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

Tension grips Darjeeling and Siliguri as clashes continue between GJMM supporters and anti-Gorkhaland SILIGURI/DARJEELING, June 12: Army is on standby and Section 144 clamped in Siliguri in West Bengal as three organizations called a total bandh opposing the demand for creation of a separate Gorkhaland state. Earlier, Police lathicharged and tear-gassed on protesters who went on a rampage stopping traffic, throwing stones and burning tyres. Some tourists were also injured in the clashes. In the wake of fresh tension arising out of clashes between supporters of Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha’s (GJMM) and anti-Gorkhaland factions in Siliguri and parts of Darjeeling, the West Bengal Government today called in the Army in Siliguri and adjacent ...

The Army has been put on alert in Siliguri and neighbouring areas after violent clashes broke out between Gorkhas and non-Gorkhas during a 48-hour bandh called by the Amra Bangali with support from Jana Chetana, an outfit formed to oppose the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) demand for inclusion of Siliguri and areas of the Dooars in a separate state of Gorkhaland. SSB border guards were later despatched in many parts of Siliguri town and on its outskirts. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who was asked by Left Front partner CPI to “hold talks without pre-conditions” with the GJM, called an all-party meeting, which is slated to be held on June 17 to discuss the Darjeeling crisis caused by the demand to form a separate state altogether. Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who described the Siliguri incidents as “a matter of great anxiety”, has urged people to do nothing that will instigate any sort of violence. In Delhi, the Union Home Ministry said it had moved nearly 1,00...

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//

Bishal Cintury GANGTOK, December 9: More than 4,000 people including tourists thronged to the Old Rumtek monastery and Enchey monastery to witness the Kagyed Dance (mask dance) today. The dance is divided into two parts known as Gotur Chaam and Maha Kala Chaam are performed by the Kagyu and Nyingmapa sect of Buddhist here. Monks wearing from various monasteries around the state gathered here to participate in the event. “Five different dances ~ Sangdikokar, Chaksipa, Sewa, Singzong and Sena are being performed by the monks to ward-off all the demons and devils from the state and hail in Sikkimese New Year that begins tomorrow” said Mr Kanor Bhutia a member of the Dutche (organising committee). “We started our puja of Maha Kala, a guardian deity of Sikkim 15 days ago and concluded today ~ on the 29th day of the 10 month of lunar calendar” he added. Monks were seen chanting mantras, harping out melodies with their traditional instruments like drums and cymbal...

And so is their highhanded treatment by tourism officials GANGTOK, June 13: At a time when there is been a tremendous increase in the inflow of tourists to Sikkim, reports of a majority of tourists complaining about the denial of ‘Athiti Devo Bhava’ treatment, an initiative of the Tourism Department to attract hosts of both international and domestic tourists every year, may came as a rude awakening. Tourism is one sector that has been identified as one of the most sustainable industries for Sikkim, with tremendous potential for growth. Sikkim is the late starter in the development of tourism because it joined the mainstream of India in the 1975. Yet among the North-Eastern states, Sikkim draws the largest number of tourists. The domestic tourist arrival from April 2004 to March 2005 was 4, 17,394 (approx). As with regards to the inflow of domestic tourists from April 2005 to March 2006 was 2, 57801 while from April 2006 to March 2007 is recorded at 3,02,693 meaning a ...