KANGCHENJUNGA…… THE MOST TALKED ABOUT HIMALAYAN PEAK

                           
We had just come to Gangtok after visiting the Gurudongmar lake, after a gruelling seven hours drive from Lachen to Gangtok we were relaxing in our hotel when we decided to go to pelling, that is eastern Sikkim. This was an impromptu decision that we took. I always love these impromptu plans because then the entire journey becomes an adventure. We checked the net and we made our reservations at a fairly new hotel that was located in lower Pelling.
While driving to Pelling we visited the worlds only organic tea plantation known as the Temi Tea Garden. About this, I will write in a separate blog.
The Main attraction To go to Pelling was the opportunity to see the Himalayan Peak, Kanchenjunga. Kanchenjunga is a peak which has two important sides the Nepal Side and the Sikkim Side. In Sikkim, Kanchenjunga is revered as Holy and hence it is not climbed from the Sikkim side. This peak has been climbed from the Nepal side umpteen numbers of times.
Kangchenjunga also spelt Kanchenjunga, is the third highest mountain in the world. Actual pronunciation is Kangchenjunga.  It lies between Nepal and Sikkim, India, with three of the five peaks (Main, Central and South) directly on the border, and the remaining two (West and Kangbachen) in Nepal's Taplejung District It rises with an elevation of 8,586 m (28,169 ft) in a section of the Himalayas called Kangchenjunga Himal delimited in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak Chu and Jongsang La  and in the east by the Teesta River.
An important piece of history regarding Kangchenjunga and the reason for its popularity with the all of is that Until 1852, Kangchenjunga was assumed to be the highest mountain in the world but calculations based on various readings and measurements made by the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India in 1849 came to the conclusion that Mount Everest, known as Peak XV at that  time, was the highest. Allowing for further verification of all calculations, it was officially announced in 1856 that Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world
The name Kangchenjunga means .  "the five treasures of the high snow" referring to its five peaks. Sikkimese pronunciation [k̀ʱɐŋt͡ɕʰẽd͡zø̃ŋɐ] originates from the Tibetan word combining gangs /k̀ʱɐŋ/ meaning "snow, ice"; chen /t͡ɕʰẽ/ meaning "great"; mdzod /d͡zø/ meaning "treasure" and lnga /̃ŋɐ/ meaning "five".
I bring to you the majesty of this peak as shot from Pelling. It was five “O” clock that I went to the terrace of my hotel, fixed my Camera on the tripod to get the early morning shot of this peak. When the first light of the sun breaks the peak is adorned in a golden orange hue and as the day progresses the white snow of the peak becomes evident

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