Gangtokas we saw and understood it

Theory of Settlements

Bhavika Aggarwal A/2004/2008N. Navneethakrishnan A/2005/2008

B.Arch. IIIrd Year Section A

http://w

ww.flickr.com/photos/dhillan/3853516330/

Sikkim

History

http://www.sikhspectrum.com/062002/tibet.htm

•Not much is known about Sikkim's ancienthistory. The earliest recorded is thepassage of the Buddhist saint GuruRinpoche or Padmasambhava, the patronsaint of Sikkim, in the 8th century.

•There are numerous stories regardingestablishment of the Sikkimese monarchy.Phuntsog Namgyal was consecrated as thefirst Chogyal (king) of Sikkim in 1642.

•The oldest capital of Sikkim at Yuksom andthe second one at Rabdentse were subjectto constant attack by the Nepalese. Beingrelated to the Kings of Bhutan, the kingshifted the capital further east to Tumlongand then later to Gangtok in 1894.

Location

The City

•Gangtok is located at 27.33°N 88.62°E. It issituated in the lower Himalayas at analtitude of 5,500 ft (1,676 m).

•Gangtok literally means a hillock cut out tomake flat land. A piece of such flat landwas used to build the Gangtok Monasteryas early as 1716.

From a map published in 1929 under the direction of the Surveyor-General of India, Brigadier R.H. Thomas, D.S.O.http://www.semiadventuroustraveler.com/semi%20research.html

Pilgrimage

History

•Like the rest of Sikkim, not much is knownabout the early history of Gangtok.

•With the advent of Buddhism there weremonasteries in nearly every village. Theearliest records date from the constructionof the hermitic Gangtok monastery in1716.

•Gangtok remained a small hamlet until theconstruction of a gompa, possibly in 1840,made it major a pilgrimage centre, thoughit was still a village. The Enchey Monasterywas built on the same site in 1909.

Enchey Monasteryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enchey_Monastery

by Bhavika Aggarwal

Trade

History

•After the defeat of the Tibetans by theBritish at the end of the 19th century,Gangtok became a major stopover in thetrade route between Tibet and BritishIndia.

•It’s on the way to Nathu La, part of the oldsilk route. This was acknowledged and anagreement was signed by the Monarchy ofSikkim and the rulers of Tibet to increasetrade between them.

Historical Map of Sikkim extracted from map prepared by Trelawney Saunders, 1876, titled ‘The routes of Bogle, Turner and Manning between Bengal and Tibet’http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikkim

Capital

History

•Gangtok lay on the old silk route and wasfar enough from the Nepalese aggression.Hence it presented itself as an ideallocation for a capital.

•It also had a larger area which could havebeen expanded into.

Palace Monastery often referred to as the Tsuglakhang - the temple connected with the Royal Palacehttp://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Palace_Monastery

Development

The City

•When the capital shifted to Gangtok in1894, the latter was just a villagesurrounded by hamlets such asDambikyong, Lingding, Samatar,Suchagang, Burtuk, Syari and Tadong.

•The increase in trade also led toimmigration.

•Urban development in Gangtok thusprobably started in the beginning of the19th century.

MG Marghttp://sikhim.blogspot.com/2009/08/gangtok-lal-bazaar-junction-during-1948.html

Approach road to Lal Bazaar, 1948http://sikhim.blogspot.com/2009/08/gangtok-lal-bazaar-junction-during-1948.html

Geography

The City

•The town lies on the western side of a hillcalled ‘the Ridge’, as in many other hillstations (eg. Shimla).

• This is very obviously an attempt tomaximise on the evening sunlight.Otherwise, the eastern face of the ridgefalls into shadow by early afternoon andthe temperatures plummet in the winters.

•The city is flanked on east and west by twostreams, namely Roro Chu and Ranikhola,respectively dividing the natural drainageinto two parts, the eastern and westernparts.

http://maps.google.com

Ridge RoadThe Ridge Road leading to thepalace was earlier the maincommercial hub of Sikkim. Oldphotographs of Gangtok show thatshops lined both sides of the road,especially near the WhiteMemorial Hall.

PalaceEnchey Monastery

White Hall

Raj Bhavan Secretariat

Assembly Hall

Ropeway joining the Secretariat and Assembly Halls

MG MargThe commercial hub of Gangtok.The Old and New Bazaars -where the shopping centres,hardware shops, restaurants,hotels, cyber cafes, videoparlours and banks are located-are situated on MG Marg.

Lal Bazaarlandmark built in the 1950’s sothat the villagers could sell theirproducts at the local fair usuallyheld on Sundays. Synonymous withthe vegetable market in Gangtok.

NH31ANational Highway from Siliguri.

Also has many shops and restaurants.

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New Market

MG Marg

Lal Market

The PalaceRopewayWhite Hall

Sothward to Siliguri

Eastward to Nathula

To North Sikkim

from a Gangtok tourism booklet

MG Marg

Today

•The main thoroughfareof Gangtok, it is slightlyless than a kilometre inlength and is lined withshops, hotels, eateries .

•It is well maintainedwith kota stone paving,decorative planters,fountains and lighting.

•Closed to traffic andextremely pedestrianfriendly. Later at NewMarket divides into two:one pedestrian and onevehicular path.

all photos by Bhavika Aggarwal

Lal BazaarToday

•Parallel and lower to MG Marg.•Is the more informal market.

from ‘Images of Sikkim’, Rigsum Productions, 1983

Character

Today

•Economic activity in Gangtok picked uponly after Sikkim became an Indian State.

•Hence most of the construction in Gangtokis concrete, and almost as chaotic andunplanned as any typical Indian town.

• Nevertheless, the development in Gangtokis significantly more sensitive as even theconcrete constructions are maintained toa standard.

•A lot of effort has been put intomaintaining the infrastructure andbeautification of main Gangtok.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddhamountain/4463268518/

Character

Today

•Most of the roads in Gangtok follow azigzag pattern of either winding up ordown the slope.

•As a result all the buildings are locatedalong these roads and zigzag up or downthe slopes with the road.

•The buildings of the town are constructedon artificially compacted ground at theside of the roads.

•As in many hill towns, the construction inGangtok is almost completely multistoried.

by Bhavika Aggarwal

Problems

Today

•There is slowly an increasing lack of spaceas several of the new constructions areeven lower on the western face of theridge and further from the original foci ofMG Marg and New Market.

•The rapid pace of construction andexpansion is causing damage to localecology and wildlife.

•There is an increase in the number ofvehicles which is causing strain on theinfrastructure.

by Bhavika Aggarwal

BibliographyWebsites•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangtok•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikkim•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sikkim•http://web.archive.org/web/20070816194451/http

://www.httj.com.np/apr_2006/sikkim_feature.htm• http://www.mapsofindia.com/gangtok/gangtok-

city.html

Tourist Literature•Sikkim Pocket Guide, Milestones•Sikkim in a nutshell, Milestones Metroprints•Sikkim… the land of peace and tranquility,

Department of Tourism, Government of Sikkim

Books• Images of Sikkim, Rigsum Productions, 1983.

Photographed by Rajesh Bedi, written by RameshSharma

•The Gates of Thibet, Vivek Publushing House, late 19th century. By J.A.H. Louis.

by Bhavika Aggarwal