Visit to a Lepcha Village

Many articles are published every week to serve the needs of travelers whose sense of adventure is limited to hotel and ship-board luxuries. Some publications, however, are worth careful study by travelers who want to learn about interesting societies and cultures. On December 14, Outlook India, a weekly news magazine… Continue reading…

Lepchas Support Chief Minister Banerjee

Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of India’s West Bengal state, has roiled the political scene in Northeast India by expressing her opposition to India’s National Register of Citizens (NRC). The Lepchas in the state have allied themselves with the Chief Minister in opposition to the controversial law. The NRC, a… Continue reading…

Sacred Mountain Protected After All

According to a news story last Thursday, the national government of India has changed its decision about allowing international mountaineering expeditions to climb Mt. Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest peak and a sacred spot for the Lepcha and Bhutia peoples of Sikkim.  The government had announced back in August that… Continue reading…

Sacred Mountain Protected After All

According to a news story last Thursday, the national government of India has changed its decision about allowing international mountaineering expeditions to climb Mt. Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest peak and a sacred spot for the Lepcha and Bhutia peoples of Sikkim.  The government had announced back in August that… Continue reading…

Climbing the Mountain God

Quick, what is the third highest mountain in the world? Most lovers of geography trivia questions would know the highest—Everest—and the second highest—K2—but the third? The answer is a relatively lesser-known peak in the Eastern Himalayas, Mt. Kanchenjunga, located on the border of Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim…. Continue reading…

Lepcha Women Gain Confidence

In many conferences, women constitute a token presence, the modest voices at tables and lecterns dominated by men, argued a South Asian lady. International Rivers, an NGO that advocates for the human and natural communities affected by harmful dams, sought to modify that dynamic by organizing the first-ever Women and… Continue reading…

Lepcha Women Gain Confidence

In many conferences, women constitute a token presence, the modest voices at tables and lecterns dominated by men, argued a South Asian lady. International Rivers, an NGO that advocates for the human and natural communities affected by harmful dams, sought to modify that dynamic by organizing the first-ever Women and… Continue reading…

A Film about the Teesta

Minket Lepcha, a woman from Darjeeling, has devoted several years to promoting and protecting the Teesta River through her skills as a filmmaker. A news story published on May 10 in EastMojo, an online news platform from northeastern India, provided details about the film she has produced and the effects… Continue reading…

A Film about the Teesta

Minket Lepcha, a woman from Darjeeling, has devoted several years to promoting and protecting the Teesta River through her skills as a filmmaker. A news story published on May 10 in EastMojo, an online news platform from northeastern India, provided details about the film she has produced and the effects… Continue reading…

Conference Focuses on the Lepchas

Cherishing the Lepcha culture while searching for ways to strengthen their society were the basic themes of a day-long conference held in Gangtok, Sikkim, on April 27. The Balipara Foundation, based in Assam, India, sponsored the conference titled “Community, Conservation and Livelihoods: The Lepcha Community” held at Sikkim University. One… Continue reading…