CM inaugurates world's largest statue of Bhanu Bhakta, dedicates Nepali Research Centre to the people

GYALSHING, 14 July: The 197th Bhanu Jayanti was celebrated here on an international scale yesterday with the Chief Minister inaugurating the the world’s largest statue of Bhanu Bhakta housed in the Nepali Research Centre developed around it. 
The event was jointly organized by the Cultural Affairs & Heritage Department, the Bhanu Jayanti organizing committee of Gyalshing and the West Sikkim Sahitya Prakashan.
The foundation stone for this Centre [and statue] was laid on 05 December 2004 and work started in 2006. The complex spans across an area of 8,685 sq. ft. was built at the cost of Rs. 8.22 crore and work completed on February 2010. 

Also on the day, the 3rd Lalman Sancharani Memorial Award, presented annually by the West Sikkim Sahithya Prakashan, was conferred on Prem Pradhan of Darjeeling for his book, “Kehi Adhyan Kehi Bibechana”. Mr. Pradhan was awarded with a shawl, citation and a cash award.
Similarly, three other litterateurs were also felicitated in the three categories. JB Moktan of Darjeeling was awarded for his contributions in the field of poetry, while Amrita Sharma of Daramdin, West Sikkim, and Bisnu Kumar Bhattarai of Jhapa, Nepal, were feted for their body of work in the fields of story writing and essay writing respectively. 
Among the guest litterateurs to be felicitated on the day were senior litterateur Indra Bahadur Rai, the great grandson of Bhanu Bhakta Acharya, Dr. Hari Nath Acharya from Tanahu District in Nepal and Bhakta Acharya.
A book, “Asal Sochharu Ka pratisodh” by Kedar Gurung, one of the senior writers of Sikkim and a collection of short stories, “Thakur” by Puran Kumar Chettri were also released. 
The Chief Minister, in his address, reiterated that the SDF Government has always been sesnitive towards supporting culture, language, literature, traditions and has consistently nurtured them.
Dedicating the Nepali Research Centre which he inaugurated today to the people, he appealed that they make noble use of it and claim ownership of the facility. He also stressed that the Centre should not be exclusively be about Nepali language and should become a centre which celebrated creativity and literature of all forms.
Urging the public to utilize the centre to develop their creativity, he informed that the government’s plans to add more facilities to the Centre for which the concerned department has already been directed to prepare an estimate within this month. He also informed that the Centre would remain under the authority of the DC.
Holding up Sikkim’s unique blend as being among the best cultures of the world, he invited the people to join the efforts of the State Government to introduce the outside world to the State’s unqiue charms.
Commenting on the educational and political development of Sikkim, the CM creadited former Chief Minister, the Sikkim Congress president Nar Bahadur Bhandari with having made substantial contributions when he was CM. Admitting that Mr. Bhandari was his political adversary, Mr. Chamling added that he was not one to let political positions stop him from giving credit where it was due.
In this regard, he said that Mr. Bhandari played a vital role in winning Constitutional recognition for Nepali language and establishing the Sikkim Government College in Gangtok. He went on to add that should Mr. Bhandari give his consent, he would dedicate the Govt College, Tadong, in his name.
As for the other events of the day, the Open Ramayan Recitation competition went to Arigaon Samaj Sudhar Mandali while the interschool Ramayan Recitation competition was won by Kyongsa Girls Senior Secondary School.