Namchi is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and the administrative headquarter of the Namchi district in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

. The appellation Namchi means ''Sky (Nam) High (Chi)'' in Sikkimese.

Geography

Namchi is located at . It has an average elevation of . Namchi is situated at an altitude of 1,675 m (5500 feet) above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. It is situated at a distance of from the state capital Gangtok and from the town of

Siliguri Siliguri (, ; ), also known as Shiliguri, is a major Tier ii cities in india, tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms the twin cities, Twin Cities with the neighbouring city of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeel ...

, the nearest railhead and airport. Namchi lies off the road between Melli and Jorethang. Namchi is well connected to other towns in Sikkim and

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...

s and buses regularly ply between Namchi to Gangtok, Pelling, Jorethang,

Kalimpong Kalimpong is a town and the headquarters of an eponymous district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of . The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The region comes under Gorkhaland Territo ...

and Siliguri. It is home of the Buxa Formation of Mamley, the

stromatolite Stromatolites ( ) or stromatoliths () are layered Sedimentary rock, sedimentary formation of rocks, formations (microbialite) that are created mainly by Photosynthesis, photosynthetic microorganisms such as cyanobacteria, sulfate-reducing micr ...

bearing Dolomite Limestones, which has been declared national geological monument by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), for their protection, maintenance, promotion and enhancement of geotourism.national geo-heritage of India
INTACH

Mamley national geological monument

Buxa Formation of Mamley (also called Mamley Stromatolite Park) in Mamley, the stromatolite bearing Dolomite Limestones has been declared national geological monument by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), for their protection, maintenance, promotion and enhancement of geotourism. It is contiguous to the Buxa Tiger Reserve in neighboring state of

Demographics

As of the 2011 Census of India, Namchi has a population of 12,194. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Namchi has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 73%. In Namchi, 9% of the population is under 6 years of age. Most of the people of Namchi are

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

s and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

s. Languages spoken are Sikkimese, Nepali.

Religion

Languages

Education

Namchi has more than half a dozen private schools with quality education (Seven Hills School, Mt. Carmel School, Namchi Public School, Tendong Educational Institute, New Light Academy, Bethany School etc.) and government higher secondary schools for boys and girls and prominent computer institutes e.g. Informatics Computer Institute (under Government of Sikkim Registered) Multimedia Computer Institute an authorized study center of Manipal Group etc. Just few kilometers away from the town is a reputed Government College for Arts, Education, Science, Commerce. People give a lot of importance and focus on education with a reverence. Namchi Public School, run by Catholic missionaries, is one of the respected educational institutes in the state and one of the best in the south district of Sikkim.

Tourism

Namchi is fast becoming a tourist spot and pilgrimage centre. The Namchi Monastery, Ralang Monastery and Tendong Hill are local

pilgrimage centres. The world's largest statue (at 135 feet) of the

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ('Born from a Lotus'), also known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru'), was a legendary tantric Buddhist Vajracharya, Vajra master from Oddiyana. who fully revealed the Vajrayana in Tibet, circa 8th – 9th centuries... He is consi ...

, also known as Guru Rinpoche, the patron saint of Sikkim, is on the Samdruptse hill (The Wish Fulfilling hill) opposite Namchi. It was completed in February 2004. It is also said that the Samdruptse hill is actually a dormant volcano. Myths say that the Buddhist monks have been going on top of the hill and offering prayers to the volcano to keep it calm. There is also a Rock Garden a few kilometers from the town on the way to Samdruptse. The area has views of Mt. Kanchendzonga, aka Mt. Kangchenjunga, the world's third highest peak. Namchi

Recently inaugurated (in November 2011), the Siddhesvara Dhaam is a pilgrimage-tourism venture of the Sikkim Government developed as "Pilgrim cum Cultural Centre" boasting an 87-ft statue of Lord Shiva and replicas of four Dhams of the country, all at one place on the Solophok hilltop in Namchi. Char Dham, the four most revered Dhams of the Hindus have been replicated in this fantastic complex to benefit the devotees and tourists. The dream project of Chief Minister Pawan Chamling which was conceived by him and started in the year 2005 stands promisingly amidst the breathtaking surrounding of Solophok hill, befitting the mythological setting behind the establishment of the original Dhams. For the consecration of the Dham Shri Jagadguru Sankaryacharya Swami Swarupananda Saraswati, in the presence of the Chief Minister Shri Pawan Chamling and his wife Smt Tika Maya Chamling, did the "Pran Prastisha" of the Dham. Lordshiva

There are replicas of the "Dwadash Jyotirlingas" (the twelve jyothirlingas) of Somnath, Mallikarjuna, Mahakaleswar, Omkareshwar,

Kedarnath Kedarnath is a town and Nagar Panchayat in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, India, known primarily for the Kedarnath Temple. It is approximately 86.5 kilometres from Rudraprayag, the district headquarters. Kedarnath is the most remote ...

, Bhimashankar, Kashi Vishwanath, Trimbakeshwar, Vaidyanath, Nageshvara, Rameswar at Rameswaram and Grishneshwar surrounding the statue of Lord Shiva and the Char Dhams. There is a grand statue of Kirateshwar Mahadev and a temple of Shirdi Sai Baba too. One can have a view of the Mt Kanchenjunga, Statue of Guru Padmasambhava at Samdruptse,

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

and other such locations from here. The Dhaam facilitates the devotees for an overnight stay at the "Yatri Niwas" which can accommodate more than 90 people at a time. The Dham has won the National Tourism Awards 2010–11 under the category of "Most Innovative/Unique Tourism Project" by the Ministry of Tourism,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. A helipad is located 5 km from the town at an altitude of around 5000 ft. From here one can get the most panoramic view of Mt. Kanchendzonga along with other adjacent peaks, a part of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and the rolling plains of Bengal. Near the town, Sikkim's sole tea estate — the Temi Tea Garden is situated. The visitors can enjoy the scenic view of Temi tea garden - the one and the only tea estate in the state which produces top quality tea in the international market. The tea carries a premium the world over and costs around Rs. 800/- a kg. The tea is marked by its exotic odour and flavour. In the month of February, the Namchi garden hosts it annual flower show. The flower show is the largest in Sikkim, with flowers of vivid colours. The prime attraction of this show is the display of exotic and rare

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s. One of the highlights of the town is the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium – the Bhaichung Stadium built by the Sikkimese government in honour of its most famous citizen, footballer

Bhaichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often ...

who owns a number of football schools all over India. "The Gold Cup" football tournament is held in Bhaichung Stadium almost every year. Football teams from all over India,

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

and

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

vie for the honour which draws lot of crowds from all over Sikkim. Namchi is also the base of the former chief minister of Sikkim,

Pawan Kumar Chamling Pawan Kumar Chamling Rai (born 22 September 1950) is an Indian politician and writer who served as the 5th Chief Minister of Sikkim from 1994 to 2019. He is the List of longest-serving Indian chief ministers, longest serving Chief Minister in ...

. Historically, Namchi was the place where Pende Ongmoo, the treacherous princess who poisoned one of the Chogyals of Sikkim, was caught and killed for her deed. Legend says her spirit still haunts the foothills of Ghurpisey.

References

External links

{{Sikkim Cities and towns in Namchi district Colossal statues in India