ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>CHUNG TONG</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="CHUNG,TONG"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279CHUNG TONG, a small village on the bank of the River Teest&#257 in Sikkim, 168 km north of the nearest railhead, Sil&#299gu&#7771&#299, has recently been discovered to have a connection with early Sikh history. Local tradition there refers to the visit of Gur&#363 N&#257nak (1469-1539) to the place during his third <i>ud&#257s&#299</i> or preaching tour. Although the Janam S&#257kh&#299s do not mention Tibet specifically, the mention of Gur&#363 N&#257nak Rimpoche (lit. the great one) in Tibetan literature points to the Gur&#363's travel through Tibet, and it is likely that he passed through Chung Tong on his way back to India. According to tradition, there was a severe famine in the area when the Great One arrived there. He sat on a stone mount near the Teest&#257 whereupon the imprints of his feet are still shown. The grateful villagers raised a Lh&#257-Kh&#257&#7749g (shrine) in memory of Gur&#363 N&#257nak, who it is said had prayed for them and presented them with a ripe crop of grain ready to be harvested. Along with other icons, a picture of the Gur&#363 is placed in the shrine. People light butter lamps in front of it. They celebrate the birth anniversary of Gur&#363 N&#257nak along with that of Gur&#363 Padma Sambhava, the eighth-century teacher, who preached Buddhism in Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">T. S. R&#257j&#363<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>