KHANGCHENDZONGA
SACRED TO SIKKIM, PRIDE OF INDIA, A WORLD HERITAGE
SITE
The UNESCO has recognized and declared that the worship of this sacred mountain
(Khangchendzonga) “by the indigenous people of Sikkim” constitute “the basis
for Sikkimese identity”
The
Khangchendzonga National Park, a unique biosphere reserve located in North
Sikkim, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in July 2016. This is for
the first time that any Indian destination has been under the Mixed criteria of
UNESCO's heritage sites list, thus recognising the outstanding universal values
for its both natural and cultural significance.
The
park gets its name from the mountain Kangchenjunga (Khangchendzonga) which is
8,586 metres (28,169 ft) tall, the highest peak in India, third-highest in the
world. The total area of this park is 849.5 km2 (328.0 sq mi).
UNESCO
has recognized and declared that the worship of this sacred mountain (Khangchendzonga)
“by the indigenous people of Sikkim” constitute “the basis for Sikkimese
identity”:
“Located at the heart of the Himalayan
range in northern India (State of Sikkim), the Khangchendzonga National Park
includes a unique diversity of plains, valleys, lakes, glaciers and
spectacular, snow-capped mountains covered with ancient forests, including the
world’s third highest peak, Mount Khangchendzonga. Mythological stories are
associated with this mountain and with a great number of natural elements
(caves, rivers, lakes, etc.) that are the object of worship by the indigenous
people of Sikkim. The sacred meanings of these stories and practices have been
integrated with Buddhist beliefs and constitute the basis for Sikkimese
identity.
Mount Khangchendzonga and other sacred
mountains – represents the core sacred region of the Sikkimese and syncretistic
religious and cultural traditions and thus bears unique witness to the
coexistence of multiple layers of both Buddhist and pre-Buddhist sacred
meanings in the same region, with the abode of mountain deity on Mt
Khangchendzonga. The property is central to the Buddhist understanding of
Sikkim as a beyul, that is, an intact site of religious ritual and cultural
practice for Tibetan Buddhists in Sikkim, in neighbouring countries and all
over the world. The sacred Buddhist importance of the place begins in the 8th
century with Guru Rinpoche’s initiation of the Buddhist sanctity of the region,
and later appears in Buddhist scriptures such as the prophetical text known as
the Lama Gongdu, revealed by Terton Sangay Lingpa (1340-1396), followed by the
opening of the beyul in the 17th century, chiefly by Lhatsun Namkha Jigme.
Khangchedzonga National Park is the
heartland of a multi-ethnic culture which has evolved over time, giving rise to
a multi-layered syncretic religious tradition, which centres on the natural
environment and its notable features. This kinship is expressed by the region
surrounding Mount Khangchendzonga being revered as Mayel Lyang by the
indigenous peoples of Sikkim and as a beyul (sacred hidden land) in Tibetan
Buddhism. It is a specific Sikkimese form of sacred mountain cult which is
sustained by regularly-performed rituals, both by Lepcha people and Bhutias,
the latter performing two rituals: the Nay-Sol and the Pang Lhabsol. The
kinship between the human communities and the mountainous environment has
nurtured the elaboration of a profound traditional knowledge of the natural
resources and of their properties, particularly within the Lepcha community.
Mount Khangchendzonga is the central element of the socio-religious order, of
the unity and solidarity of the ethnically very diverse Sikkimese communities.”
Pix of Khangchendzonga
(lama dance during Panglhabsol celebrations in Gangtok): courtesy Late Yap Penjorla)
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