The Lepchas, the oldest known inhabitants of Sikkim, tell of a time when the rivers Rangeet and Teesta rose and flooded the whole land. People and animals fled uphill as the water climbed, and many were lost.
A group of Lepchas climbed Tendong, the hill that rises north of Namchi. They prayed to the hill, and Tendong grew upwards, staying always above the water, until the flood went down. The name is usually explained as the 'upraised horn' of the hill. The survivors repopulated the land below.
Every year on 8 August, Lepcha communities across Sikkim and Darjeeling hold Tendong Lho Rum Faat, a festival of thanks to the hill, with prayers led by Lepcha priests, songs and offerings. Some gather on Tendong itself, others in towns such as Namchi and Kalimpong. The day is a public holiday in Sikkim.
Tendong is now a protected forest with a trail from Damthang to a viewpoint near the top. Walking it, you pass through the same oak and rhododendron forest that the story describes as the last dry ground in Sikkim.
Sources
Legends are retold differently from village to village. Where a story is told locally rather than written down, we say so.
