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

Sir Tashi Namgyal succeeded his brother to become Sikkim’s 11th rule in 1914. His reign was characterized by socio-economic reforms, including the separation of executive and judicial powers, and the abolition of unpaid labor. Here, people sit for his coronation luncheon in 1914. Source: I love Siliguri facebook

Internet as always had been my biggest friend and whenever i find something that’s exciting in context to Sikkim my joys knows no limit. This time I have found an invitational letter to the Coronation Ceremony of Last Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal that dates back to 1965. This letter was on sale on ebay.com. The letter reads everything about the receiving of the guests at Bagdogra Airport and Siliguri Railway Station. It is also said that the acceptance of invitational card should be replied in advance on March 15, 1965.  A very interesting thing I really loved reading this letter was about the dress code used for the function and I am sure this was the very first time such thing was ever done in this part of the world.

We have all seen the eight lucky signs of Buddhism in various Buddhist-related customs. But to see something like "Sernya," also known as the pair of golden fishes, in the middle of the Coronation Bridge near Sevoke was not expected by me, at least. The sculpted picture features a pair of fish forming a circle with a conch shell at its center. According to Buddhism, " A Pair of Golden Fishes symbolizes the resurrection of eternal life, rebirth, etc. The pair signifies the ability to swim with ease without obstruction in the ocean of this world. They may also be taken to symbolize the eye of perception as fish can see through muddy water. The fish couple suggests mutual aid and indispensability between male and female material life."  But it still finds me in mystery, well, what was that pair of fish doing there.....could be a way of honouring the marine life that f...

Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal Coronation (April 4 1965)

Extracted from Pakistan Defence India’s “Chief Executive” in Gangtok wrote: “Sikkim’s merger was necessary for Indian national interest. And we worked to that end. Maybe if the Chogyal had been smarter and played his cards better, it wouldn’t have turned out the way it did.” It is also said that the real battle was not between the Chogyal and Kazi Lendup Dorji but between their wives. On one side was Queen Hope Cook, the American wife of the Chogyal and on the other was the Belgian wife of the Kazi, Elisa-Maria Standford. “This was a proxy war between the American and the Belgian,” says former chief minister BB Gurung. But there was a third woman involved: Indira Gandhi in New Delhi. Chogyal Palden met the 24-year-old New Yorker Hope Cook in Darjeeling in 1963 and married her. For Cook, this was a dream come true: to become the queen of an independent kingdom in Shangrila. She started taking the message of Sikkimese independence to the youth, and the allegations started flying thic...

This page is scanned from the book Coronation published in 1965. The book show case the scenes from the Coronation of Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal. Below is the copy of the speech given by the Chogyal after his coronation.

Today is the 44th anniversary of the coronation of Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal, the last Chogyal of Sikkim. His marriage with Hope Cooke, an American gave Sikkim a world wide attention and it was for the first time on his coronation the gates for the western world was opened to Sikkim. Donning the Royal Crown Chogyal addressing his speech from the throne Source : Sikkim Coronation