Satyajit Ray's poetic documentary was commissioned by the Chogyal (King) of Sikkim at a time when he felt the sovereignty of Sikkim was under threat from both China and India. Ray's documentary is about the sovereignty of Sikkim. The film was banned by the government of India when Sikkim merged with India in 1975. The ban was finally lifted by the Ministry of External Affairs in September 2010. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2007.

Tucked away in the North-Eastern Himalayas, Sikkim with an area of 7300 sq. km has traditionally been looked upon as abode of spiritual tranquillity. Hinduism is the religion of the vast majority of its inhabitants. Lepen has and Bhutias professing Buddhism form the next dominant group. A protectorate of India, since 1890, this special relationship continued after independence. The Sikkim ruler, known by convention as the Maharaja was permitted to call himself the Chogyal in 1965. The Indian Parliament passed the 38th Constitution amendment bill on April 23rd, 1975 which declared Sikkim as the 22nd state of Indian Union. This film narrates the political history of Sikkim right from 1890.

The first film shot in the small State of Sikkim (North Indian country).

The film illustrates the changes the Lepcha of the Dzongu reserve, North Sikkim, have been through in the last 60 years. From the 1940s, the Lepcha of Tingvong village gradually abandoned hunting, gathering and the slash and burn cultivation of dry rice, and became settled agriculturalists. Entire mountains sides were converted to cardamom and terraced for the cultivation of irrigated paddy. The irrigated rice and the cardamom cash crop not only brought the Lepcha within Sikkim’s market economy but helped create a surplus which could among other things be invested in religion. In the 1940s, the Lepcha of Tingvong embraced Buddhism and all its complex rituals without however abandoning their strong shamanic traditions. Today, both forms of rituals amiably co-exist in the village. This film is part of a long-term visual anthropology training project for the tribal communities of Sikkim.

Sikkim is a paradise for the naturalist. The steep variations inelevation and rainfall help create a multitude of species within a limited area. The original inhabitants of Sikkim belonged to the Lepcha tribe, then came the members of the Bhutia tribe from Tibet, and even later the Nepalese. The Sikkimese love to decorate not only their homes but anything that can be decorted -with flowers. This film introduces to the viewer some floral - species of Sikkim.

Amateur footage of a trip into the Himalaya.

Hear the Lama band, see the sacred dances: welcome to Sikkim, in the shadow of the Himalayas.