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

21.08.23: The 32nd Nepali Bhasa Diwas was celebrated by the Shantinagar Gaon Sudhar Samiti with enthusiasm. The event took place at the Sports Hall of Archigos Preparatory Academy in Shantinagar. Shri LN Pradhan, President of Sikkim Government Retired Employees Welfare Association, Singtam Branch, was honored during the event. The day featured poetry recitations, speeches, and cultural dances. Krishna Chettri , President of SGSS, extended khadas to the Chief Guests and other attendees. He delivered the welcome address, emphasizing the significance of the day. Pradhan Neeraj Mohan , a distinguished Nepali literary figure from Singtam and Sikkim, presided over the event. Prominent guests from Singtam and beyond, such as Surya Prasad Kharel, Mahesh Dahal 'Sangam,' Nandu Dutraj 'Nisha,' Kripesh Singh, Anand Chettri i, Lokesh Mukhia, Latika Poudhyal, and Shital Pradhan, recited beautiful Nepali poems. Other attendees included Sharmila Sunar, Headmistress of Sakhukhani Prim...

Kedar Nath Gurung is an Indian educationist and writer of Nepalese literature, known for his satirical expressions. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.

By Seira Tamang As noted by various scholars, Hinduism, the Nepali language, the monarchy and a rastriya itihas (a chronicle of progress in which the dark era of Rana rule is contrasted with the enlightened, progressive and modern period of Panchayat rule) formed the core of the Panchayat regime’s national culture. The formation and consolidation of this national culture have required the expunging of uncomfortable facts and stories that might raise ambiguities and questions. While the selection of what and who is and is not acknowledged to exist (or at least exist in historically important ways) in official Nepali history is complex, social scientists have begun to provide more comprehensive historical accounts of the past through oral histories and re-readings of historical documents. Such accounts reveal how ordinary people lived in the past, and offer ways to think through how ‘history’ is crafted, shaped and managed in order to reflect ‘the reality’ best suited to the status quo, ...

Three Nepali Novels and Anxiety of Influence: Pempa Tamang “ Palpasaa Cafe ” (2005) with its best seller tag having sold 5000 copies in two days, which is a record in Nepali publishing history, the best thing was to read as soon as possible and see for oneself what really was it about. Once I could lay my hands on it I could hardly resist reading it through its last page and rereading it again to internalize the wonder and the spectacle that it presents of the world of present day Nepal and its plights. While reading this amazing book the memories of another popular book “ Forget Kathmandu ” by Manjushri Thapa kept haunting me. “Forget Kathmandu” is a nonfiction, a journalistic writing, a history writing as it is happening, a memorabilia. “Palpasaa..” is a fiction but it comes out with abundance of travails of rural people that Manjushree Thapa failed to see it in her travel through the rugged rural panorama of hills of eastern Nepal or may be fictional mode provides more freedo...

During the early two decades of the twentieth century young boys belonging to rich and aristocratic families including upper caste Brahmins were sent to Darjeeling or Benares for studies. These young boys naturally got an opportunity to encounter the new trends of awakening like the National movement of Indian Independence. The influence of great literary personalities like Lekhnath Poudyal (1884-1965), Lakshmi Prasad Devkota (1909-1965) and Balkrishna Sama (1902-1981) is very much evident on the poets associated with Apatan Sahitya Parishad . This was the time when Parasmani Pradhan , Surya Bikram Gewali and their worthy associates had already had their influences on the young poets. ‘The tide of awakening had swept throughout the area like Sikkim , Darjeeling, Benares and Dehradun . During the second and third decade of 20th century Dharanidhar Koirala’s ‘ Naibedya ’ (1920), Mahananda Sapkota’s ‘ Mana Lahari ’ (1920) marked a break with the traditi...