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

ATTC, Bardang - front view The establishment of the Advanced Technical Training Centre (ATTC) is one of the major initiatives that is taken by the Government of Sikkim for the development of technical education in the State. The curriculum offered by this polytechnic has been framed by Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) Bangalore. ATTC has been awarded ISO 9001:2000 Quality Systems Certification by Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI). The establishment of this polytechnic is designed to address the need for employable skills to be imbibed among the youth of the State. This will address the major constraint for development in the State as also for seeking potential employment outside the State. Inauguration of ATTC by Hon'ble Chief Minister of Sikkim The Diplomas and the Post Diplomas issued by NTTF are highly valued by major industries within the country and even abroad. The Diplomas issued by ATTC will be jointly certified by the Board of Technical Education, Si...

By Shital Pradhan It is more or less a forgotten part of the development process of the then-small Himalayan kingdom, Sikkim. The introduction of the coinage system in Sikkim ceased the way it had started. A study of the coinage system of Sikkim sheds light on the socio-economic and political history of the then-small state. The coins of Sikkim ended the way they appeared; they came from nowhere, and finally, they got lost out in the darkness. A handful of people around Sikkim and in the districts of Darjeeling now have these rare items in their collections. The coin of Sikkim is much sought after by numismatists interested in countries that no longer exist today. Before the British invasion of the land of Sikkim, Money revenue was never heard. Sikkim, being an agricultural foreground, gave some parts of food grains to the king as tax. Trade was carried out where things were exchanged between individuals.  This system was prevalent even in the mid-19 th  century; oranges ...

Artist giving final touch to the statues in Singtam.

Shital Pradhan, Singtam Legends are part of the developmental evolution of the human race and cannot be singled out as simply being imaginary. These legends had been the basis of many future findings that were once tales woven into the narration of reality and folklore. We belong to the land of Lepchas, which are termed primitive tribes. Yet, we cannot confront ourselves because we lack evidence to speak our minds. We believe in age-old ethnicity and the words of scholars. Still, the absolute truth remains the fact that our future generations need to be explained the mystic forces of time immemorial that built up our Sikkim, from the days of the so-called earliest life in a Lepcha tribe to the three-century-old Namgyal Dynasty and further towards the making of the Sikkim that we live in today. From the tiny Himalayan Kingdom to the 22nd state in the mighty Indian Union, the stamp-sized state of Sikkim has witnessed many major transformations. Much like folklore, the history of early Si...

Lall Bahadur Pradhan of Pacheykhani in East Sikkim is credited with being the first police officer of Sikkim Police. He joined the then Sikkim Durbar service in the Police establishment as the first trained and qualified Police Officer in the rank of Sub -Inspector and headed the organisation.  An individual with the military spirit, he served the Durbar with his hard and dedicated work, efficiency, and intelligence for a short period of 8 years. The second son of Taksaari Chandrabir Pradhan, he was born in 1888.  He received his early education in Gangtok. After completing schooling at Gangtok, he joined the Scottish Universities Missionary Institute at Kalimpong, where he studied up to class IX. He was then selected by Claude White, the then-Political Officer of Sikkim, to serve in the Political Office in Gangtok. At the time of joining the office, he was only 14 years old. He served the Political Office for seven years. When the administration was transferred under the d...

   Halo is nothing but a natural phenomena where the ring like formation is found around the sun. This halo was seen in Siliguri on August 10 but this one was special since it coincided with the start of the Big Bang experiment in Geneva.

Very little is known about the volcano eruption in the Himalayan state of Sikkim . Some people believe that Tendong Gonpa is found next to the crater of a volcano however few may disagree. There are several hills around Sikkim that creates delusion. One such volcano look-alike can be beautifully seen from the terrace of the Burung Primary School towards the south Sikkim . Among the hills on the backdrop of the lower Namthang lies a hill much similar to a volcano. This hill is particularly found in between Phoong Bhanjyang and Chuba-Perbing. It is believed that there is a small pond on the top of that hill. The common mental image of a volcano is that of a steep symmetrical cone sweeping upward in a concave curve to a sharp summit peak. When you look at this hill it surely fits to a general concept of a volcano. But, do others too feel the same!

In recent times I am very impressed with the work Barun Roy is doing in his blog http://beacononline.wordpress.com/. Through the exchange of emails, we do correspondence and I too had an opportunity to get published some of my articles. With Barun Roy's blog each day I get to read new information from the past that gives me immense pleasure. In today's news, he put on a proposed map of Pakistan designed by Chaudary Rehmat Ali and the interesting input there is the region of Sikkim merged in it. The map is set prior to pre-independence days. Ali is the founder of the Pakistan National Movement. He coined the word "Pakistan" for 30 million Muslims who lived in the five northern units of India; Punjab, North West Frontier (Afghan) Province, Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan. He spoke of an independent homeland for Muslims, Pakistan, in the northern units of India, "Bang-i-Islam" for Muslims in Bengal, and "Usmanistan" for the Muslims in Hyderabad-Deccan...

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...