page_title: Yuksom
section_title: Economy and facilities
hierarchical_section_title: Yuksom / Economy and facilities
caption_attribution_description: English: Hotel Demazong, Yuksom, Sikkim
context_page_description: Yuksom is a historical town in Geyzing subdivision of West Sikkim district in the Northeast Indian state of Sikkim. It was the first capital of Sikkim established in 1642 AD by Phuntsog Namgyal who was the first Chogyal of Sikkim. The coronation site of the first monarch of Sikkim is known as the "Throne of Norbugang". Yuksom is where there is the Norbugang Chorten near the Norbugang throne, the place Namgyal was crowned and several monasteries and a lake. The dynastic rule of the Chogyals lasted for 333 years.
  The Chogyal established the first monastery at Yuksom in Sikkim known as the Dubdi Monastery in 1701, which is part of Buddhist religious pilgrimage circuit involving the Norbugang Chorten, Pemayangtse Monastery, the Rabdentse ruins, the Sanga Choeling Monastery, the Khecheopalri Lake, and the Tashiding Monastery.
  For the Bhutia tribal community of Sikkim, Yuksom has special religious and cultural significance. It has a number of famous Buddhist monasteries and historical monuments as well as ancient Gorkhas small Village. Being at the head of the Khangchendzonga National Park and as the base camp for trekking to Mt.
context_section_description: With the Himalayan trekking to Khangchendzonga mountain and the Khangchendzonga National Park, centred in the Yuksom town as the base camp, the economy of the town has now become tourism centric. Consequently, the Khangchendzonga Conservation Committee (KCC) located at Yuksom, with the village community as the stakeholders, with Forest Department acting as the chief coordinating agency, have planned several innovative programmes to promote ecotourism, concurrent with encouragement of local handicrafts.
  The village has well established primary and secondary schools. There are three primary schools, one junior school and a senior secondary school. Basic amenities of primary health, potable drinking water, gas and electric supply, post and telegraph office are all well established. To meet the increasing tourist inflow, infrastructure facilities such as hotels guest houses and transportation have also developed, although with attendant concerns of effect on biodiversity and ecological preservation. The environment awareness level is also very high among the village community so much so that the village is now at the core of social activists. They keep a close watch on the environmental and economic conditions in the village.
  The Yuksom-Dzongri trek is a popular high altitude trek along the Rathong Chu River in West Sikkim. The trek passes through dense forests, alpine lakes and terminates at the Khangchendzonga. An ecotourism impact study of this route has been carried out jointly by the Forest Department, the Mountain Institute and the Khangchendzonga Conservation Committee (KCC), which is based in Yuksom. Considering that this route has recorded large number of visitors (mostly from England, United States, Germany, France, Australia, Netherlands and Switzerland) in the period between 1990 and 2005 (more than doubled in this period of 15 years), two main trekking seasons of March to May and September to November with October being the peak month have been noted. However, the winter months of January and February are the lean months. Based on this study, innovative additional trek routes have been planned to encourage ecotourism all through the year. The additional packages suggested are the "Monsoon Magic" Alpine Treks and Subtropical Winter Treks, which would promote ecotourism economy with due consideration of the carrying capacity of the region.
caption: Hotel Demazong, Yuksom
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