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

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 ...

A woman picking up saag near Pandam Garhi pic by Praja Pradhan

This photograph was taken from Subbiah sir's blog sometime back. He did tell me about some stone inscriptions found in the upper part of Pandam and since more stone inscriptions have been recovered recently, I found some lesser-known parts of Sikkim's history are set to unfold.

A stone tablet found at Pandam Garhi Pandam Garhi is one such place that has always fascinated me. Several stories stay behind the backdrop of its origin, drawing interest among the common man for ages. I had heard a few war narratives related to the Pandam Garhi (fort) and Teen Jhurrey fort, where the armies from opposite camps used to throw round river stones towards each other. This age-old method of throwing stones is more of a legend, webbed in stories transferred from one generation to another. I am told that people discovered rusted arrows, cannon balls, and a ‘ jhatoa’ used for grinding grains and other objects in recent years by cattle grazers and by people moving to the jungle in search of wood. But this summer, the discovery found underneath the shifted rock boulders and muddy debris of Pandam Garhi has excited the local people out there. Stone tablets, pottery pieces, and a few other bits and pieces of history related to the region were found by the locals at the recent...

--> RUINS OF PANDAM GARHI BY SHITAL PRADHAN The stories of the legendary ruined walls at Pandam, a 16 km uphill climb from Rangpo, as I had heard from old folks a few seasons back, had ever since excited me to visit this place. Never in the pages of a history book do we come across its talk about when it was built or how it was constructed at the top of the hill? Over the years, many theories have evolved regarding its origin. Some theorists associate the fort with some Lepcha legends, while few disagree with it and have their own adage.  They make us believe one of the Chogyals constructed it to stop the approaching Bhutanese army from entering Sikkim. The last theory to add up, already baffling and controversial, says it was one of the Gurkha Generals from Nepal who constructed the fort along with the Kalika Mandir, also called Nishani Mandir, just below it. With each theory making questions over my mind, I decided to have my second trek to the Pandam Garhi. I had ...