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

16.10.23, Singtam: Sikkim Philatelists achieved remarkable success at the two-day TARAIPEX 2023 , a District Level Philatelic Exhibition organized by the Department of Posts at Ramkinkar Hall , Dinabandu Manch, Siliguri . In the senior category, Depen Pradhan secured a silver and a bronze medal for his exhibits “ India Pre-Independence " and ‘Indian Freedom Struggle through Philately’.  Similarly, Sishir Pradhan and Shital Pradhan each received a Bronze for their exhibits ' The World of Football ' and ' Special Covers of Sikkim ', respectively. Master Avishu Pradhan, a student of St. Joshep, Rhenock won a silver in the Junior category for his exhibit ' Stamps on Personalities '. Roshan Prasad, the other philatelist from Sikkim was in the invitee class.  Philatelists from North Bengal including Darjeeling, Siliguri and Cooch Behar and, Sikkim participated in the exhibition. The two-day program also featured a Letter Writing Competition, Sit and Draw compe...

Siliguri,24 th June : The concept of Gorkha Bharati Vichar Manch was formally launched at an event organized at Hotel Royal Sarovar in Siliguri on June 24, 2012. The function was attended by well-known dignitaries from various North East states as well as from Sikkim and North Bengal region. The convener for the event was Mr. Krishna Bhujel from Guwahati and Dr. BR Chettri, an eminent educationist from Kalimpong, was present as the Guest of Honour.   Gorkha Bharati Vichar Manch is conceptualized to work towards raising awareness on the identity issue of the Indian Gorkhas which has had a long history of being misinterpreted and misrepresented. The Vichar Manch is of the opinion that the Indian National History has to be written in a correct perspective so that minority communities like Gorkhas do not get sidelined and marginalized from the country’s mainstream. It is because of this incorrect history or rather the incorrect interpretation of history that communities like the Gork...

By Sanjay Agarwal Miss Puja Sharma of Rangpo Secondary School bagged the Tilottamma Jury Special and the Statesman Photogenic Face Awards 2010. The competition organized by Uttar Annanda Bazar Patrika and The Statesman at Uttar Banga Marwari Bhawan at Siliguri was participated by 12 participants of North Bengal and Sikkim. Siliguri Deputy Mayor Mr. Nantu Paul was the chief guest of the program. The daughter of Mr. CP Sharma and Mrs. Januka Pradhan, Puja Sharma was the youngest participant in the competition. A special program was organized at school to welcome her. Miss Tripii Diyali, from Namchi, has announced the 2nd runners up of the competition.

from: sikkimreporter Gangtok: Nitish Sharma of Melli Kerabari, South Sikkim, has reached the final round of North Bengal Little Genius, a singing competition being held at Siliguri.   Son of school teachers Mr. KP Sharma and Bhima Sharma, ten years old Nitish is a student of class five and a good singer of Bangla, Hindi, and Nepali songs. The competition which began on January 24 will be concluded on March 20 with a live telecast by the Zee Bangla channel.

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...

SNT, as Sikkim Nationalised Transport, is popularly known as the backbone of Sikkim's rich, old heritage and transportation history. When I came across the article “A review of Nationalised Road Transport in Sikkim (1944-1969)” written by L.H Hartnett, the then General Manager of Sikkim Nationalised Transport, published in the Silver Jubilee magazine of SNT in 1969, I found some excellent preview of the early days of the Sikkim state transport system that was to change the scenario of Sikkim transportation within the next fifty years. It would take a while to complete the review of the Sikkim Nationalised Transport over the last six decades, but I would be more precise in bringing to mind the early days that completed the establishment of today’s SNT. People boarding the Sikkim Transport Service Bus at Deorali (the late 50s) The year was 1944; when the rest of the world was engaged in the disastrous Second World War, a department called the Truck Department run by the Governmen...

BY SHITAL PRADHAN Part 1 SNT as Sikkim Nationalised Transport is popularly known has been a backbone of a rich old heritage in Sikkim transportation history. Set up in 1944 and more than 50 years later it is still going stronger, marching ahead with pride. It is believed anything to begin takes immense hardship and patience, in this article we would be carrying out the story of the first twenty-five years of Sikkim Nationalised Transport, a pride of Sikkim . The year was 1944; when the rest of the world was engaged in the disastrous Second World War, a department called Truck Department run by Government of Sikkim was the forefront of transportation in the hills of Sikkim . Sikkim then had….snowfall in the Northern Ranges in winter…rainfall exceeding 100 inches a year during monsoons… frequent landslides…subsidence… weak bridges…absence of airport. For a hilly region like that of Sikkim where major development in the field of transportation was merely a dream; Tr...

   Halo is nothing but a natural phenomena where the ring like formation is found around the sun. This halo was seen in Siliguri on August 10 but this one was special since it coincided with the start of the Big Bang experiment in Geneva.

Tourists in Sikkim thronged at Sikkim Nationalised Transport (SNT) depot Monday morning, making anxious inquiries about means of transport to Siliguri which is under bandh. An SNT official told Sikkim Reporter that seven buses will be provided with escort later in the day to ferry the stranded tourists. Chief Secretary Mr. N D Chingapa held a high-level meeting at Tashiling Secretariat Monday evening to take stock of the situation. http://sikkimreporter.com//

GANGTOK/SILIGURI, June 10: The indefinite bandh called by the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) today in the Darjeeling Hills has severely affected normal life in Sikkim. Panic-stricken tourists, who were unable to leave the State yesterday, thronged the motor stands in the Capital today hoping for some respite. The fact that the GJMM has not left the National Highway 31A connecting Sikkim with the rest of the country out of the purview of the bandh, has made matters worse for the tourists. Hundreds of passengers heading towards Sikkim were stranded at the SNT bus stand in Siliguri as well. More than 300 hapless passengers had no choice but to wait for hours with the hope of getting some alternative way to head towards Sikkim. Among the stranded passengers, the majority of th...

Gangtok May 14: Star Universal Resource Company Inc an American company with headquarters in New York, that specializes in making express highways, tunnels Airports the world over made a presentation on Sevok-Gangtok -Nathula expressway to the Chief Minister Mr Pawan Chamling at Chintan Bhawan here in the capital. The company that will also finance the entire project said that the total cost of this express highway will come to about Rs 1550 Crores.  The express highway will have tunnels and bridges with two lanes and the slope of the tunnel will be less than 3 % it will be all-weather concrete roads, open around the clock. Before coming here this project was presented to Minister DONER Mr Mani Shankar Iyer, and only about 30 km of the highway will be in West Bengal and the company h...

Statesman News Service SILIGURI, Feb. 21 : A group of agitated Siliguri taxi owners and drivers today intercepted all Sikkim vehicles at Salugara near Siliguri this morning because their vehicles were not being allowed to move through the NH31A to Sikkim due to the GJMM called an indefinite bandh in Darjeeling hills. The agitators held up over 30 Sikkim taxis at Salugara, offloaded the passengers, and asked the vehicles to return to Sikkim.  The Siliguri taxi owners and drivers are unhappy with the GJMM, which is not allowing vehicles with West Bengal number plates to pass through the NH31A to Sikkim. The same was not applicable for vehicles bearing Sikkim number plates though. The NH31A is the only link to Sikkim from Siliguri and a sizeable portion of the arterial road passes through the Darjeeling hills. As part of their indefinite bandh, the GJMM picketers are not allowing the West Bengal vehicles to Sikkim since 20 February, thus directly affecting the livelihood of the Siligu...

(NEWS taken from other sources) S iliguri:,17 Dec: A girl working in a call girl centre here became the victim of Dalals who was sold at Pune. Despite being educated and conscious, the girl was falsely given the fake form of a call centre at Pune and asked to appear for an interview there. The Dalals also arrange to talk to the employer telephonically.  Believing that she would get a handsome salary, she left Siliguri and went to Pune but she was sold to the brothel and she knew the truth only after she was sold. However, she managed to inform her house about the truth and Siliguri Police managed to rescue the girl and she narrated the whole story.  Earlier, police rescued two girls of Sikkim from Pune. There are many missing girls from Sikkim and Darjeeling and it is doubted that most of them might have been sold in the brothel. Two girls as shown in the picture are missing some months ago from Lapchey Busty, Badamt...

By DT Correspondent on November 18,2007 Darjeeling, 18 Nov: This is not happening for the first time in Darjeeling that Jamuna Subba and Sangita Rai from Badamtam, Darjeeling, have been missing since October 3. They absconded from home after coaxing two culprits Binay Tamang and Dorje Tamand alias Raju Tamang. After the active initiative of their parents, both culprits were arrested in Siliguri on October 15.  However, missing two girls have not yet been able to bring them back homes. Two girls have been expected to be sold in red-light areas by these two culprits. Hitherto, Siliguri police authorities have failed to produce any result, as well the network of this racket.  Two culprits, Binay Tamang and Dorje Tamang are under Siliguri police custody. “Nari Akta Sakti”, a women's welfare organisation based in Darjeeling, has come forward with the issue and appealed to Siliguri Kanchanjanga rehabilitation centre (SKRC), to look into the matter seriously. SKRC ...