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Aneek Dhar performs at the grand finale of Pang Lhabsol festival in Rabong on Monday night. Picture by Pema Leyda Shangderpa |
Rabong (South Sikkim), Sept. 16: A majestic new monastery in this subdivisional town provided the perfect setting for this year’s Pangtoed Chaam, or warrior dance, an essential part of the Pang Lhabsol festival organised to pay obeisance to Mt Kanchenjunga, the guardian deity of Sikkim.
Amid the chants, the drum beats, and the sound of cymbals and gyalings (trumpets), the Pangtoedpas (warrior dancers) came out of the main hall of the newly built Rawang Karma Thekchenling Donkun Duppai Gatsel monastery-cum-museum to perform in the new courtyard.
The architectural marvel overlooks the new Mane Chokerling complex inaugurated by chief minister Pawan Chamling yesterday morning.
Clear skies and warm weather greeted the thousands, including tourists, who had thronged to the venue.
This was the silver jubilee year of the Pang Lhabsol festival.
According to state tourism secretary S.B.S. Bhadauria, Rabong has established itself as a major centre in the Buddhist tourism circuit and will be promoted as such by the state government. Pang Lhabsol will not be the only attraction of the town once a 127ft statue of Lord Buddha is completed sometime next year.
The director of the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Tashi Densapa, said the special thing about the statue was that many countries, including Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, have come forward to hand over relics of Lord Buddha to the project at Rabong. The first relic will arrive from Thailand in mid-November.
“The presence of such relics will definitely add to the significance of the statue,” said Densapa.
The chief minister, who presided over the commemoration of the silver jubilee celebration yesterday, said Rabong’s infrastructure development had to continue with the participation of the people.
The Sikkim government had patronised this year’s silver jubilee celebrations, granting it the status of a state function. Minister and local MLA D.D. Bhutia said it was Rabong’s continuous process of development and commitment to excellence that had made the chief minister grant it special projects, including the new monastery-cum-museum and the statue of Lord Buddha.
As part of Pang Lhabsol, Rabong also hosted the finals of a national-level invitational volleyball tournament.
The grand finale of the cultural programmes was a spectacular performance by the winner of the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge Aneek Dhar and fellow finalists Mauli Dave, Harpreet Deol and Rimi Dhar with music provided by Bappi Lahiri’s orchestra at VCGL Grounds.
Around 35,000 people attended the silver jubilee celebrations with most of them making it to the evening show that also saw a magnificent display of fireworks.