Have you ever come to Sikkim - India?

Sikkim is simply enchanting. Whether you're gazing upon the white-gold peaks of mighty Khangchendzong (the world's third highest mountain) or responding to the shy smile of a Lepcha tea stall owner, it's not hard to understand why Buddhism, the gentle faith, remains rooted in this hard, but tranquil land. The Buddha is everywhere, in the exhilarating purity of the mountain air, the blue-green waters of the Teesta River and the dignified friendliness of Sikkim's people.

Crows Lake in North Sikkim

 
 Coming here, you will be welcomed by friendly local people.

 Nepali festival is one of the interesting festivals in Sikkim. Maghe Sankranti (January): It corresponds to the Indian festival of Makara 
Sankranti and is marked by people bathing in holy rivers.

Dasain (September-October): This is the Nepali version of the nine-day long Durga Puja. The first day of festival, called Ghatasthapana, sees the installation of the kalash or sacred vassel in the family Puja room. Prayers are chanted to invoke the Goddess Durga and persuade her to alight on the rim of the kalash, even if it be for as long as a mustard seed can balance on the horn of cow.

Tihar (November): A five-day festival, its third day corresponds to the Indian festival of Diwali. The first day is celebrated as kag tihar or the festival of crows, when delicacies are prepared and fed to the crows; then comes kukoor tihar or the festival of dogs; then gai tihar, whose evening is devoted to the celebration of the Goddess Lakshmi and houses are decorated with lights; the following day is goru (ox) tihar. The last day is Bhai Tika, when sisters mark their brothers foreheads with tikas 

Momos are the most popular dishes that have made it big outside Sikkim. Today, you will get a Momo in any part of the country, at any eating joint. They are flour dough in the shape of dumblings and are stuffed generally with minced meat. Though there are varieties in which vegetables or cheese used as a filling. They flour dough is steamed for 30 minutes in a peculiar utensil which has three compartments. In the lowest compartment, soup is boiled. The steam which rises from the soup, cooks the dumblings. Momos are eaten hot with the soup, chilly sauce or tomato pickle.

Thukpa - the delicious food in Sikkim

 Red panda is the state animal of Sikkim, it is also the mascot of the International Tea Festival in Darjeeling. They are mostly herbivorous mammals, specialised as bamboo-feeders; they cannot digest cellulose as their guts are not specialised to handle plant matter like that of cows, horses and other herbivorous mammals. They eat berries, fruit, mushrooms, roots, acorns, lichen, grass and are known to supplement their with the occasional young birds, fish, eggs, small rodents and insects when the weather is warm enough. In captivity they will readily eat meat.

Red panda

Source: Internet