People
Ethnic Sikkim is the least populated state in the country. There are three principal communities of Nepalese (75%), Lepchas (2O%), and smaller proportions of Bhutias and Limbus.
Lepchas or the Rong appear to be the original inhabitants of Sikkim as no legends of their migration are available.
In the 13th century, the Bhutias from Kham area of Tibet came to the state. They believed in Buddhism of the Mahayana sect.
The Nepalis were the last to enter in the mid-l9th century. All communities live in perfect harmony sharing each other’s culture, ethos, and traditions with the result that there is now a Sikkimese culture, which is composite of all the three prominent communities.
Most of the people speak Nepali, which is also the state language. It is the harmony of the place that provides justification to the name of the state derived form Sukhim, meaning “happy home, a place of peace.”
Though Hinduism is equally followed, Buddhism is entrenched in the tradition of the state. The people have faith in the Buddha, the dharma (his teachings), and the sangha (assembly of monks) where religious texts are studied, taught and preserved. Soaked in the religious tradition, the land has a spiritual ambience where prayer flags with inscriptions of Buddhist texts flutter around the boundary of the village to ward off evil spirits, prayer wheels rotate to the currents of water, and chortens and lucky signs are common sights.
The protector deity is the goddess of Kanchenjunga that stands erect as a sentinel protecting the peace of the state. The deference is so deep and abiding that adventurers are not permitted to scale the top of the peak. Their achievement is acknowledged by reaching somewhere close to the top. Since the hills cannot be animated, anthropomorphism enables these to be depicted in masks.
Lepchas or the Rong appear to be the original inhabitants of Sikkim as no legends of their migration are available.
In the 13th century, the Bhutias from Kham area of Tibet came to the state. They believed in Buddhism of the Mahayana sect.
The Nepalis were the last to enter in the mid-l9th century. All communities live in perfect harmony sharing each other’s culture, ethos, and traditions with the result that there is now a Sikkimese culture, which is composite of all the three prominent communities.
Most of the people speak Nepali, which is also the state language. It is the harmony of the place that provides justification to the name of the state derived form Sukhim, meaning “happy home, a place of peace.”
Though Hinduism is equally followed, Buddhism is entrenched in the tradition of the state. The people have faith in the Buddha, the dharma (his teachings), and the sangha (assembly of monks) where religious texts are studied, taught and preserved. Soaked in the religious tradition, the land has a spiritual ambience where prayer flags with inscriptions of Buddhist texts flutter around the boundary of the village to ward off evil spirits, prayer wheels rotate to the currents of water, and chortens and lucky signs are common sights.
The protector deity is the goddess of Kanchenjunga that stands erect as a sentinel protecting the peace of the state. The deference is so deep and abiding that adventurers are not permitted to scale the top of the peak. Their achievement is acknowledged by reaching somewhere close to the top. Since the hills cannot be animated, anthropomorphism enables these to be depicted in masks.
