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Prominent activist from Sikkim, Gyatso Lepcha, has condemned a recent scaling up of the Khangchendzonga massif, sacred to the state’s indigenous peoples.
Speaking to Down To Earth, he called it part of the ‘ongoing attack on the entire Himalayan range’. According to Lepcha, after emptying India’s plains and highlands, corporate interests are racing to empty the Himalaya by exploiting it commercially.
“It is an attack on the entire range — from west to east and indigenous communities are going bear the brunt,” said Lepcha, noting that the range is already under attack in Uttarakhand and Arunachal to Sikkim’s west and east respectively.
“We all are shocked because there have been attempts to scale up (Khangchendzonga) earlier as well. The people and government of Sikkim and other concerned groups have condemned this. It has been prohibited as well. But we can see that there is a concerted efforts to violate the sanctity of the peak,” Lepcha told DTE.
Lepcha, from the group Affected Citizens of Teesta, added: “We, the indigenous people of Sikkim, have not been able to understand as to why these attempts have been made time and again. Nothing is secure today, not even something as pristine and pure as Khangchendzonga. The idea is to open it up for commercial exploitation. This is highly condemnable.”
So why is the massif sacred to the people of Sikkim, especially its indigenous inhabitants, the Lepchas and Bhutias?
According to the United Nations body UNESCO, the peak represents the core sacred region of the Sikkimese. It has been held sacred in traditions predating the arrival of Tibetan Buddhism to Sikkim (represented by peoples like the Lepchas) and Buddhis communities like the Bhutias.
Khangchendzonga, according to UNESCO, 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,” according to UNESCO.
For the Lepchas, the peak is sacred as Mayel Lyang.
Meanwhile, condemnation is growing over the scaling up of Khangchendzonga, widely seen as a desecration of a sacred space.
The Sikkim Bhutia Lepcha Apex Committee (SIBLAC), in a statement issued by its convenor Tseten Tashi Bhutia on May 23, criticised the development.
“Mount Khangchen Dzongna, revered as our Guardian Deity, holds immense spiritual significance for the indigenous Bhutia-Lepcha communities of Sikkim. It is not merely a mountain but a sacred presence, integral to our identity, beliefs, and heritage. Its sanctity is recognized and protected by official notifications issued by the Government of Sikkim, clearly stating that scaling the peak is strictly prohibited,” the statement noted.
“Despite these legal safeguards and repeated humble appeals from concerned citizens and organizations, including SIBLAC, this sacred mountain has been defiled. Such an act is not only a violation of our spiritual values but also a disregard for laws enacted by the Parliament of India and upheld by state authorities,” it added.
“SIBLAC appeals to the Government of Sikkim — and in particular, the Ecclesiastical Department — to explain how such a transgression was permitted to occur. We urge the authorities to take this matter with the seriousness it deserves and to ensure that such violations are never repeated,” it concluded.
