KANCHENJUNGA

 

Kanchenjunga is the highest peak in India and the easternmost of the peaks higher than 8,000 m (26,247 ft). It is called Five Treasures of Snow after its five high peaks, and has always been worshipped by the people of Darjeeling and Sikkim.[5]

Two of the five peaks are in Taplejung District, Nepal.[6] The other three peaks – main, central, and south – are on the border of North Sikkim and Nepal. Kanchenjunga Main is the second highest peak in Nepal after Mount Everest.[7]

Until 1852, Kanchenjunga was assumed to be the highest mountain in the world, but calculations based on various readings and measurements made by the Great Trigonometric Survey of India in 1849 came to the conclusion that Mount Everest, known as Peak XV at the time, was the highest. Allowing for further verification of all calculations, it was officially announced in 1856 that Kanchenjunga is the third-highest mountain.[

Names

There are a number of alternative spellings which include Kangchen Dzö-nga, Khangchendzonga, Kanchenjunga, Kachendzonga, Kanchenjunga or Kangchanfanga. The final word on the use of the name Kanchenjunga came from His Highness Sir Tashi Namgyal, the Maharaja or chogyal of Sikkim, who stated that "although junga had no meaning in Tibetan, it really ought to have been Zod-nga (treasure, five) Kang-chen (snow, big) to convey the meaning correctly". Following consultations with a Lieutenant-Colonel J.L.R. Weir, British agent to Sikkim, he agreed that it was best to leave it as Kanchenjunga, and thus the name remained so by acceptance and common usage.[citation needed]

Kanchenjunga’s name in Nepali is Kanchanjaŋghā. Its name in the Limbu language and the Khumbu Rai language is Sewalungma, meaning "mountain to which we offer greetings". Sewalungma is considered sacred by adherents of the Kirant religion.[citation needed]

Protected areas

The Kangchenjunga landscape is a complex of three distinct ecoregions: the eastern Himalayan broad-leaved and coniferous forests, the eastern Himalayan alpine meadows and the Terai-Duar savannas and grasslands.[11] The Kangchenjunga transboundary landscape is shared by Bhutan, China, India and Nepal, and comprises 14 protected areas with a total of 6,032 km2 (2,329 sq mi):[

Geography

The Kangchenjunga Himal section of the Himalayas lies both in Nepal and Sikkim, and encompasses 16 peaks over 7,000 m (23,000 ft). In the north, it is limited by the Lhonak Chu, Goma Chu and Jongsang La and in the east by the Teesta River. The western limit runs from the Jongsang La down the Gingsang and Kangchenjunga glaciers and the rivers of Ghunsa and Tamur.[1] Kanchenjunga rises about 20 km (12 mi) south of the general alignment of the Great Himalayan range about 125 km (78 mi) east-south-east of Mount Everest as the crow flies. South of the southern face of Kanchenjunga runs the 3,000–3,500 m (9,800–11,500 ft) high Singalila Ridge that separates Sikkim from Nepal and north Bengal.[4]

Tourism

Some of the most famous views of Kangchenjunga are from the hill station of Darjeeling. The Darjeeling War Memorial is among the most visited places from which Kangchenjunga is observed. On a clear day it presents an image not so much of a mountain but of a white wall hanging from the sky. The people of Sikkim revere Kangchenjunga as a sacred mountain. Permission to climb the mountain from the Indian side is rarely given

In literature

In the Swallows and Amazons series of books by Arthur Ransome, a high mountain (unnamed in the book, but clearly based on the Old Man of Coniston in the English Lake District) is given the name "Kanchenjunga" by the children when they climb it in 1931.

In The Epic of Mount Everest, first published in 1926, Sir Francis Younghusband: “For natural beauty Darjiling (Darjeeling) is surely unsurpassed in the world. From all countries travellers come there to see the famous view of Kangchenjunga, 28,150 feet (8,580 m) in height, and only 40 miles (64 km) distant. Derailing (Darjeeling) itself is 7,000 feet (2,100 m) above sea-level and is set in a forest of oaks, magnolia, rhododendrons, laurels and sycamores. And through these forests the observer looks down the steep mountain-sides to the Rangeet River only 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea-level, and then up and up through tier after tier of forest-clad ranges, each bathed in a haze of deeper and deeper purple, till the line of snow is reached; and then still up to the summit of Kangchenjunga, now so pure and ethereal we can scarcely believe it is part of the solid earth on which we stand; and so high it seems part of the very sky itself."