Rachna Books

25/08/2026

We are excited to invite you to the launch of Dr Abrona Lee Pandi Aden’s debut collection of poetry ‘The River of Blood and Dreams’ at Rachna Books this Saturday.

The poet will be in conversation with Dr Saswati Saha.

We look forward to welcoming you to the show.

📆 29 Aug 2026
⏰ 2:30 pm
🎫 Free entry | First come, first seated
📍 Rachna Books

Abrona Aden Saswati Saha

25/07/2026

🗓️ 29 July 2026
⏰ 4:30 pm
📍 Rachna Books

As Seraphine Menu, our French Writer in residence this year, wraps up her three weeks at the Rachna Books Writers Residency in Gangtok, we invite you to meet and join us at the Bookshop as she converses with Peter Lauenstein-Denjongpa on her stay here, her work, and the memories and inspiration she will take back.

Seraphine Menu lives in Normandy in France, close to the sea. She mostly writes novels for teenagers and non-fiction books for children. She writes tenderly about the world we live in and explores the relationships between humans and nature. Her novels for teenagers are inspired by her life and reflections, and attempt to make adolescence less fearful, and more hopeful. She is currently working on a new novel for teenagers and finishing her first comic book project.

Peter Lauenstein-Denjongpa is the Vice Chancellor of Khangchendzonga Buddhist University (KBU). He has a Masters in Education from Harvard University and a B.A. in English from the University of Chicago. He is the founder and former Head of School at Taktse International School in Sikkim and with over 15 years of leadership experience in progressive K-12 education and innovation initiatives.

_This programme and residency is part of the third edition of The Villa Swagatam. _

We look forward to an engaging conversation this Wednesday. See you there!

25/07/2026

🗓️ 29 July 2026
⏰ 4:30 pm
📍 Rachna Books

As Seraphine Menu, our French Writer in residence this year, wraps up her three weeks at the Rachna Books Writers Residency in Gangtok, we invite you to meet and join us at the Bookshop as she converses with Peter Lauenstein-Denjongpa on her stay here, her work, and the memories and inspiration she will take back.

Seraphine Menu from lives in Normandy in France, close to the sea.
She mostly writes novels for teenagers and non-fiction books for children. She writes tenderly about the world we live in and explores the relationships between humans and nature. Her novels for teenagers are inspired by her life and reflections, and attempt to make adolescence less fearful, and more hopeful. She is currently working on a new novel for teenagers and finishing her first comic book project.

Peter Lauenstein-Denjongpa is the Vice Chancellor of Khangchendzonga Buddhist University (KBU). He has a Masters in Education from Harvard University and a B.A. in English from the University of Chicago. He is the founder and former Head of School at Taktse International School in Sikkim and with over 15 years of leadership experience in progressive K-12 education and innovation initiatives.

We look forward to an engaging conversation this Wednesday. See you there!

25/06/2026

Thank you Sikkim Project

Constructing Sikkimese Identity: Colonialism, Monarchy, and History in Alex McKay’s ‘The Mandala Kingdom’

https://sikkimproject.org/constructing-sikkimese-identity-colonialism-monarchy-and-history-in-alex-mckays-the-mandala-kingdom/

The Mandala Kingdom: A Political History of Sikkim by Alex McKay, Rachna Books, Gangtok. (2021). ISBN 978-81-89602-12-3. Rachna Books

"The book delivers a rich historical account of the British period in Sikkim. Using previously unpublished Royal Family archives, McKay advances fresh insights and presents a comprehensive account from the perspective of the rulers, establishing the book as a significant contribution to Sikkimese history. He illuminates the interplay of Buddhism, Tibetan influence, and the interests of the ruling elite in crafting Sikkim’s historical narrative. The book traces Sikkim's mythic origins under the Namgyal dynasty through the long arc of British colonial engagement. It culminates in the political crisis that led to the merger with India in 1975. McKay offers a nuanced, deeply researched account that challenges many received interpretations of Sikkimese history."

द मण्डला किङ्डम: ए पोलिटिकल हिस्ट्री अफ सिक्किम 'ले सिक्किमको ब्रिटिसकालीन इतिहासको समृद्ध र गहन विवरण प्रस्तुत गर्दछ।। अघि प्रकाशित नभएका राजपरिवारका अभिलेखहरूको प्रयोग गर्दै, म्याकेले नयाँ दृष्टिकोणहरू अघि सारेका छन् र शासक वर्गको हेराईबाट सिक्किमको इतिहासलाई व्यापक रूपमा व्याख्या गरेका छन्। यसले यस पुस्तकलाई सिक्किमको इतिहाससम्बन्धी अध्ययनमा एक महत्वपूर्ण योगदानका रूपमा स्थापित गर्दछ। सिक्किमको ऐतिहासिक आख्यान निर्माणमा बौद्ध धर्म, तिब्बती प्रभाव, र शासक अभिजात वर्गका हितहरूमाझको अन्तरक्रियालाई उनले उजागर गरेका छन्। पुस्तकले नामग्याल राजवंशअन्तर्गत सिक्किमको मिथकीय उद्गमदेखि लिएर ब्रिटिस उपनिवेशवादी हस्तक्षेपको लामो यात्रालाई समेटेका छन्। यसको अन्त्य १९७५ मा भारतसँगको विलयतर्फ डोर्‍याउने राजनीतिक सङ्कटमा हुन्छ। सिक्किमको इतिहासको धेरै प्राप्त व्याख्याहरूलाई चुनौती दिने गरेर म्याकेले एउटा सूक्ष्म, गहन अनुसन्धानमा आधारित र सन्तुलित विश्लेषण प्रस्तुत गरेका छन्।

Reviewer: Dr. Lavomit Lepcha
Nepali Translator: Tika Bhai

Please Read, Share, and Comment!

21/06/2026

Thank you, Sikkim Project, for this review.

Constructing Sikkimese Identity: Colonialism, Monarchy, and History in Alex McKay’s ‘The Mandala Kingdom’

https://sikkimproject.org/constructing-sikkimese-identity-colonialism-monarchy-and-history-in-alex-mckays-the-mandala-kingdom/

The Mandala Kingdom: A Political History of Sikkim by Alex McKay, Rachna Books, Gangtok. (2021). ISBN 978-81-89602-12-3. Rachna Books

"The book delivers a rich historical account of the British period in Sikkim. Using previously unpublished Royal Family archives, McKay advances fresh insights and presents a comprehensive account from the perspective of the rulers, establishing the book as a significant contribution to Sikkimese history. He illuminates the interplay of Buddhism, Tibetan influence, and the interests of the ruling elite in crafting Sikkim’s historical narrative. The book traces Sikkim's mythic origins under the Namgyal dynasty through the long arc of British colonial engagement. It culminates in the political crisis that led to the merger with India in 1975. McKay offers a nuanced, deeply researched account that challenges many received interpretations of Sikkimese history."

द मण्डला किङ्डम: ए पोलिटिकल हिस्ट्री अफ सिक्किम 'ले सिक्किमको ब्रिटिसकालीन इतिहासको समृद्ध र गहन विवरण प्रस्तुत गर्दछ।। अघि प्रकाशित नभएका राजपरिवारका अभिलेखहरूको प्रयोग गर्दै, म्याकेले नयाँ दृष्टिकोणहरू अघि सारेका छन् र शासक वर्गको हेराईबाट सिक्किमको इतिहासलाई व्यापक रूपमा व्याख्या गरेका छन्। यसले यस पुस्तकलाई सिक्किमको इतिहाससम्बन्धी अध्ययनमा एक महत्वपूर्ण योगदानका रूपमा स्थापित गर्दछ। सिक्किमको ऐतिहासिक आख्यान निर्माणमा बौद्ध धर्म, तिब्बती प्रभाव, र शासक अभिजात वर्गका हितहरूमाझको अन्तरक्रियालाई उनले उजागर गरेका छन्। पुस्तकले नामग्याल राजवंशअन्तर्गत सिक्किमको मिथकीय उद्गमदेखि लिएर ब्रिटिस उपनिवेशवादी हस्तक्षेपको लामो यात्रालाई समेटेका छन्। यसको अन्त्य १९७५ मा भारतसँगको विलयतर्फ डोर्‍याउने राजनीतिक सङ्कटमा हुन्छ। सिक्किमको इतिहासको धेरै प्राप्त व्याख्याहरूलाई चुनौती दिने गरेर म्याकेले एउटा सूक्ष्म, गहन अनुसन्धानमा आधारित र सन्तुलित विश्लेषण प्रस्तुत गरेका छन्।

Reviewer: Dr. Lavomit Lepcha
Nepali Translator: Tika Bhai

Please Read, Share, and Comment!

19/06/2026

Happy to inform our readers that we have just received limited copies of Francoise Pommaret's Divine Messengers.
Visit us before stock runs out.
Get caught reading!

13/06/2026

The day started with the discovery that there has been a surge in orders from our website for Alex McKay's 'In Search of Mount Kailash'.
Turns out, Mint has featured the book and carried an interview with the author today.
Thank you so much Mint and Salil Desai for this. It has definitely helped us reach the news of this brilliant book out to the keen readers out there!

[Order link in the comments below.]

In his award-winning book, 'In Search of Mount Kailash: Travels in the Sacred Himalaya', historian Alex McKay sets out to map the many origin stories behind the mountain that is sacred to Buddhists and Hindus alike

26/05/2026

25/05/2026

Thank you, Sikkim Hype 🫶

Gangtok-based Rachna Books has published ‘A Kingdom Remembered: A Personal and Political History of Sikkim’ by writer and scholar Jackie Hiltz, marking a literary moment in the year Sikkim completes 50 years of statehood.

The book revisits one of the most defining and debated chapters in Sikkim’s history: the events leading up to 1975, when Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal, the last king of Sikkim, was deposed and the 330-year-old Himalayan kingdom became the twenty-second state of India.

Written in accessible and engaging prose, A Kingdom Remembered is the result of Hiltz’s decades-long research across Sikkim and New Delhi. Through interviews with key participants, archival work, and journeys across the state, the book pieces together a layered political history that is both deeply personal and meticulously researched.

The publication comes at a meaningful time, as Sikkim reflects on five decades of its journey as an Indian state.

With this release, Rachna Books completes its “Sikkim History Trilogy,” adding an important new work to the growing body of literature on Sikkim.