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

Gangtok (UNI): He shares his first name with the Indian Idol 3, but this Prashant is making waves on yet another reality show on the television. Prashant Rasaily, a budding director from Sikkim, has entered the top ten of the first Indian reality show based on film making Gateway presided over by Ashok Amritraj, the chairman and CEO of Hyde Park Entertainment. Prashant became the third person from the Hills in recent times to have made it at the top of reality shows after Indian Idol Prashant Tamang and Chhote Ustaad aspirant Prakriti Giri. This achievement means that the talent pool from the Hills is making a presence yet again on the small screen. The twelve week episode is being presided over by Amritraj and being shot at Subash Ghai's film school in Bombay Whistling Woods. The acting talent has been arranged by Anupam Kher's acting school, Talent Company. At the end of the series, Amritraj will select a winner for the grand prize: an intern ship in Hollywood whe...

Gangtok, Jun 12: After conducting three survey trips in Sikkim's Kangchendzonga National Park (KNP) over the past three years, a five-member team, headed by Professor Trevor Price from the US, voiced their excitement over the possibility of finding rare bird species that have not yet been discovered. Prof Price told UNI that a recent census, concluded on June nine, showed that rare bird species like Rufus Breasted Bush Robin and Blue Fretted Blue Robin, which were globally threatened species, were found in good numbers at the KNP. ''During our census, we found that these rare bird species are common in KNP. If such birds are in good numbers in KNP, definitely there must be more other exotic species and also some amphibians that have not yet been discovered globally,'' Prof Rice said. Now named as Biosphere Reserve in Sikkim, KNP is a haven of prized Musk Deer, elusive Snow Leopard and the shy Himalayan Tharr, the Shapi of Sikkim. The KNP is one of ...

Gangtok, June 4: After two months of overflow in tourism in the state beginning from April with different tourist hotspots locked in a fierce battle, the mountainous Nathu La-Changu corridor still stands out as the lifeline of Sikkim tourism. Nowhere in the world can one travel from an elevation of 5,000 ft (Gangtok) to the surreal heights of 14,400 ft (Nathu La) wihtin two hours flat, tourism stakeholders basking in the after-glow of a bumper season said here. According to the figures provided by the State Tourism Department, around 1.7 lakh domestic and 6763 foreign tourists had already arrived in Sikkim in the past four months. The figures of the peak month, May have yet to be accounted by the department. Among these tourists, especially the domestic tourists, a visit to Nathu La-Baba Mandir-Changu Lake axis is a must. Fifty tourist vehicles are permitted by the Army per day to visit Nathu La border, while a visit to Changu Lake and Baba Mandir carries no ceiling. ...