Khangchendzonga National Park
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How it came to be
Khangchendzonga National Park lies at the centre of Sikkim in north-east India and covers about 25 per cent of the state. Its altitude ranges from 1,220 m to 8,586 m at the summit of Khangchendzonga, the third highest mountain in the world, a span of more than 7 km. The park holds 18 glaciers and 73 glacial lakes, and the Zemu Glacier is one of the largest in Asia.
For the indigenous Lepcha people the area is Mayel Lyang, a sacred land, and for Buddhists it is a beyul, a hidden sacred valley. The mountain is held to be the home of Dzonga, the guardian deity of Sikkim. Buddhist tradition says that Guru Rinpoche consecrated the region in the 8th century, and the beyul was opened in the 17th century, chiefly by Lhatsun Namkha Jigme. Lepcha and Bhutia communities still perform regular rituals to the mountain.
The national park was established in 1977 and enlarged in 1997 to take in the main peaks, glaciers and more lowland forest, more than doubling its size. In 2016 it became India's first mixed World Heritage site, inscribed for both natural and cultural values. Climbing Khangchendzonga from the Indian side is not permitted.
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