Baba Mandir and Tsomgo Lake

Our descent from Nathu La was slow due to snowfall, but once we were comfortably down the gradient, the snow turned to rain. It was extremely cold too and inspite of the soup and noodles we had at the mess at Nathu La, we began to feel hungry. Our progress became a bit faster now and soon we took the turn to proceed to Baba Mandir.

Baba Mandir, as the name suggests, is dedicated to the brave soldier Baba Harbhajan Singh. A sepoy in the Indian Army, was escorting a mule caravan from his battalion headquarters in Tekula to Dengchukla, he fell into a fast flowing stream and drowned.This incident took place on October 4, 1948. Search for Sepoy Harbhajan was made with no results it was on the fifth day of his missing; his colleague Pritam Singh had a dream of Harbhajan Singh informing him of his tragic incident and his dead body being buried under a heap of snow.

 

Harbhajan Singh desired to have a samadhi made after him. Pritam Singh ignored the dream as just as an imagination but later when the body of Sepoy Harbhajan Singh was found at the spot where Harbhajan Singh had informed, the army official was taken aback and to mark respect to his wish, a samadhi was constructed near Chhokya Chho.

 

Even today, Baba Harbhajan Singh warns the dangerous activities on the border through the dreams of fellow army men. Baba Harbhajan has been guarding the international boundary. The army men from both sides, India and China have reported of seeing a man riding a horse all alone,patrolling the border.

Baba Harbhajan Singh has been awarded the title of Honorary Captain. The temple attracts tourists from far and wide. All those visiting the Eastern part of Sikkim make it a point to visit this shrine and pay homage to the great Indian Sepoy, Baba Harbhajan Singh.

 

Just opposite the temple, there is a structure selling curios of sorts. A small canteen selling tea was also seen. Army jawans maintained discipline with a smile. 

After paying homage to Baba Harbhajan Singh, we proceeded with our tour towards the Tsomgo or Changu Lake.

Tsomgo lake is situated in the North Eastern part of Sikkim, and about 35 kms from Gangtok.It is considered to be a very holy lake by the locals. We also passed another small lake on the way to the Tsomgo Lake, this lake was partially frozen and we could see the thin sheet of ice at the edges of the lake.

We were told that the Tsomgo Lake is about 50 feet deep at the deepest end. We saw a lot of shops lined along the side of the lake selling woolens. They also served hot soup and Maggi noodles.There is a large area for parking of tourist vehicles, and all the tourists make their way to the shops to purchase one thing or the other, perhaps more of a memento than need. We saw some yaks on the road with harness and a cushion on its back for joy rides to the tourists. When I enquired, the man told me that a small round cost Rs.250/- and a larger round Rs. 350/-. I took some pics of the decked up animal, and made my way towards the shacks which served some soup.

Having refreshed ourselves and stretching our legs a bit, we returned back to our Sumo for our return trip to Gangtok.

Overall, I can say that our entire trip to Nathu La, Baba Mandir, and the Tsomgo Lake was very exciting. It had all the elements necessary, the natural surroundings, the landscapes, the people, the army personnel and above all discipline everywhere we went.