Introduction
The north-eastern
Indian Himalayan enclave of the state of Sikkim and the district of
Darjeeling lies tucked between eastern Nepal and western Bhutan.
Sikkim is unique
as being a rare stronghold of the Nyingmapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism
for this is where they took shelter and propagated their faith following
persecution in Tibet hundreds of years before. Until its official merger
with India in 1975, Sikkim was a Buddhist kingdom under a Nyingmapa
ruler for over three hundred years. In witness to the fact, more than
two hundred monasteries can be found around this tiny Himalayan state.
Darjeeling and its
district, the Autonomous Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council of West Bengal,
India, has seen its historical development in another unique fashion.
Vied by the British conquistadors in the early nineteenth century, it
was snatched away from Sikkim and developed as a summer resort for the
British rulers of east India. Here one will find relics of the British
Raj in quaint English country cottages and bungalows, steepled churches
and buildings amidst wafts of cool mountain breeze
Adding to the grandeur
of this region is the mighty Khangchendzonga range. Standing aloft on
the northwestern horizon one is able to gaze into probably the most
alluring set of mountains in all of the Himalayas; as viewed from the
hill tops of Darjeeling district and Sikkim. |
