Pakyong
Encyclopedia
Pakyong is a town in the foothills of the himalayas located in the East Sikkim
district of the Indian state of Sikkim
. Pakyong used to be a small settlement until the Central government grant for the first airport in Sikkim to be built in this town brought it into the limelight in the late nineties.
The town has a missionary run School called St. Xavier's . The school ranked as one of the top two schools in Sikkim during the nineties. Notable among its alumni are the Padmashri awardee footballer Baichung Bhutia
.
The "National Research Centre for Orchids", (ICAR Institute) is also located here (Pakyong- 737106).
bunkers at British Killa suggest the presence of armed
bunkers sometime in the past
.
at an altitude of 1700m(5577ft), it shares its borders with Bhutan
and China
.Topography is hilly and a good agricultural area.
is cultivated and floriculture
is popular, the geographical location makes these a very viable sector. Gundruk, Kinema, Sinki are popular fermented foods sold in the local market. "Dalle Khorsani", the red hot chilli is also popular among the local vegetable cultivators. The villages surrounding the small town are Dikling, Pacheykhani, Dugalakha, Karthok etc. Cow milk, Curd, Churpi(residue of boiled buttermilk) are other means of earning income for the villagers.
, Kalimpong and Siliguri
. Direct taxis services to Kalimpong and Siliguri are available usually before 9:00 AM and they usually ply back home by evening; hence the early timings. However, taxis to local destinations like Gangtok and Ranipool
are available all day at nominal fees. For a more personalised and comfortable option, taxis could be reserved to go to other non-serviced towns such as Darjeeling, Kurseong
, Jorethang
, Changu etc.
Pakyong is connected to the rest of India by an all-weather metalled highway, NH-31A which runs from Siliguri to Gangtok. The NH-31A can be accessed from Pakyong at Ranipool (18 km) or at Rangpo (26 km).
The total distance from Pakyong to Siliguri is 120 km. The nearest airport is Bagdogra
Airport, 16 km (9.9 mi) from Siliguri. Although Sikkim
does not have an airport, it is linked to Bagdogra
airport, near Siliguri, via a regular helicopter
service, the Sikkim Helicopter Service from Gangtok
. Greenfield Airport at Pakyong is under construction.
rule, comprise the majority of the population of Pakyong. Lepchas, native to the land, and Bhutias also constitute a sizable portion of the populace. Immigrant resident communities not native to the region include the Marwaris
who form the backbone of the business community and own most of the shops; the [Biharis], people from State of Bihar, who are engaged in different trades owing to their talents, like any other parts of India. Thanks also to the school, the town has attracted quite a cosmopolitan population with sprinkling of people from as far down south as Kerala
and Tamil Nadu
.
Nepali is the most widely spoken language. English and Hindi are also widely spoken and understood in most parts of the state as a whole. Other languages spoken include Bhutia (Sikkimese), Tibetan
and Lepcha
.
Being secular, all major Indian festivals, such as Diwali
, Christmas
, Id, and Makar Sankranti (the popular Hindu
festivals) along with the Buddhist festivals like Losar
, Loosong, Bhumchu, Saga Dawa, Lhabab Duechen and Drupka Teshi are celebrated in with most government offices and schools remaining closed.
Hill people are by nature sports and music lovers and it is common to see school kids scurrying home with guitars strung on their backs. Western
rock music
being played in homes,restaurants and in school concerts is common. Football (soccer) and cricket
are the two most popular sports and the St Xaviers School ground serves as the venue for enthralling battles for various tournaments most notably the Independence Day
Cup which have in the past featured teams as far as from Calcutta, Nepal
and Bhutan
. The school ground is a very popular cultural venue with public functions like Independence Day celebrations being held here on grand scales.
Local favourites like momo
, thukpa
, chowmein, gyathuk and wonton
are available in the most of the small restaurants in Pakyong. The momo is a popular snack made from vegetable, beef, or pork filling, which is steamed and served with a soup. The hills traditionally have quite a liberal attitude towards drinks and in many of the local functions like marriages etc, alcohol
plays an important role.
RDD complex is the best place to visit in winter with pine trees surrounded and a small park with a frost chilling cold.
East Sikkim
East Sikkim is one of the four administrative districts of the Indian state of Sikkim. Geographically, East Sikkim occupies the south-east corner of the state. The capital of East Sikkim is Gangtok, which is also the state capital...
district of the Indian state of Sikkim
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
. Pakyong used to be a small settlement until the Central government grant for the first airport in Sikkim to be built in this town brought it into the limelight in the late nineties.
The town has a missionary run School called St. Xavier's . The school ranked as one of the top two schools in Sikkim during the nineties. Notable among its alumni are the Padmashri awardee footballer Baichung Bhutia
Baichung Bhutia
Baichung Bhutia is an ex Indian footballer. He is currently contracted by the club he owns, United Sikkim. He is considered to be the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He plays for United Sikkim FC. He is often nicknamed the Sikkimese Sniper because of his shooting skills...
.
The "National Research Centre for Orchids", (ICAR Institute) is also located here (Pakyong- 737106).
History
Not much is known about the historical past of this little town. But the existence of old BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
bunkers at British Killa suggest the presence of armed
Armed
Armed was an American Thoroughbred gelding race horse. He was sired by the great stakes winner Bull Lea, which made him a half-brother to Citation...
bunkers sometime in the past
Past
Most generally, the past is a term used to indicate the totality of events which occurred before a given point in time. The past is contrasted with and defined by the present and the future. The concept of the past is derived from the linear fashion in which human observers experience time, and is...
.
Geography
Located in East SikkimSikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
at an altitude of 1700m(5577ft), it shares its borders with Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.Topography is hilly and a good agricultural area.
Economy
The local economy is confined to the school and minor businesses run by the locals. GingerGinger
Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
is cultivated and floriculture
Floriculture
Floriculture, or flower farming, is a discipline of horticulture concerned with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and for floristry, comprising the floral industry...
is popular, the geographical location makes these a very viable sector. Gundruk, Kinema, Sinki are popular fermented foods sold in the local market. "Dalle Khorsani", the red hot chilli is also popular among the local vegetable cultivators. The villages surrounding the small town are Dikling, Pacheykhani, Dugalakha, Karthok etc. Cow milk, Curd, Churpi(residue of boiled buttermilk) are other means of earning income for the villagers.
Transport
The town is well connected to all major parts of Sikkim and its neighbouring states with a good number of taxi services to GangtokGangtok
Gangtok is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Sikkim. Gangtok is located in the Shivalik Hills of the eastern Himalayan range, at an altitude of . The town, with a population of thirty thousand belonging to different ethnicities such as Nepalis, Lepchas and Bhutia, is administered...
, Kalimpong and Siliguri
Siliguri
Siliguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the Siliguri Corridor or Chicken's Neck - a very narrow strip of land linking mainland India to its north-eastern states. It is also the transit point for air, road and rail traffic to the neighbouring countries of Nepal,...
. Direct taxis services to Kalimpong and Siliguri are available usually before 9:00 AM and they usually ply back home by evening; hence the early timings. However, taxis to local destinations like Gangtok and Ranipool
Ranipool
Ranipool, is a small suburban town located near Gangtok, East Sikkim. It is 12 km from Gangtok main town. It has three roads which lead to Singtam, Pakyong and Gangtok. It falls under the Gangtok Municipal Corporation....
are available all day at nominal fees. For a more personalised and comfortable option, taxis could be reserved to go to other non-serviced towns such as Darjeeling, Kurseong
Kurseong
Kurseong is a hill station situated in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India.Located at an altitude of 1458 metres , Kurseong is just 30 km from Darjeeling...
, Jorethang
Jorethang
Jorethang is a major town in South Sikkim district in the Indian state of Sikkim. The town is situated at an altitude of about 300 m above sea level and has a temperate climate. Jorethang lies on the Rangeet River, a tributary of the River Teesta. Jorethang lies on the way to Pelling from...
, Changu etc.
Pakyong is connected to the rest of India by an all-weather metalled highway, NH-31A which runs from Siliguri to Gangtok. The NH-31A can be accessed from Pakyong at Ranipool (18 km) or at Rangpo (26 km).
The total distance from Pakyong to Siliguri is 120 km. The nearest airport is Bagdogra
Bagdogra
Bagdogra is a small town in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India, which is surrounded by tea gardens. Bagdogra is well connected by rail and air to the rest of the country. Bagdogra Airport is the only airport in North Bengal, which is now an International Airport. -References:...
Airport, 16 km (9.9 mi) from Siliguri. Although Sikkim
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
does not have an airport, it is linked to Bagdogra
Bagdogra
Bagdogra is a small town in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India, which is surrounded by tea gardens. Bagdogra is well connected by rail and air to the rest of the country. Bagdogra Airport is the only airport in North Bengal, which is now an International Airport. -References:...
airport, near Siliguri, via a regular helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
service, the Sikkim Helicopter Service from Gangtok
Gangtok
Gangtok is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Sikkim. Gangtok is located in the Shivalik Hills of the eastern Himalayan range, at an altitude of . The town, with a population of thirty thousand belonging to different ethnicities such as Nepalis, Lepchas and Bhutia, is administered...
. Greenfield Airport at Pakyong is under construction.
People and Culture
Ethnic Nepalis, who settled in the region during BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rule, comprise the majority of the population of Pakyong. Lepchas, native to the land, and Bhutias also constitute a sizable portion of the populace. Immigrant resident communities not native to the region include the Marwaris
Marwaris
Marwari or Marwadi or Rajasthani people are Indian ethnic group, that inhabit the Rajasthan region of India. Their language Rajasthani is a part of the western group of Indo-Aryan languages....
who form the backbone of the business community and own most of the shops; the [Biharis], people from State of Bihar, who are engaged in different trades owing to their talents, like any other parts of India. Thanks also to the school, the town has attracted quite a cosmopolitan population with sprinkling of people from as far down south as Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
and Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
.
Nepali is the most widely spoken language. English and Hindi are also widely spoken and understood in most parts of the state as a whole. Other languages spoken include Bhutia (Sikkimese), Tibetan
Tibetan language
The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
and Lepcha
Lepcha language
Lepcha language, or Róng language , is a Himalayish language spoken by the Lepcha people in Sikkim and parts of West Bengal, Nepal and Bhutan.-Population:...
.
Being secular, all major Indian festivals, such as Diwali
Diwali
Diwali or DeepavaliThe name of the festival in various regional languages include:, , , , , , , , , , , , , popularly known as the "festival of lights," is a festival celebrated between mid-October and mid-December for different reasons...
, Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, Id, and Makar Sankranti (the popular Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
festivals) along with the Buddhist festivals like Losar
Losar
Losar is the Tibetan word for "new year." lo holds the semantic field "year, age"; sar holds the semantic field "new, fresh". Losar is the most important holiday in Tibet....
, Loosong, Bhumchu, Saga Dawa, Lhabab Duechen and Drupka Teshi are celebrated in with most government offices and schools remaining closed.
Hill people are by nature sports and music lovers and it is common to see school kids scurrying home with guitars strung on their backs. Western
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
being played in homes,restaurants and in school concerts is common. Football (soccer) and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
are the two most popular sports and the St Xaviers School ground serves as the venue for enthralling battles for various tournaments most notably the Independence Day
Independence Day (India)
The Independence Day of India is celebrated on the fifteenth of August to commemorate its independence from British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation in 1947. The day is a national holiday in India. All over the country, flag-hoisting ceremonies are conducted by the local administration in...
Cup which have in the past featured teams as far as from Calcutta, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
and Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
. The school ground is a very popular cultural venue with public functions like Independence Day celebrations being held here on grand scales.
Local favourites like momo
Momo (food)
Momo is a type of pastry native to Nepal as well as among the Tibetans. It is similar to the Mongolian buuz or the Chinese jiaozi.The Tibetan word momo is a loanword from the Chinese mómo .-Production:...
, thukpa
Thukpa
Thukpa is a Tibetan noodle soup, usually served with meat. It is popular in Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, and also in the states of Sikkim, Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh and some other parts of India. The food is widely available in restaurants in these regions...
, chowmein, gyathuk and wonton
Wonton
Not to be confused with WantonA wonton is a type of dumpling commonly found in a number of Chinese cuisines.-Filling:...
are available in the most of the small restaurants in Pakyong. The momo is a popular snack made from vegetable, beef, or pork filling, which is steamed and served with a soup. The hills traditionally have quite a liberal attitude towards drinks and in many of the local functions like marriages etc, alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
plays an important role.
Local Attractions
The attractions in Pakyong are the Shivalaya temple, Pacheykhani cave, Changey monastery, Devi Mandir,Karthok monastery and Monks’ Retreat Centre.Wednesday Bazar 'hart' is a popular local attraction.RDD complex is the best place to visit in winter with pine trees surrounded and a small park with a frost chilling cold.