Tendong Lho Rum Faat, "the prayer of Mount Tendong", is one of the oldest festivals of the Lepcha, Sikkim's indigenous people, and a state holiday in Sikkim on 8 August. By Lepcha tradition, Tendong hill in Namchi district rose above a great flood and gave their ancestors refuge. Next date: 8 August 2027, with programmes in the days before. Foreign visitors need Sikkim's Restricted Area Permit, which is free.
The date is fixed and appears in Sikkim's holiday list each autumn; the celebration committee announces the programme in late July.
Lepcha tradition tells that at the dawn of the world, while the Himalaya was still forming, rain fell for forty days and the lowlands flooded.
Then Tendong hill rose like a horn, and the Lepcha ancestors found safety on its top. Tendong means "the hill of the raised horn".
Tendong Lho Rum Faat, "the prayer of Mount Tendong", is one of the oldest Lepcha festivals: thanks to the hill that saved them.
What happens on the day
The festival is a prayer first. On the eve, bongthings, the Lepcha priests, hold a traditional prayer in Namchi bazaar. On the day itself members of the Lepcha community go up Tendong hill and pray before the sacred stone called Lungchok, which stands on the hill. The hill rises to about 2,640 metres and is about 7 km uphill from Damthang bazaar, according to the Namchi district administration.
Around the prayer the state now holds a wider programme. A celebration committee, with the Sikkim Lepcha Association, announces it in late July. One recent programme opened with talks five days before 8 August, ran Yongthum, an open market (the word means "open market" in Lepcha) with exhibitions, concerts and dance, at Ridge Park in Gangtok for three days, held the traditional prayers and rituals on Mount Tendong two days before the main day, and the main function at Manan Kendra in Gangtok on 8 August. The India GO base also records a walk from Ravangla up to the hill and a final day with displays of Lepcha food, dress and ornaments. Where each part takes place can change from year to year, so check the committee's announcement.
The story, the dance and the name
The flood legend is told on the page above. Sikkim Tourism adds the version kept in the Tendong Lho Rum Faat folk dance, a Lepcha group dance based on poetry retold to each new generation: the Lepchas on Tendong hill prayed through this dance to be saved from the rising water, and God came as a bird and sprinkled sacred millet beer on the flood until it fell. The festival also carries the Lepcha folklore of the Teesta and the Rangeet, the two rivers of Sikkim.
The festival stands apart from Sikkim's Buddhist and Hindu calendars: it is a thanksgiving to a hill, offered by the Lepcha community, and the state marks it with a public holiday.
Facts checked: 21 October 2026. Prices and hours are approximate; check locally.
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