When a new route to Mount Kailash, considered to be the abode of Hindu god Shiva, in Tibet, opened up to pilgrims through the Indian state of Sikkim last month, it marked a fresh step in India-China relations.
It was the first time in five decades that tourists had entered China via the 14,000-feet Nathu La pass. Now the tiny Himalayan state hopes that it will mark the beginning of a rush of Hindu visitors.
Authorities in Sikkim are constructing replicas of some of India’s most-famous religious buildings to attract them.
“It’s going to flare up,” said Chewang Zangpo, the senior-most official in the tourism department of Sikkim referring to tourist arrivals. “We are emphasizing on eco-tourism and religious tourism,” he said.
Tourism accounts for around a fifth of the income for this onetime Himalayan kingdom, which is surrounded by Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan on three sides. With a population of only around six million and limited local industry, the state relies heavily on federal grants.
Sikkim has long tried to pitch itself as a spiritual center, mainly for Buddhists and in recent years for Hindus, and has built tourist attractions for people from both faiths.
In 2011, the government launched a pilgrim center comprising replicas of four of the most-important Hindu pilgrimage destinations popularly known as “char dham” or the “four abodes.” Devout Hindus believe that a visit to the “char dham” will help them atone for their sins and pave the way to heaven.
The original temples–Badrinath, Dwarka, Puri and Rameswaram–are located in four different corners of India. But in Sikkim, tourists can visit replicas of all four at Solophok Chardham in south Sikkim. The center also has a statue of Shiva which is 87 feet high, about the size of a seven-story building.
Convincing pilgrims to travel to Sikkim, which entails a two-hour plane ride followed by four to five hours on the road, won’t be easy.
Kiran Devi Sanwal, a 42-year-old resident of the north Indian state of Haryana, visited Sikkim’s Chardham center in late June and said she and her children were there because her husband is a soldier in the Indian army and is posted in Sikkim. She said that it was too far for her other family members to travel all the way from Haryana.
But Ms. Sanwal was impressed by what she saw.
“I’d never thought in life that I would see such a large statue of Shiva,” said Ms. Sanwal.
The Dalai Lama inaugurated this Buddha Park in south Sikkim in 2013. The statue is 130 feet high.
The state also has a Shiva temple in its west and a temple dedicated to Sai Baba, an Indian spiritual leader from the western Indian state of Maharashtra, located in the southern part of Sikkim.
The Himalayan state is already popular on the Buddhist spiritual circuit, thanks to its nearly 200 monasteries including the prominent Rumtek monastery near Gangtok, the state’s capital.
In 2013, Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama inaugurated a Buddha park with a 130-foot-high statue of Buddha, in Rabong, southern Sikkim.
Sikkim tourism officials say they are working on a few other spirituality-centric projects, including the building of the “Stairway to Heaven” in the western Sikkim area of Daramdin.
This project is symbolic for the local Lepcha community, considered to be the original inhabitants of Sikkim. The legend goes that the Lepchas once built a path to heaven by stacking earthen pots. It is said that pieces of those pots are found in the Daramdin area. The Sikkim government says it wants to construct a monument resembling the structure.
“These are the things which we thought will add color to the different destinations of the state,” said Mr. Zangpo.
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