After few days of writing, modifying and adding codes, Sikkimonline has now full photo contest section where our amateur or even professional photographer members can participate, comment and vote. The basic rules for the Photography Contest are simple for now, participant must be Sikkim Online member, Photo taken must be original, no text or watermarks, no nudity. Photo editing programs can be used to correct brightness, contrast, resize etc., but do not over tamper. Winners are purely based on Internet user votes, so there would be no conflicts regarding the winner, what so ever.

For more information click here.

Dashain, the time of happiness, joy and blessings. Just the pronunciation of the word ‘Dashain’ is a mesmerizer, a complete package of radiance and memories of the past years. It is like eid to a Muslim and Xmas to a Christian.

For me, this year’s Dashain was completely different, filled with excitement and joy. We went to visit different places in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and in Sikkim. People rushing around with their kids to meet elders, loud music playing in every shop, drunkers hitting the jackpot on the road sides, it was entirely quite a sight.

Darjeeling and Kalimpong had a different sight, people wearing “Daura Sural”, and ladies wearing “Chaubandi and fariya”. In these hills, people are obliged to wear traditional gurkhali dress for some political reasons. But backin Gangtok, it was quiet, unlike usual days few people roaming around, this hustle center seemed to embarace rathar unusual stillness. I wonder where do people go in Dasain?

The Himalayas is a mystic adventure for many people especially from the west and the far-east. Grand white mass of mountains, dark forested hills, beautiful waterfalls…the list of rhetoric are endless. They all seem to attract the discerning travelers as the bees to flowers. The memories are sweet nectar.

My 3 hrs hike to Taktsang Monastery in Paro, Bhutan was one that transported me to an era that I thought existed only in a digital studio in some corner of Hollywood. Bhutan has always prided herself in the ‘Thunder Dragon Kingdom’ ruled by a benevolent King. So, it is a surprise not to experience that in Paro, a truly picturesque valley. There are many things to do in Paro…from admiring the Dzongs to lounging in discos. Since I am not a party animal I took the path that gradually takes one through the blue pine hills never dropping in altitude until one has the view of the unbelievable work of art resting heavily on the mystical Buddhist legend. It is so powerful…that you accept the translation ‘The Tiger Nest’ probably as immediately as Yeshey Tshogyal had transformed herself into a Tigress on whose back Guru Padmasambhava flew to the grand rocky edifice in Paro in the 8^th Century.

He stood on the bridge over the River Mutha.

‘Oh, how cruel this world is, how thoughtless we are! How silently you bear!

Oh, how beautiful you are still. I wish I could be of some help. Oh, how insignificant I am!’

A man approached the bridge with a heavy plastic bag. He hurried along the pedestrians’ walkway and emptied his bag containing trash over the railing. The plastic bag with all its filthy contents poured down the river. The papers floated, the dirt plunged and the dust played with the warm breeze.

The traffic over the bridge concentrated only on the traffic lights. Hundreds of people passed by and no one said a word. Scores of people walked over the bridge then, no one said a word. The man walked away after emptying the bag and throwing it along with the dirt.

He opened his mouth but no words came. He looked at the plastic bag slowly settle on the river current and float.

A woman walked on the bridge, stopped suddenly and fiddled inside her handbag. She took out a small crumpled paper pack and emptied the content over the river. They were grains. The grains quickly scattered on the river currents and became invisible. Further down a flock of birds and ducks played on the shallower part of the river.

He smiled.

Life is here and it is now. There is all the time in the world where you live in but to use it with judgment is the answer to all achievements. But life also depends much on luck. I believe it is the key to the doors of all the answers. But the key does not belong to the one who simply asks questions. It belongs to the one who looks for it. There has to be an action involved. I believe luck is with everyone, sometime it just takes a little more time. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack. You’ll find it sooner or later. It may or may not take time but find surely you’ll because it’s in there. Those who have found it earlier are not luckier that you are. Nor are you unluckier. The time they use or waste after finding it more than covers for the time that you spend looking for it and having finally found it, the joy is the same…the time is right. And the ones who have found it earlier just have had nothing to do while you have spent it wisely by default. So, never stop looking.

It is not the journey or the destination that is important because neither of the two comes to a stop in one’s lifetime. The days and nights are inevitable, so are movements or thoughts…or life. Both are processes of living defined by the rotation of the earth. But we become tired because the process of growth is extraordinarily elusive. It doesn’t matter how far you have traveled or how many lovers you have had in your lifetime or how much money you have earned. Satisfaction of mind is the justification of the luxury that we own. Life is cloned. Life is repetitive. What we do today is not anything different from what others have done before us or will do after us. The picture is different but the process is the same, the enthusiasm is the same, the achievement is the same…the feelings same. Life is not a mystery. Nothing in living is a mystery.

Local legend associated with the annual dance of Tendong Lho Rum Faat Fastival.

“Teesta (female) and Rangit (male) were born at the sacred lap of the Himalayan Mountains. They grew up together happily and as they became adults, secretly they began to love each other. But their secret story didn’t last forever, people got to know about this and started talking things about them. So they decided to leave the place, to go some somewhere they could be together forever. This place was no where but the valley where hill meets the plains, Lepchas called it “Pazook” which means place covered with dense forest (Now near Teesta bazaar).

Both didn’t know the path to “Pazook”, so the Rongnu (Teesta) took Parli-Bu the snake as her guide, and Rungit went with Tut-Fu (Danfey) the bird. It was like a little race, who will reach first. Snake with agile body reached Pazaok in time, but Tut-fo (Danphey) had taken a longer road thought the rocky and difficult terrain. Being hungry he stopped on the way to collect insects for his food. On the other hand Teesta was waiting for her love to arrive. When Rungit finally arrived, he was so ashamed to be defeated by a female even though fault was not his. So he decided to go back to his usual home back in Himalayas. As he started returning the water of the river began to rise up, swallowing the valley and the hill. All the people living in the valley gathered up to the Meanom and Tendong hill to save themselves from the deluge, the water was still out of reach in these hills. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s always a pleasure to see things in improvement, as you feel the whole thing shape up for a good cause. This time the sight is the construction of Char Dham, the all in one pilgrim for Hindus. They also call it “Solofok”, It is located just few km from Namchi, South Sikkim.

Here are few XML blog templates for your Blogger.com blogs. For now this is just beta template, you can report me any errors and problems. I’ll be adding more enhanced templates in future posts.

Demo pages are all messed up.. so please drop some line here if you are using one of these templates on your blog.

Bela Amber

Download this XML Template

Sumni

Download this XML Template | Demo

Sikkimese

Download this XML Template | Demo

Sunny

Download this XML Template | Demo

OmiShree Pink

Download this XML Template | Demo

Blogger.com has provided just simple solution for this, all you need to do is download XML file and install it on your blog layout. Remember this tip is only for blogger.com users, not for wordpress.

1 . Click on Download link to Download XML template (some_template_name.xml) and save it on your disk.

2. Go to your blogger.com template control panel and click ‘Edit Html’.

3. Browse the XML file you have saved and upload it.

4. You are done.

Note! if you see some errors such as “BX-guxdeX” and “We’re sorry, but we were unable to complete your request.” , while trying upload these XML templates on your blog… you may want to find some solution to fix the problem. This could be some bug in blogger.com, that has not been officially solved! So for the moment.. if you have time, Please take a look at Installation guide and problems or how to copy widgets tutorial you may also want to search google for Alternative solutions.

This teeny-weeny Sikkim is a another hot travel destination on the eastern part of India. Sikkim is one of the biodiversity hot spots of India, a veritable treasure house of some of the world most beautiful streams, lakes and waterfalls. When travelers arrive to see toy train in Darjeeling, they usually overlook this peaceful place called Sikkim. But this time if you are planning to visit east India, come to Sikkim…

Trip to Sikkim could be one’s life changing experience. From a simple tours experience to mountain trekking, everything seems fun. No more hustle and bustle of daily metropolis life, just pure tranquility.
Places to visit :

Monasteries : If you are a spiritual person like myself, you can follow the footsteps of Lord Buddha. Sikkim has been blessed with numerous monasteries, you can explore the Buddhist art and culture, or just enlighten your soul with enchanting Buddhist mantras.

Around Gangtok : Gangtok is the capital of Sikkim, today this town has grown into some giant peace of white blanket, which looks like mountain of houses from the opposite hill.
But still this town holds numerous attraction for the tourists. Most of the Buddhist monasteries are located here, such places are Enchey Monastery, Rumtek Monastery, and most important one is Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, where you get to see years old Buddhist arts and artifacts. View of Kanchanjunga is also splendid from Tashi view point of Gangtok. There are many other places such as Ganesh tok, Hanuman tok, Banjhakri falls etc.

Changu (Tsomgo) Lake : It is the most popular destination for the tourist. Just 30 to 40 km from Gangtok, this Lake is has altitude of 12,310 ft.

Goechala Trekking : I talked about life changing experience earlier, well this trekking could be the ultimate life changing experience for anyone. Trekking could last for 8 to 9 days. After a successful trekking, one could see the entire Kanchandzonga range, it really feels like heaven on earth.

Other Trekking : There are numerous trekking routes within Sikkim, the better idea is to find a good (native) travel guide. A good travel guide can answer almost all your question about the Sikkim.

How to get to Sikkim : This may be unfortunate but, all foreigners are required to obtain Inner Line Permit to visit Sikkim for unknown reason. But it is easy to obtain from tourism Offices at New Delhi, Kolkatta.

Nearest airport for Sikkim is Bagdogra in North Bengal which is 120 kms and approximately 3, 4 hour drive. Another alternative is NJP railway station, which is also in North Bengal, the distance is 140kms from Sikkim.