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

Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal Coronation (April 4 1965)

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.

Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal and Hope Cooke at Palace

From The Sunday Indian Volume 3 Issue 1 06 October-12 October 2008

I was not born when Sikkim got merged with the mighty Indian Union, but being a student of Sikkim History, all that is available to me is a rack of books by different authors and those old folks who had been part of that historical “April ‘73’ Agitation”.  When I go through the history of Sikkim, April ‘73 Agitation holds an important role, mostly as the turning point of the Independent Sikkim and the Sikkim State. The mass demonstrations against the Chogyal rule shocked the 300-year-old monarchy system and ushered in democratic rule in Sikkim.  The agitation was a result “due to big differences which ensued with the demand of repoll in one booth by Kazi Lhendup Dorji and Mr. Krishna Chandra Pradhan, as such the Chogyal had to face the people’s agitation launched by the Joint Action Committee with the tacit blessings of the Government of India. This people’s political movement spearheaded by Kazi Lhendup Dorji finally resulted in Sikkim joining the mainstream as the 22nd State...

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

Today holds a special place in the history of Sikkim as it was on this day that mass agitation against the Chogyal rule took off, which led to the downfall of the monarchy rule in Sikkim.  The agitation was a result “ due to serious differences which ensued with the demand of repoll in one booth by Kazi Lhendup Dorji and Mr. Krishna Chandra Pradhan, as such the Chogyal had to face the people's agitation launched by the Joint Action Committee with the tacit blessings of the Government of India.  This people's political movement, spearheaded by Kazi Lhendup Dorji, finally resulted in Sikkim joining the mainstream as the 22nd State of India in 1975 (sikkiminfo.net)". I was going through an article, " Lesson of Democracy from Sikkim, " by Carleton Cole, that recapitulates the movement of the April 73 Agitation.   Cole writes, " In April 1973, after making allegations that a round of elections had been rigged in favor of the Bhutia, thus making ethnic Nepali...

Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal at TNA School photographs shared by Vicky Palzor Lepcha

Ok...this was an interesting photograph i found in Corbis website can you say who are they?

Well Uli i am sure without you my article on late Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal and his adventure with Ham radio was not possible. So when i get it printed on this monthly magazine from Gangtok i dedicate this article to you. I shall ever remain grateful for the help you provided to me along with those numerous scans. I also thank Rajesh Verma for his inputs on being the only post merger Hams from Sikkim. This article is published in the February issue of Talk Sikkim monthly magazine printed and published from Gangtok.

Funeral photographs of the Late Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal (29th January, 1982) Photo shared by Bijay Sharma, Singtam Also read: Photograph of the the last King and Queen of Sikkim The AC3PT: A story of the deleted country The last Chogyal (King) of Sikkim

BY SHITAL PRADHAN My story on AC3PT was widely appreciated, and it was something new to the people of Sikkim too. Little did I know that one person in the entire crowd was closely watching my article, and he, too, had been part of Sikkim Ham radioactivity. Meet Rajesh Verma, Director, Department of Information Technology, Government of Sikkim. Rajesh Verma is better known in Sikkim for his well-liked Guide book on Sikkim. Nevertheless, few people really know that he was also an active radio ham with a call sign VU2RVM, and he had also written a book on the radio. His book “ABC of Amateur Radio and Citizen Band” was first published in 1987. A sample of the VU2RVM QSL Card Cover of the book written by Rajesh Verma It was more of an opportunity for me to swap emails with Rajesh Verma. I shall also remain grateful to him for the book that he sent me along with his personal call sign QSL card. I am here sharing his call sign QSL card, which shows eight lucky signs of Buddhist cul...

BY SHITAL PRADHAN To the amateur radio stations in the world, he was just “AC3PT”, a name that is today counted as a deleted or dead country in the pages of Ham Radio. A "Ham" is an Amateur who receives and transmits on short waves, a fascinating hobby followed since the late 18 th century.  An amateur radio enthusiast AC3PT was very well-known among amateur radio communicators across the world. Being on the map of HAM Radio since 1963, AC3PT suddenly came to an abrupt end on April 9, 1975. “…now Indian troops storming my room…” was the last message that radio amateurs across the world last heard of AC3PT. The distressed caller was none other than Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal, the last Chogyal of Sikkim State, sending his last-minute SOS across the world. When I first read about the AC3PT and the ham radio sometime back in one of the chapters of a much sought-after merger book on Sikkim, “Smash and Grab: Annexation of Sikkim” by Sunanda K Datta-Ray I could hard...