Silk Road to the contact zone: protestant movement in the Eastern Himalaya

Why Kalimpong was considered a ‘contact zone’ to the missionaries during pre- and post-independence? How successful was the Protestant movement in Kalimpong? Kalimpong, as a part of the ancient Silk Road, was a ‘contact zone,’ serving various merchants, missionaries and spies to connect the eastern Himalayan region. Kalimpong also became a hub for missionaries whose aim was to spread the gospel among the Lepcha, Nepali and Tibetan communities by building various institutional mechanisms. This paper focuses on the latter part, which gave birth to the Protestant Movement and further led to the Pentecostal Movement, which was not only supported by missionaries and merchants but also by the local communities.