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

Shital Pradhan Sometime I wonder, around the belt I sleep, The wonderful thoughts and off course the beauty, I believe, I am fortunate ever, Fortunate ever to be born, Born in this serene part of land, Sikkim, my serene Sikkim. The best part of it, Simplicity lies in every heart, Eagerness and handwork the synonym, Every child stores a dream, Dream to make big, shoves off. Among the crowd there is me, Mine heart that beats for my Sikkim. Monastery, green fields and mountains, That is my Sikkim. My identification and my reality, Better off and still on realm, My Sikkim, my serene Sikkim. Land of beautiful flowers, The ocean of fauna, Here I find, heaven’s pleasure, All the way I sing, I plight for myself. I love my Sikkim... Sikkim, my serene Sikkim.

This is Mt Shital...from Sikkim. It looks more like a dormant volcano.

The mighty view of Mt. Kanchenjunga had always attracted me, whenever I come to Gangtok I never forget to have the first glimpse of the mountain god of Sikkim from the back drop at Deorali. I was going through the book of Pema and Mita on Kanchenjunga and the moment I saw the oil canvas painting of Kanchenjunga called Kinchinjunga, I was spell bound. The landscape called “ Kinchinjunga from Darjeeling ” painted by Edward Lear is 331 x 317 cm. The oil painting is found at National Museum Cardiff acquired for £300,000 from Rhondda Cynon Taf Council. An interesting quote said that the Italian painter Edward Lear came to Darjeeling, India on the advice of Lord Aberdare to have his self portrait but Lear grew his fantasy for the Kinchinjunga Mountain instead. He wrote ‘Kinchinjunga is not – so it seems tome – a sympathetic mountain; it is so far off, so very god-like and stupendous.’ The work was completed on 1877 and dispatched from Rome to Darjeeling. A letter was written to...

Kangchenjunga, rising proudly to a height of 28,169 feet (8,586 meters), is the third highest mountain in the world and one of the most revered peaks of the Himalaya. Straddling the border of Nepal and Sikkim , it is located just 46 miles northwest of Darjeeling and remains the easternmost of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks . For several years—between 1838 and 1849—it was believed to be the highest mountain in the world before accurate surveys confirmed otherwise. The name Kangchenjunga is widely translated as “Five Treasuries of the Great Snow,” referring to its five towering summits. Apart from its breathtaking beauty, the peak holds immense cultural and spiritual importance. Local tradition considers the summit sacred, and in respect of this belief, the first successful climbers stopped a few feet short of the actual peak. A History of Daring Expeditions The region was first explored by botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1854 , whose expeditions opened access to the remote valley...