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

Every one is quite familiar with this iconic photograph of Triveni taken from Peshoke View Point. The famed triveni is the place where the two great rivers of Sikkim - the Teesta and Rangeet meets and unites to form a new river that finally meets Bay of Bengal in the Sundarban Deltas. Teesta originates from Tso Lhamo Lake also called Cholamu in north Sikkim at an altitude of 17,500 ft (i.e. 5,330m). While Rangeet originates from a glacier of Mount Kabru at the lower Kanchenjunga region.  But the interesting fact is that i bet the photograph above is one of the first taken of this popular side. The picture is taken by Robert Philips and the date of circulation in 1870.

--> Tashiding, in West Sikkim, was one place I wanted to visit for the last few years, but it never happened until last month, and I am in high spirits. I finally did it. Regarded as the holiest of monasteries in Sikkim, the Tashiding Monastery, over the centuries, does hold strong its own legends and folks. The first look at the faintly yellow roof of the monastery on top of a hill from the opposite roadway gave me a pleasant feel that was beyond my expectations. The Monastery is built atop a ridge between the Rangit and Ratong rivers. I am told of a legend that  Guru Padmasambhava  had shot an arrow to select his place of meditation, which is the present site of the Tashiding Monastery.  It is even said that the rock is still found at the Tashiding Monastery premises, where the great Guru meditated. One of the reasons I wanted to visit this place was to see the stupa of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, regarded as the most outstanding Tibetan master of the...

Akkar Bridge at Jorethang , South Sikkim that flows over Rangit River is the India's first Cable-stayed concrete bridge. Designed by Bergermann and Partner, Stuttgart was completed in 1989.  Materials used are steel for cables and concrete in rest of the structure. Its length spans 2 x 77 m, deck width 11.10 m and its pylon height 54.60 m.