Chuba Lamidara hosts Sakewa celebrations

REGU, 26 May: Sakewa was celebrated with prayers and traditional events at Chuba Lamidara situated around 10 KM away from Rongli Bazaar in East Sikkim on Sunday. The celebration was organized by a group led by Sanjit Rai and Udai Rai.

The celebration started with Nag puja, Khola-Pokhari puja and Bhumi puja. Kalu Rai and Dhanbir Rai spoke about the significance of these prayers.

The celebration had former advisor, KB Rai, Gram Vikash Adhikari [Regu], Sabindra Rai, former and present panchayat members and local people. [from BHANURAJ THAPA]

AKRS to celebrate communal harmony during Sakewa at Saramsa

GANGTOK, 16 May: The Rai festival of Sakewa will be held at Saramsa here on 27 May, with the Akhil Kirat Rai Sangh, Sikkim, announcing that the celebration will be held on a grand scale.
Addressing a press conference here at the Press Club of Sikkim today, the AKRS president, Dr. SK Rai, informed that the state-level celebration of Sakewa-2013 was being organized at Saramsa as the Rai Gaon project coming up at Ranka was still under construction. “Last year, the state level celebration of Sakewa was held in South District, this year we are holding it in the East District, next year we plan to hold it in West Sikkim and in the fourth year, will hold the celebrations at the block level,” he said.
Sakewa will be celebrated this year as “Sadbhawana Diwas”, AKRS informs.
The conference was also addressed by Mohan Dungmali [president, Sakewa Organising Committee 2013], who informed that the event will feature cultural programmes, food stalls and displays of the cultural wealth of the Rai community.
This year’s Sakewa celebration will have the Governor as the chief guest and the Chief Minister as guest of honour accompanied by the Minister for Tribal Affairs & Panchayati Raj [Government of India] Vyricherla Kishore Chandra Suryanarayana Deo as special guest. AKRS also plans to felicitate five persons - PR Bhutia, Tenzing Loday Lepcha, Dhurba Lohagan, PB Muningla and PM Rai - for their contributions towards their respective communities. In keeping with the theme of this year’s Sakewa – Sadhbhavna - AKRS will also be handing over tokens of appreciation to the presidents [15] of organizations and associations representing the various ethnic communities of Sikkim.

CM inaugurates Sakungsaya Mangkhim at Chemchey on Sakewa

NAMCHI, 14 May: On the auspicious occasion of the Rai festival of Sakewa today, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling inaugurated the Sakungsaya Mangkhim at Chemchey, South Sikkim and participated in the prayers conducted by Mangpas at the “Three-Heart Stone” of the Mangkhim. The Chief Minister was accompanied by his wife Tika Maya Chamling, and Political Advisor DD Bhutia.
Organized jointly by the North East Zone Cultural Center, Dimapur and Cultural Affairs & Heritage Department, the state-level Sakewa festival at Chemchey was marked with colourful presentations of Rai traditions, culture and customs along with traditional food and wine.
Addressing the occasion, the Chief Minister stressed that religion should bring change in the life of people and inspire them towards creating a better society. To the educated youth and students in the audience, the Chief Minister said that Sikkim has gained world’s class development and opportunities but people have to become more competitive, hardworking and skilled to benefit from these opportunities.
He further urged the youth to imbibe the positive aspects of developed countries and stay away from its harmful aspects.
The CM said that in the coming Panchayat elections, the party will give priority to the candidates nominated by the people and urged the people in turn to be careful in choosing their candidates.
During the programme, the Sakewa celebration committee also felicitated contractor Prem Tsering Sherpa with a citation for his contribution in constructing the Mangkhim at Chemchey while the CM presented certificates to the different cultural groups.
On the occasion the CM also released books and music CDs. Cultural performances of different forms of Sili dance were also presented during the celebrations while singer Jatin Rai and his group also performed with traditional instruments on the day.
The Sakewa festival was also attended Ministers, MLAs, officers and had a large presence of local public.

Rakdong felicitates philanthropic senior citizen on Sakewa

MANGAN, 23 MAY: Sakewa, the most important festival of the Rai community, was celebrated here at Rakdong in East Sikkim with a special event organized by the Akhil Kirat Rai Sangh unit of Tumin-Lingee constituency. The function was chaired by Lhakila Tongden Lepcha, member, State Planning Commission, as a chief guest and had Zilla member Saraswati Regmi as a special guest.
The celebration began with the observance of “Chandi Purnima” with Mangpas (the Rai priests) performing the “Paruhang Sumnima” rituals. Food stalls stocked with traditional Rai delicacies and a museum display of antiques collected from Rai households were well received by people who turned up for the celebrations.
Folk dances performed by students of Rakdong JHS, Sunrise School, cultural troupes from Upper Rakdong, Lower Rakdong and Yangthang added to the entertainment quotient of the day’s events.

Pabyuk-Naitam comes together for Sakewa

ANUPA RAI
GANGTOK, 23 May: Sakewa, an important festival of the Rai community, was celebrated here at the village of Pabyuk-Naitam under Syari constitueny of East Sikkim today. The celebration started off with the traditional rituals of Ubhauli Puja performed in the house of the community faith-healer, Dik Man Rai, after which it moved out to the fields.
Ubhauli Puja is the offering of special prayers to the natural supreme power of Kirateshwar and the Mother Goddess and seeks the blessings of nature to bless the people with a good harvest in the year ahead. This is a traditional observance which marks the start of the sowing season. The festival falls on the 15th day of 5th month of the Vikram Sambhat calendar.
Pabyuk-Naitam had been celebrating Sakewa in this community-event format for the past four years with generous support and contributions from the villagers. This time around as well, the villagers gathered at the field with the same enthusiasm since early morning, giving out the message of unity and remembering their ancestors as they assembled at the three sacred stones [maintained in the hearth and fields by the Rais] to offer prayers.

Celebrating Rai culture, achievers and Sikkimese unity with Sakewa in Namchi

CM INVITES PEOPLE TO SUBMIT MORE COMPLAINTS THAN DEMANDS DURING HIS SIKKIM TOUR
PURAN TAMANG
NAMCHI, 23 May: “Festivals of all communities of the State have been provided special recognition in the last 17 years of the SDF Government and this should be seen as a cultural revolution which has made space for every community to celebrate its identity,” said Chief Minister Pawan Chamling while addressing the Sakewa celebration held here at Bhaichung Stadium today.
The Chief Minister took a day’s break from his frenetic 40-day tour of Sikkim to attend the celebrations. He has completed six days of touring through rural South Sikkim and resumes his road trip from Tuesday onwards. The hectic travelling which has the CM interacting with rural folk in at least six villages on an average per day, puts a tremendous strain as officials accompanying him have shared, and the CM commented that even he was not feeling in the best of health.
The CM underlined that although his detractors have alleged that allowing expression to individual communities has divided Sikkim, the truth is that such space has made individual communities more confident of their respective identities as Sikkimese and reinforced camaraderie by ending denial.
He did however forewarn the people against playing into the hands of ‘forces inimical to Sikkim’ which have been striving to divide Sikkim on communal lines.

Governor and CM greet Sikkim on Sakewa

GANGTOK, 23 May: Governor BP Singh and Chief Minister Pawan Chamling have extended his heartiest greetings to the people of Sikkim on the occasion of Sakewa [23 May].
In his message, the Governor, said, “The custom of worshipping Mother Nature is intrinsic to Sikkimese culture. It is from this practice of reverencing Nature that our people take care of trees and plants and rivers and wetlands. Let us promote and strengthen our tradition of conservation of nature on this auspicious occasion of Sakewa”.

AKRS plans 2-day Sakewa celebrations in May

GANGTOK, 24 April: The Akhil Kirat Rai Sangh Sikkim has announced plans to organise a 2-day celebration of the Rai festival of Sakewa on 22 and 23 May. This was decided at an AKRS meeting held at the South District Administrative Centre conference hall  on Friday. The meeting was chaired by Tea Board chairperson Gagan Rai accompanied by the Namchi-Singhithang MLA, Binod Rai, informs an AKRS press release.