2006: The legendary Shiva temple in upper Dharamshala is now nationalised with renovation plans announced by the local District Administration. What this mean for the local Gorkha ethnic community who for the last almost two centuries have built their heritage around Lord Bhagsunag.
By Jyoti Thapa Mani
The ancient Shiva Temple of Bhagsunag stands two kms above Mcleodganj, Dharamshala. According to legend, 5000 years ago, Nagdevata, the snake God was drawn into a battle with a local King Bhagsu, who dared steal water from the sacred NagDal Lake. King Bhagsu was vanquished and forgiven by the Snake God and the site consecrated as BhagsuNag. Amongst all the devotees, the temple holds a special significance for the Gorkhali community.
Temple patronage had been the essence of Gorkha culture. The name Gorkha itself originated from Baba Gorakhnath, the 11th century AD Hindu Saint of the Nath Siddhi Order.In a letter dated Bikram Samvat 1866 (1809?) (Shri Paanch Sarkar, Archive division, National Museum, Kathmandu), the Gorkha Army Commanders Amar Singh Thapa, Ranjit Kumar and Jaspao Thapareceived the royal seal of approval granting cultivable and waterside villages for temple rituals and maintenance in the Kangra District. They included one village in Balihar for Shri Jwalamukhi and another for the Shri Gorakhnath Gorkha Dibbi, village Kuned for Shri Brajeshwari, village Kaled for Shri Ambika, village Tyara for Shri Jayanti and village Noorala for Shri Anjani amongst others.Read the rest of this entry »
Nepali speaking Indians are often confused with the Nepalese of Nepal writes Vimal Khawas
This article was originally published in The Hindu on the 19th of June 2005
ONE OF my friends recently complained to me of being verbally abused by a woman. The immediate basis of the quandary was his motorcycle parked at the allotted space. On that fateful day while the woman was on her way through the area a part of her sari accidentally happened to mesh with the edge of one of the parts of his motorcycle. She allegedly roared at him by means of some of the most improper and unfounded statements as far as the Nepali speaking Indians are concerned. “You Nepalese! You foreigners! I know you people! You people do not know how to live!” were some of her remarks.
The point here is not a mere abuse of an individual by another individual but connotes a much larger issue that needs serious discourse among the responsible Nepali speaking Indian nationals. The victim is a bona fide citizen of India and permanent resident of Kalimpong located in the district of Darjeeling, West Bengal. Like many other Indians he too is struggling in Delhi in search of better economic pastures.
There are Bengalis and Punjabis, for example, with their counterparts residing in other countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan. But they have never been lamented as Bangladeshis or Pakistanis. In our case, however, the term Nepalese or foreigner has often been used by the mainstream Indians. So where is the problem? Why are Nepali speaking Indians often confused with the Nepalese of Nepal? Why don’t the mainstream Indians appreciate that there are about a crore Nepalis who have been the bona fide citizens of India for generations? Read the rest of this entry »
Beacon Online is proud to offer a sneak peak to Sudhir Rai – The Golden Voice of Indian Gorkhas’ new movie number ‘Pakhuri’. Beacon Online hopes to bring out more of his numbers and perhaps even a One on One with Sudhir Rai himself if that is possible.
According to Government of India Members of Parliament Local Area Development Funds Division Darjeeling Member of Parliament Mr. Dawa Narbula has received 12 installments of Rs. 50 Lakhs each since 2002-2003. The Total amount paid is Rs. 6 Crores.
The Cumulative Expenditure Sheet (Since 1993) of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Division, Government of India, of the Rs. 26.05 Crores entitled, Rs. 24.05 Crores was released by the Government of India. The percent of finance spent as shown to the Government of India was 94. 58 with 1.67 Crores remain unspent.
Should the Darjeeling Member of Parliament as the representative of the people make avail the statistics of the Projects initiated by him through these MPLADS fund?
1. How many projects were initiated under these scheme?
2. On what stages are these projects presently?
3. Where were the projects initiated?
4. Wouldn’t it had been a good public relations campaign for the Darjeeling MP to allow the Press access to these projects as there exposure would have ultimately won big favours for the MP from the people he represents in the Union Parliament?
External Affairs Minister initiated the talk on Jelep La Trade Route but when inquired by the press on what he was planning to do, he replied “I have absolutely no idea.”
Scenery and serenity come together in Bagora, offering a soothing refuge from the frenetic city life. Perched on a ridge at 2,339 metres above sea level, this town in north Bengal is still unspoilt by the demands of tourism. Those who leave for the hills without advance booking will do well to try Bagora rather than Darjeeling or Kalimpong.
Take the serpentine Hill Cart Road (NH 55) — intertwining with the toy train tracks — from Siliguri. Buses ply regularly between Siliguri and Darjeeling via Kurseong and Ghoom. If you are driving down, you can take a right turn from Kurseong to reach Bagora via Dow Hill Road (16 km). The drive, through a road lined with conifers, is pleasant.
The other option is to follow Hill Cart Road up to Dilaram before taking the right turn. The road is like a long black ribbon lying in a virgin green forest of silver fir, oak, pine and birch. The forest is richer than those near Darjeeling. If you have the energy, trek the 3 kilometres from Bagora to Dilaram. It should take about an hour.
There are many rewarding walks and trekking trails from Bagora, which is known as zero point. A short stroll will take you near the core area of Kurseong Air Force base, from where you can enjoy a view of the vast expanse of the Teesta.
Head towards the Forest Rest House to enjoy a wide variety of Himalayan flora. The well-maintained flower garden, with its terraced greenhouses, is a sight to behold. Birdwatchers would also love the variety of feathers in the region. Read the rest of this entry »
Kathmandu: The authorities have appealed to the general public to apply maximum caution to prevent the entry of ‘bird flu,’ which has been detected in bordering Indian region.
Issuing a notice, the Department for Livestock Service has said that recently the disease has been detected in Darjeeling and Kurseong region of India, which borders with eastern Nepal.
It has urged the poultry traders, farmers, and general public not to bring in birds from across the border, which the government has already banned.
It has also urged them to transport birds and chicken within the country only after receiving proper health certificate.
The authorities have urged the people to immediately notify if they hear about sudden death of birds or chicken in large number in any place. nepalnews.com
SILIGURI, May 18: Allaying apprehension of large-scale violence the panchayet polling in Jalpaiguri has been peaceful till evening. Several political parties, including the CPI-M, have thanked the people of the district for the peaceful conduct. The district magistrate Mr R Ranjeet also termed today’s poll as ‘peaceful’.
The RSP predicted an erosion in the CPI-M support base in the rural belt of the district, particularly in the tea belt. The Congress and the Trinamul Congress criticised the polling officials for the abnormally slow polling. “There may be a premeditated conspiracy behind this sloth,” they observed.
The CPI-M district secretary Mr Manik Sanyal said that the Opposition’s apprehension of violence during polling was proved baseless. “We were confident that today’s polling would be violence-free and the people of the district have proved it so far.Read the rest of this entry »
GANGTOK, May 18: Nine people were honoured with the state award at the ‘34th State Day’ observed in Gangtok yesterday.
The state awards were categorised in different fields of arts. Mr Passang Sherpa and Mr Vijay Mani Tholung won the best painter award, Mr Ratna Kumar Dewan and Miss Shanti Thatal were honoured with the best musician award while Mrs Bimla Sharma, Mr Kumar Pakhrin and Mr Naren Gurung won the best singer award. Mr BB Muringla, Mr Sanu Bhai Sharma and Mr Kedar Gurung were selected for the best writer award and Mr Puran Tamang was awarded for his performance in the field of journalism. Read the rest of this entry »
GANGTOK, May 18: Seeking to woo women voters ahead of the Assembly polls due next year, the Sikkim Democratic Front government has proposed to enact legislation giving 50 per cent of a man’s property to his wife in the event of divorce, official sources said today.
The proposed legislation to be enacted in the upcoming session of the legislative Assembly next month proposes to give half of the property of a man to his wife in the event of divorce, the sources said.
The enactment would not only boost the financial condition of the women, but also make them an equal partner of the family’s properties and inheritance, they said.
In a related development, the state government has also decided to issue a notification giving equal rights to the sons and daughters in the properties and assets of their parents, the sources said.
The measure would not only eradicate the prevailing discrimination among the male and female children in terms of inheritance rights, but also strengthen and empower the female gender, they said. [The Statesman]
ALGARAH (Kalimpong), May 18: The Union external affairs minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee today inaugurated the Algarah Open Ground Water Reservoir at Algarah, 16 km from Kalimpong today. “Water supply is one six main agendas taken up by the government. I appreciate the work that has been done as it will solve the water crisis in the region,” the minister said.
The reservoir comes under the Neorakhola Water Supply Scheme and was initiated in 1989-90 before work was stalled due to technical reasons. However, with the help of an expert committee its construction commenced in 2005 and was finally completed in December 2007. Neorakhola and the Dhaulakhola are the two sources of the reservoir which has a capacity of 13.44 million gallons.
The project, which is a joint venture of the state government and the Army, is designed to supply water to the Kalimpong municipal town, Army establishments and the en-route village. Initially an amount of Rs 22 crore had been sanctioned for the project which was revised to 31 crore in 1990.
While complimenting the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department for completing a complicated project because of the difficult terrain, the Union minister emphasised the need to sustain such projects. “It is one thing to complete the project but sustaining for the future is more important,” he said.
Mr Mukherjee further added that priority is given to water, food and energy security by international bodies. “Emphasis should be given to obtaining pure portable water more than the ground water resources,” he said.
The Housing and PHE department of the state government is expected to take up similar projects in the 3.2 km Algarah to Lava and areas in Pedong. Read the rest of this entry »
KOLKATA, May 18: The results for the ICSE and ISC examinations will be declared on 20 May at 3 p.m. The results will be available at http://www.cisce.indiaresults.com, http://www.cisce.ndtv.com, http://www.cisce.examresults.net and http://www.cisce.mysuccess.in.
Students can also access their results through SMS, according to an announcement at the official website of the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations. For viewing ICSE results, students need to type ICSE index number and for ISC results, the ISC index number and send them to either 56388 or 5676750 or 57333 or 54545 or 54242 or 57272 or 56666 or 58888 or 54646 or 56060 or 56677.
Siliguri, May 18: A cloudy sky and a drop in temperature caused by a sudden shower of hail, accompanied by strong winds and a little rain, in the afternoon made for a very pleasing Sunday in Siliguri.
The temperature came down by more than three degrees from the day’s highest of 32 degrees Celsius as people in Siliguri and the surrounding areas watched on TV the Eden Gardens heating up for the clash between Kolkata Knight Riders and the Chennai Superkings.
“The thunder squall was because of local disturbance caused by the influence of a north-south trough over Bengal,” Subir Sarkar, in-charge of the North Bengal University’s weather station, said.
Although the clouds began gathering from around 11 in the morning, by 2pm, the sun was almost invisible by the low, dense cumulonimbus clouds. As winds at 35kmph did their best to disperse the clouds, at 2.30pm, hail the size of marbles rained for about 10 minutes.
Being a holiday, children made use of most of the sudden “ice from the skies”, collecting the hail in whatever containers they could lay their hands on. “I will keep it in the freezer of my fridge for as long as possible,” said Debika Ghosh, a nine-year-old resident off Church Road. Read the rest of this entry »
Algarah, May 18: External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee’s claim that he was unaware of the demand for the reopening of the Jelep-la trade route has come as a surprise to many, especially since the issue was repeatedly raised before him during his brief visit here today. [Inset: Mukherjee (right) with Narbula at the function. (Chinlop Fudong Lepcha)]
The minister was here, 16km from Kalimpong, to inaugurate an open ground reservoir under the Neora Khola Water Supply Scheme.
Mukherjee himself alluded to Jelep-la when he spoke about improving trade links with China with Kalimpong as a business hub. “It will be our endeavour to ensure that a lot of commercial activities are carried out from Kalimpong, which because of its geographical and strategic location will make it possible to expand our trade with China,” he said. The minister’s remark was an obvious reference to the Jelep-la trade route which was used as a pass between India and Tibet before it was closed down during the 1962 Chinese aggression. Read the rest of this entry »
Gangtok, May 18: Border trade through Nathu-la at 14,400ft will reopen for the third year tomorrow, after a five-month winter break.
The reopening was earlier scheduled for May 1, but was pushed back by three weeks because of landslides in Yadong county in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China.
The Union commerce ministry in a last minute instruction to the Sikkim government on April 30 asked it to defer the reopening after China requested New Delhi to put off the trade because of landslides between Renquinngang and Donquinggang.
While there will not be any formal programme to mark the reopening, commerce minister R.B. Subba and senior officials of his department are expected to be present at the Sherathang trade mart on the Indian side of the border.
However, this time too, the list of items in the trade list has not been revised by the Centre. Currently, there are only 15 items that can be imported from China while 29 can be sent from this side. Most of the items on the list are old and obsolete. Despite a demand from traders on both the sides and even Chinese officials endorsing the expansion, the Centre is yet to oblige. Read the rest of this entry »
Siliguri, May 18: Two idols of black stone, probably from the 12th century AD, were recovered when a joint force of the customs and the SSB sneaked upon smugglers in the dead of night in an operation conducted after a tip-off.
The smugglers, however, escaped, leaving behind the statuettes of the sitting Buddha and Goddess Saraswati playing the veena (a stringed musical instrument) in a gunny bag. [Inset: One of the statuettes that was recovered. Picture by Kundan Yolmo]
The operation had been conducted on Friday night and the SSB had alerted the preventive wing of the customs in Panitanki on the India-Nepal border after it received the information.
A team of eight from the two forces — the SSB was led by Kedarnath Sharma and the customs by W. Bhutia — was patrolling the distance between pillars 46 and 47, when they noticed two men.
“It was around 12.30am and we were at Warishjote, about 40km from Siliguri. We spotted the men and challenged them. The left behind the bag they were carrying and fled across the border in the cover of darkness,” said W. Bhutia, the superintendent of Panitanki customs. Read the rest of this entry »
Scenery and serenity come together in Bagora, offering a soothing refuge from the frenetic city life. Perched on a ridge at 2,339 metres above sea level, this town in north Bengal is still unspoilt by the demands of tourism. Those who leave for the hills without advance booking will do well to try Bagora rather than Darjeeling or Kalimpong.
Algarah, May 18: External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee’s claim that he was unaware of the demand for the reopening of the Jelep-la trade route has come as a surprise to many, especially since the issue was repeatedly raised before him during his brief visit here today. [Inset: Mukherjee (right) with Narbula at the function. (Chinlop Fudong Lepcha)]
Siliguri, May 18: Two idols of black stone, probably from the 12th century AD, were recovered when a joint force of the customs and the SSB sneaked upon smugglers in the dead of night in an operation conducted after a tip-off.