Photo essay: At the edge of Sikkim, a tight-knit community gathers to honour the rice that sustains it

But the dance is in the sowing, in the prepping of the earth for seed. Dressed in local finery, the menfolk of the village thump and loosen the soil with long, sharpened bamboo sticks, conjuring a rhythm to which the women move, scattering the grain with care. All around rises the smell of rich, dark earth, along with the notes of a tune played by a flautist, accompanying the sowing with song. Many indigenous communities in the Northeast believe that not only does rice nourish and sustain, it also carries messages from the divine. So, too, do the residents of Pentong, for whom the Dzo Maal festival is a way to anchor their ancestral legacy as well as uphold the local cuisine. Renzongmit Lepcha, field owner, homestay hostess, festival organising committee member and chef, shares that the red rice “tastes best with chicken”, though her favourite is chuk nyuk, a local delicacy comprising tukmor dzo, local vegetables and butter, traditionally eaten with spicy chillies and cheese.

Photographed by Pagel Lepcha.

Photographed by Pagel Lepcha.