Proud to be a Sikkimese: Sikkim Travel, Culture & Local Heritage

21-year-old Sangey Udenla from Gangtok has been selected for the Doordarshan Primetime Television Serial “Ek Tha Rusty” based on Ruskin Bond's famous author. Shooting for the serial will take place at Mussoorie, Dehradun.   She is one of the findings of Sikkim Model Hunt 2012. She is a final year student of Political Science (Hons) at Daulatram College, New Delhi.

  [ It has been a wonderful response from different places in the state, including Darjeeling District, regarding my findings on the Postal History of Sikkim. I am happy that my readers found information that they have heard less. Continuing the previous article, I share the Postal System of the British Expedition of 1888, which played an important role in turning Sikkim into what it is today.] Geoffrey Flack, in “ Sikkim Field Force 1888-89; Precursor to the Younghusband Expedition,” published in Postal Himal (No.78, 2 nd Quarter 1994) writes ……. on March 20 th 1888, Brigadier General T Graham was sent with a force of 2000 men to retake the lands of Sikkim that were invaded by the Tibetans. The Tibetans offered little resistance, crossed the Jalepla, and attacked Gnatong; the British men forced the Tibetans to drive them to the frontiers. Brigadier General T Graham requested the extension of the telegraph line towards the Tibetan side of Jalepla, which was later sancti...

For the stamp-sized state of Sikkim, November 6, 2006, held a moment of glory and recognition in the world philately. In a group of five lakes from different parts of India, Indian Postage featured a postal stamp on Changu Lake. This Changu Lake stamp with an Rs. 5 denomination can be found among the five Himalayan Lakes of India, including Roop Kund, Sela, Tsomo Riri, and Chandra Tal. Bharati Mirchandani designed the stamp and First Day Cover, and Alka Sharma designed the cancellation.  The stamp is printed by India Security Press in Nasik using photogravure. It was the first time in the history of Indian postage stamps that a theme from Sikkim was introduced on an Indian postage stamp. For the last few years, efforts have been made to feature individual themes from Sikkim. Along these lines, various tourist destinations, including Rumtek Monastery, Changu (Tsangu) Lake, Guru Dongmor Lake, Nathula Pass, and the cultural diversity of Sikkim, were discussed, but it was ...

This photograph from 1966 shows the then Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal and Gyalmo Hope Cooke visiting KC Pradhan, who was then studying Masters in Forestry at Yale University (USA). Pic: Ebay

October 5th, Day 1:  Even a 5.30 am drive from Dalapchand was not enough for us (the Bee Fest Team from Dalapchand SS) to reach the venue at TNA, Gangtok, on time for the opening ceremony of the Bee Fest 2012. It was already 10 am when we reached there. There was excitement and anxiety mixed in the looks of our small group. I told my students we were doing our best and we would all enjoy the moment of being part of the of-its-kind Bee Fest 2012, an inter-school scholastic competition to be held in our state of Sikkim. Sushil Rai, a 13-year-old from class viii from Dalapchand SS, the same student who had been featured in my earlier article on Bee Fest, was the youngest in our group. He was one of the two students from our school participating in Bee Innovate. People looking at him wondered anxiously whether or not he was the same person whose photograph had been featured in a Bee Fest article at  Sikkim Express . The shy-looking Sushil never understood his popularity. When...