GUWAHATI: Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, expressing concern over the scaling of the “sacred Mount Khangchendzonga” (Mount Kangchenjunga) by a team from the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports in Arunachal Pradesh.
The team summited Mount Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), the third-highest mountain in the world, on May 18 from the Nepal side.
Tamang said the act of scaling this sacred peak was not only a matter of serious concern but also a violation of prevailing legal provisions and deeply-held religious beliefs of the people of Sikkim.
“Mount Khangchendzonga holds profound spiritual and religious significance for the people of Sikkim. Regarded as the most sacred mountain in the state, its name translates to ‘Five Treasures of the High Snows,’ symbolising five divine treasures. According to the Sikkimese belief system, these treasures remain hidden and shall only be revealed to the devout when the world is in grave peril,” the chief minister wrote in a letter to Shah.
According to him, the mountain is revered as the abode of the principal guardian and protector-deity of Sikkim, known as “Dzoe-Nga.”
“This sacred being is worshipped as the ‘Pho-lha,’ or chief of the entire assemblage of supernatural entities of Sikkim.
These deities were recognised and anointed as the ‘guardian deities of the land’ by Ugyen Guru Rinpoche, also known as Guru Padmasambhava, the Patron Saint of Sikkim,” Tamang said.
He also said that in recognition of its religious sanctity, the Sikkim government earlier imposed a complete ban on any attempts to scale Mount Khangchendzonga.
This prohibition is legally enforced under the Sacred Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, he added.
He urged Shah to treat the matter with utmost sensitivity and respect, and take up the matter with the Government of Nepal to ensure that no future expeditions are permitted on the sacred mountain.