Changu Lake stamp and Sikkim
Philately Very little is known about the postal
history of Sikkim.
Though
post offices in Sikkim
started in 1888 in
Dulapchin (now Dalapchand), near Rongli and meager information has been established
so far. The following article is in no reference to the postal history of Sikkim but tries to recapture the honour
received by Sikkim when
Indian Postage issued a postal stamp on Changu Lake.
Sikkim Philatelic Club wants
to express gratitude towards the Indian Postal Department for their generous
effort on honouring a place for Changu
Lake in world
philately.
This article recollects the account of Philately in Sikkim over the years.
For a stamp sized
state of Sikkim,
6th November 2006 hold a moment of glory and recognisation in terms
of world philately. Indian Postage has featured a postal stamp on Changu Lake
in a group of five lakes from different part of India. The Changu
Lake stamp with Rs 5 denomination
features among the five Himalayan Lakes of India that include Roop Kund, Sela,
Tsomo Riri and Chandra Tal. The stamp and First Day Cover had been designed by
Bharati Mirchandani and Cancellation designed by Alka Sharma. The stamp is
printed in photogravure process and printed at India Security Press, Nasik. It was for the
first time in the history of Indian Postage, an individual theme from Sikkim got
introduced in Indian postage stamp. For the last few years efforts were made on
to feature individual theme from Sikkim. Along the lines various
tourist destinations including Rumtek Monastery, Changu (Tsangu) Lake, Guru Dongmor
Lake, Natula
Pass and cultural diversity of Sikkim were discussed but it was the more
popular Changu (Tsangu) Lake that made the
history. Truly no doubt Changu Lake has been one of the major tourist attractions
over the years and its incomparable scenic beauty reflects the charisma of the
small state of Sikkim.
More than thirty years since the
state of Sikkim joined the
Indian Union, Sikkim
has been struggling for its presence in Indian postage. Apart from four Mt
Kanchenjunga stamps on three separate occasions (1955, 1978 and 1988),Red Panda
(1955), Blood Pheasant (1963), and Flora and Fauna of North East India(2006), a
single illustration of Yumthang valley in 1982 Himalayan Flowers First Day
Cover and handful of Sikkim Special Covers, it was a long wait for Sikkim
Philately to rejoice.
Despite the fact
that Sikkim first made its
presence felt in the world of philately way back in 1935 when in this small Himalayan Kingdom a unique postal
experiment was
conducted by a man named Stephen Hector Smith. The postal experiment got popular
with the name Sikkim Rocketmail Experiment 1935.
Although few people know or
remember that Sikkim
was home to a unique experiment in mail delivery. In fact Sikkim was one of the very few countries ever in
the world during the reign of the Chogyal, the Sikkim king, to perform this
ambitious achievement. The parcels along with letters and other items were send
from the rockets to the confined destinations. Rocket mail was being sent
across the rivers. In fact, there are many covers sent successfully that
actually has signature of the late Sir Tashi Namgyal, the Chogyal. In the book
“From the diary of Stephen Smith” written by Stephen Smith relating to rockets
mail experiments, it has been mentioned that the Sikkim experiment was the most
successful among all the pioneering efforts in rocket mailing the world over.
The five places where the experiments were conducted were Gangtok, Sarumsa,
Ray, Singtam and Rangpo.
In 1935, this unique experiment
had been carried out by a multi – faceted Englishman named Stephen Hector
Taylor Smith, better known as Stephen Smith. At that time, the experiment of
sending mail through rockets was being conducted in only two places in the
Indian subcontinent. One was in Calcutta and
some of the district towns of West Bengal,and the other was in the Kingdom of Sikkim. Oriental Fireworks Company based
in Calcutta
provided all the rockets to Smith. ‘’The rockets were launched by lighting a
touch paper from a sloping stand aimed in the general direction of the intended
target”, a document relating to the experiment says.
Stephen Hector Smith, a pioneer
in Indian Rocketmail history chooses Sikkim for his experiment because
of its geographical features and mountains. Sikkim is also the first country in
the world to successfully dispatch by means of a rocket, a parcel containing
small quantities of such useful articles as medicine, tobacco, tea, sugar, etc.
Those people who helped Sikkim Rocket experiment succeed included Chogyal Tashi
Namgyal, CE Dudley, General Secretary to the Chogyal, Tashi Dadul Densapa,
Private Secretary, Rai Sahib Faqir Chand Jali, the state engineer and F
Williamson, British Political Officer.
Due to absence of any records
found about Sikkim Rocketmail in Sikkim today, this pioneer and
glorious effort has been buried in the past.