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

SINGTAM, FEBRUARY 23 : Two days SIKKIMPEX 2019 (Feb 21-22) held at Modern Senior Secondary School ended on a happy note. Two Special Covers were released on the occasion. The event was organized by Sikkim Postal Department.  Special Cover on Pakyong Airport that was the 100 th Operational Airport of India was released on an inaugural day by Ramtanu Shah, Airport Director, Pakyong. Royal Coronation throne of Norbugang, Yuksom was featured on a special cover released on next day by Dr. Anira Phipon Lepcha, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Sikkim University. Both the covers were designed by Singtam based philatelist Roshan Prasad.  The philatelic exhibition was held at Sikkim after ten years. Twenty-one philatelists from different parts of Sikkim, Darjeeling, and Siliguri had participated in the exhibition. Those philatelists were members of the Sikkim Philatelic and Numismatic Society.   Souvik Roy and Eeshita Basu Roy from Kolkata were amo...

Two days SIKKIMPEX 2019 ended in a happy note and I would like to thank every individual involved in making the event a success. But sad to say not everyone is happy with this reborn Sikkim Philately. I did not wanted to write on this topic but being associated with Sikkim Philately since last twenty years I could not stop myself. Since last few days, I have received many calls from philatelists from different parts of India complaining about Sikkim philatelists being invited to other exhibitions but them not being invited here this time. And why and how was a stamp collector from Kolkata only invited? Please don’t make politics on it. Please don’t create controversy. We are stamp lovers and we are not interested in phila-politics. What do you expect from us where we have only three genuine stamp collectors since last twenty years? A philatelic exhibition was held at Sikkim after more than ten years. It was the greatest pleasure for the Sikkim’s stamp collectors. No one...

Sikkim MP meets Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh to convey Sikkim CM Pawan Chamling’s support and commitment to help Pulwama terror victims New Delhi 19 February: Shri P D Rai, Sikkim’s lone Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Tuesday called on Hon’ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Rajnath Singh,   at his office and conveyed the state’s and Chief Minister Pawan Chamling’s unstinted support and commitment to the government over the heinous terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, J&K that resulted in the loss of lives of over 40 jawans and the destruction of their families.  Shri Rai conveyed that the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) has always supported the Government and the NDA/ NEDA unconditionally as has been advocated by party president, Shri Chamling. He said the SDF fully supports the stand taken by the Government to counter the terrorist activity that has resulted in a huge loss of lives of our brave jawans at and the people of Sikkim sta...

Expansion of the Sikkim State Assembly and granting of Tribal Status to Eleven left out communities discussed, among other important issues like North Sikkim Disaster Management Scheme New Delhi 12 February: The Members of Parliament from Sikkim, PD Rai Lok Sabha and Hishey Lachungpa Rajya Sabha, called on the Hon’ble Minister of Home Affairs, Shri Rajnath Singh today in his office. They briefed the Minister on a number of issues. First amongst them was the demand of expanding the Sikkim State Assembly from 32 seats to 40 seats and giving 5 seats reservation to the Scheduled Tribes of Limboo and Tamang, which is at the stage wherein Cabinet approval is needed. This demand has been consistently brought up by the Sikkim government and hence they requested that if it is not possible to introduce a bill during this session of the Parliament an ordinance must be promulgated by the Government for the same. Similarly, they presented the issue of giving Tribal Status to the eleven ...

The opening of the 98ft 'Cherenzig Shingkham Riwo Potala' near Pelling, West Sikkim marks the completion of the statutes of three principal Buddhist deities in Sikkim. The other two being the Buudha Statue at Ravangla and Guru Padmashambha Statue at Namchi, both in South Sikkim. The Cherenzig complex spread over 8.5 acre of land have a sky-walk - a stair case, water body with the magnificent eight- serpents (Klu- Chen- Gyet) and religious artifacts. A plaque of Cherenzig Shingkham Riwo Potala was officially inaugurated by the Chief Minister Shri. Pawan Chamling in presence of His Eminence Gonja Rinpoche and His Eminence Lachung Rinpoche on November 2, 2018. The total height of the statue from the base of the pedestal on which it is mounted is 135ft while the statue is 98 ft. There is a fleet of 100 stairs leading to the foot of the statue. This is the world’s tallest Cherenzig Statue. According to the THE TELEGRAPH, Gary Chopel, the lead archi...