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

I was part of a beautiful concept initiated by Roshan Prasad, our renowned philatelist from Singtam, to reinstall a neglected post box lying near the old post office building at the heart of the bazaar.   In a unique event, the members of the Sikkim Philatelic and Numismatic Society added a page to the map of the world’s postal history when they removed the neglected post box, gave it new colours, and permanently installed it near the water fountain as a Heritage Post Box. An earlier Sikkim postal cancellation mark, along with details about the establishment of the Post Office in Singtam in 1903, was inscribed on the stone slab beneath the base of the Post Box. The first of its kind in Sikkim, it proudly stands among one of the few of its sort in India and the world.  KN Rai, then Speaker of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly, inaugurated the Heritage Box at the event Inspire 2017 – A Hobby Fest, which coincided with the 12th anniversary of the Sikkim Philatelic and Numism...

Ten years back on my first visit to the Indra Jatra festival at Zero Point, Gangtok I happened to see a photo frame of a small girl in a red costume significantly distinct from other girls of her age with the painted third eye on her forehead. That was my first day with Indra Jatra, Newar’s biggest festival at Sikkim, and of course with the goddess Kumari, which in 2011 was declared a Government Holiday by the State Government of Sikkim.  The festival highlighted the pulling off of a chariot by the devotees with a photo frame of Goddess Kumari on it that was moved through the streets of Gangtok from Zero Point to MG Marg. The chariot was led by masked dancers with faces of deities in honour of God Indra and a long procession of Newar devotees. Getting back to the story of Kumari, it is said there are eleven living goddesses known as Kumari in Nepal. The Kumari of Kathmandu also known as the Royal Kumari is considered to be the most significant and largely followed by the Newa...

It was on the 20 th of May, 2009, I first published the news of the mysterious death of pigeons all over Singtambazaar on my blog . The pigeons were found dead on roads, house stairs drains, house roofs, and everywhere it was found. People denied any sort of Bird Flu but talked about some sort of disease in their head and die within a day. The death of pigeons did not stop for the next one and half months and on average 30 to 40 deaths were reported. The strange death of this avian creature was published in the newspapers and one of the national newspapers went on to say more than 10,000 deaths had occurred. It was false news but to my research, the death case had been around 2000.   I was too curious to know about its death and I closely held one dead bird from the nearby bazaar food go-down premises and found a small fly-like insect with a pointed antenna. These pigeons are being preyed to these small blood-sucking flies. Those flies carry infectious diseases that r...

Rongli , 24th May 2020 : Social activist Rudra Narsing Sakya from Rongli Bazar today presented four set of PPE kits , two bottles of hand sanitizer, eleven numbers of N95 mask s and two numbers of Non-Contract Forehead Infrared Thermometers to different officials of Rongli. The presentation of these materials was done at the premises of Rongli Police Station, maintaining social distancing in presence of PR Dulal , SDM , Rongli Sub-Division. The materials donated the officials included – Bhim Pradhan (BDO, Regu BAC), Dr. T. N. Sherpa (Medical Officer Incharge, Rongli PHC), Tashi C. Bhutia (SHO, Rongli Police Station) and Dawa Tshering Bhutia (Panchayat, 28 Rongli Changeylakha GPU). news by Praveen Pradhan

20.05.20, Singtam: Newa Bhay Bowney kuthi, Singtam completed a week-long voluntary service to the District Hospital Singtam as a support to the administration in its fight against Covid-19. NBB volunteers had requested people to sanitize their hands compulsorily while entering the hospital and follow social distance norms during the registration process as per the guidelines of the administration.  The volunteers provided masks, hand wash, hand sanitizer along with counselling to the individuals who did not follow rules and guidelines while entering the hospital. NBB also provided one month's ration to migrant labours identified by the DMS who needed support at this hour. Dr Tempo Gyaltsen, DMS, DHS appreciated the effort of the NGO for providing volunteers and creating awareness at such a time which eases the pressure off the administration and helps them focus on other important things. Binod Pradhan, President, NBB would like to thank Dr Tshering Laden (CM...

Picnic photograph of members of Singtam Driver Association-(most probably 1980s) LtoR: Lakpa Daju, Basant Agarwal, Hira Pradhan, Aatup Lepcha, Gandhey (गन्दे), Somaney Aaseng . (Identified by Mohan Pradhan Neeraj)

An article published on the website of the National Informatics Centre, Sikkim under the topic of Mammals of Sikkim in 2009 mentioned the possibility of Gangetic Dolphin at the river belt of Singtam – Rangpo. The report read - Distribution in Sikkim: May exist at Singtam, Rangpo and Melli (the confluence of Teesta and Rangeet). Size: Generally 2 m in length.  Gangetic Dolphin will not exactly be out of its range if is found to exist in our state. It is a creature found in the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and their larger tributaries to the bases of the hills. Their migratory behaviour, however, makes their presence possible here, particularly during the summer months.   I do not exactly know the further development of that suggested research but the river Teesta does surprises you with its secrets deep within. Since the construction of dams in neighbouring states those fishes that used to migrate for freshwater to lay their eggs are no more to be found.  I do remem...

On May 8, 2020, the Sikkim state cabinet meeting sanctioned different funds through different government departments. Among these sanctioned lists was the approval and sanction of Rs.6383.00 lakhs (Rupees sixty-three crores and eighty-three lakhs only) for the construction of the Pilgrimage Centre with a 54-foot-high statue of Nishani Kali Devi at Central Pandam, East Sikkim, under the Civil and Tourism Department. This project will definitely help the region grow and provide better prospects for tourism. Visitors who look for new destinations will appreciate the natural beauty around the mandir. The panoramic beauty of the hills across will rightly capture the exquisiteness of nature.  I have visited this place four times, and this mandir falls on the way to the historic Pandam Garhi ruins. We had always talked about Garhi ruins, but stories related to Kali Mandir or the Pandam Garhi Mandir were limited to oral rendition and followed from generation to generation. These ...

The earliest mention of the name Singtam is found in the 1888 Lepcha-Bhutia Grammar book, where the town of Singtam was among the ten popular places in Sikkim. A travel book published in the early 1940s mentions Singtam as a small river-side town with a Post Office. What is more fascinating is that it was not the present business capital of Singtam that was a sought-after marketplace more than eight decades back. Still, a little heard of Sirubari, now angelized Sirwani that was more popular than Singtam, and people far across the remote corner of the state would walk down to Sirubari to buy or exchange “siru” with their belongings. Singtam, at the moment, is the busiest town among the four districts, and its Friday haat is one of the most popular in the entire state. But the story wasn't the same eight decades back as it is today. Those days, the small siru bazaar of Sirubari (Sirwani) was well known. People would never mind walking all three days to reach this place to collect ...