Deshbandhu arrived in Darjeeling on May 16, 1925 to take a break from his political life and also to take care of his health. Here, many political leaders visited Chittaranjan Das including Mahatma Gandhi and Annie Besant.Though, on the path of recovery from his bad health, he unexpectedly fell ill and passed away on 16th June, 1925. In August 1953, Deshbandhu Memorial Society was formed who took the possession of the house and later on turned it into a museum. The museum houses all the furniture and his personal articles that Chittranjan Das used during his last days. The ground floor of the museum houses a health clinic that caters to the needs and health requirements of the poor and anyone in need as a gift to the society on behalf of the Deshbandhu Memorial Society to always remember the Friend of the Nation Chittaranjan Das.