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

Botanists Frank Ludlow and George Sherriff with Frederick Williamson in-front of Residency (Now Raj Bhawan) in Gangtok (1933). The botanist duo had visited Sikkim and Tibet in 30s and early 40s for specimen collection.  (Photo Source: Wikipedia)

             Tashiding Monastery: A sacred Guru Rimpoche blessed –III   Studying Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö:  ii Volker Dencks, a Frenchman, contacted me from my blog ‘ Proud to be a Sikkimese ’ and shared with me about the great Tibetan teacher in Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö. He said various biographies were floating on the internet, but they don't mention Jamyang Khyentse Lodro's time in Sikkim. He further added that he was sending me some information about Jamyang Khyentse, where he needed my help. The blog ‘ Remembering the Masters ’ on Jamyang Khyentse writes that  in 1955/56, Crown Prince Thondup Namgyal traveled to Lhasa with a special mission on behalf of India's Prime Minister Pandit Nehru: An invitation for His Holiness the Dalai Lama to join the celebrations for the 2,500 year anniversary of the birth of Buddha, which would enable him to forge international alliances, drawing...

-->   Tashiding Monastery: A sacred Guru Rimpoche blessed –II Studying Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö :  i   Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö in Gangtok (approx. 1959) As we entered Tashiding, different thoughts were visiting me. I was talking to myself and was wondering about the early scenario that might have occurred out there. After the newly constructed road ended, we suddenly walked for a few minutes when we reached the monastery gate. The old monastery was the first that we came across, and a few steps ahead, the giant-looking Tashiding monastery was standing in front of us. I had peace of mind when I was at the monastery premises. I looked at those old relics inside the monastery but was not allowed to click, nevertheless I inquired about the chorten of the learned Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö but nothing pleasing to me happened. I was told by Volker Dencks, who first introduced me to Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi  Lodrö’s  vis...

Now what is this flying object above the contrails sighted from Singtam I do not know how correct I am but….a comparative studies of the so called contrails photographs from other part of the word with that of those observed in Sikkim in the last two months draws a similar conclusion. It was more of a curiosity that drew my interest into this mysterical phenomenon that had many faces gazing across the sky in inquisitiveness. I too wanted to know, what were those thick lines of clouds that were sighted on certain places of Sikkim in the last two months? I have observed people say, those clouds arranged in a straight line looked like the smokes of some object, stayed on the sky for some time and vanished in air. The knowledge bank, Wikipedia defines a term “contrail” that means “Contrails (short for "condensation trails") or vapour trails are basically artificial clouds, visible trails of condensed water vapour, made by the exhaust of aircraft engines. As the hot exhaus...

Wikipedia HISTORY OF SIKKIM : The earliest recorded event related to Sikkim is the passage of the Buddhist saint Guru Rinpoche through the land in the 8th century. The Guru is reported to have blessed the land, introduced Buddhism to Sikkim, and foretold the era of monarchy in the state that would arrive centuries later. In the 14th century, according to legend, Khye Bumsa, a prince from the Minyak House in Kham in Eastern Tibet, had a divine revelation one night instructing him to travel south to seek his fortunes. His descendants were later to form the royal family of Sikkim.  In 1642, the fifth-generation descendant of Khye Bumsa, Phuntsog Namgyal, was consecrated as the first Chogyal (king) of Sikkim by the three venerated Lamas who came from the north, west and south to Yuksom, marking the beginning of the monarchy. Phuntsog Namgyal was succeeded in 1670 by his son, Tensung Namgyal, who moved the capital from Yuksom to Rabdentse. In 1700, Sikkim was invaded by the Bhutanese w...