All about MG Marg, Gangtok
Before I blabber all sorts of details about this place, let me call it the Diagon Alley of my muggle world (where are my Harry Potter fans at?).
MG Marg, named after Mahatma Gandhi is a plaza-like main market area of Gangtok and is a prominent highlight of Sikkim’s tourism industry, it is around 60 feet wide no-vehicular zone. The street is flanked by posh shops, cafes and restaurants on both sides, with hundreds of people moving across or sitting on the benches, this half kilometre long pedestrian stretch acts as a major hub of social interactions. People go around buying, dining, relaxing and taking leisure walks across the street. The entire area is a litter-free and smoke-free zone. MG Marg is also known as ‘London Street’ because of the ambience created by Victorian-style street lights, paved pathways and bakery shops across the street.
While historical information is not available, it is apparent that this street was renamed ‘MG Marg’ sometime after Sikkim’s integration with the Indian Union in 1975 in reverence of Gandhiji. At the beginning of the street, there’s a huge statue of Mahatma Gandhi (5–6 m high) and also a flag pole with the tricolour waving high (installed in March ‘21), these big-scale sculptural installations mark Sikkim’s belongingness to India, thus acting as historical reminders, and becoming an important part of time and space. The street also has some fountains installed along the middle band, however, they aren’t currently operable. Most buildings along the MG Marg have sloping roofs, this can be credited to frequent rains and hailstorms in the area.
Accessibility — MG Marg is accessible from Namnang Road which is a major road passing through the city. The road diverges into two separate roads just a few metres before the start of MG Marg, the upper lane provides access to MG Marg and takes a steeper up-slope turn ahead, while the lower one goes to Syari. Other than the access points from the main road, MG Marg is connected by an overhead bridge accessible by stairs starting from the footpath of the lower lane of the Namnang road.
There are multiple stepped pathways and exits throughout MG Marg, most of them are narrow and improperly lit. Those on the right side open up to the upper lane of Namnang Road while those on the left lead to Lal Market, which is another marketplace in the area, with more open stalls and low price commodities on sale as compared to well-maintained shops and high pricing of those along the MG Marg.
People — MG Marg is often full of tourists from various parts of the country as well as travellers and backpackers from abroad. Other than regular tourists and immigrants from other states, natively, Gangtok houses different ethnicities like Bhutia, Lepchas and Indian Gorkhas. The prominent religion in the area is Buddhism. The culture and general mindset are highly progressive, people are friendly and social hierarchies don’t seem to be much of a barrier in the society here. A visitor Neeta Sharma says about MG Marg, “You can roam independently here and no one will judge you. M.G Road is famous for being in the lap of nature and natural beauty, but it is also famous because of the Sikkimese people who are so loving and nice.”
Immigrants — A lot of rules and regulations which aren’t seen in the rest of India are applicable in Sikkim, as after India's independence in 1947, Sikkim was still an independent monarchy until 1975 when it finally integrated with the union of India as India’s 22nd capital. One of the rules in Sikkim doesn’t allow people from other states to buy or own land in any part of Sikkim, and hence, even though most of the vendors in shops flanking MG Marg are Marwari and Bihari, they have rented out the spaces from the locals. Most of the shop owners are friendly, respectful and well-behaved. One of the locals, Hishay D. mentioned, “Initially when Gangtok wasn’t a big name, the people here were incompetent, they didn’t try much to sell or make a profit through the growing tourism industry, which gave a lot of space for these Marwaris and Biharis to capture the growing market along MG Marg.” She also mentioned that now the scenario is changing, and locals are getting into the market space.
Dressing — The majority of the natives tend to be fit, well-dressed and maintained. Women from the native Bhutiya community are often seen wearing modern style Bakhu or Kho which is their traditional dress, it is a loose gown type garment fastened near the waist. Other than that, people tend to be dressed in elegant, modern clothing with a good fashion sense. The native Hishay D. commented, “Outsiders label our dressing-up as vanity, but I think it’s about always presenting your best self.”
Throughout the middle of MG Marg, planters and pots have been placed on a slightly raised band. The big planters hold short-height conifer trees, small pots are planted with seasonal flowering plants while middle-sized planters have dwarf conifer shrubs in them. Most of these plants have low-water requirements and tolerance for cold weather and winds.
MG Marg transforms into a whole different arena from time to time by sheer activities held over there. Every other week, some small or big social event happens in the MG Marg. With the front portion having an open space to set up stages for socio-cultural performances during events and occasions, and a long wide pedestrian stretch that is optimum for setting up temporary stalls, it acts as a social centre on such days. Below is a mention of some of the events held on MG Marg:
Literature — One big event is the Book Fair is held during Losar (Tibetian New Year — celebrated by the Buddhist community of Sikkim) in which various bookstalls are set up, each promoting a different regional language along with mainstream novels and children books. One of the stalls invited people to write Haikus on a big whiteboard, while some others had decorated the benches beside them, inviting people to sit and read.
Local Craft — Then there are several handicraft fairs throughout the year, in which local tribes of Sikkim put up stalls to sell their handicraft works. This way the MG Marg also encourages the local craftsman to continue their craft by giving them an opportunity to sell their products in a tourist area
Anime Fandom — While dates might vary from year to year, usually during February, Anime Expo is held on MG Marg in which anime (Japanese animated shows) fans gather to participate and watch fellow fans cosplaying Anime characters. Even such specific community dedicated events are concluded with some traditional dance/music performances, thus preserving the culture of Gangtok and Sikkim as a whole.
Dance and Music — Regular cultural shows of ethnic dance, drama and music performances are organized by different groups and clubs. Also, emerging artists trying to establish themselves are often seen performing on MG Marg.
Festival — The whole area turns into the liveliest place for playing Holi: a Hindu festival of colours (despite having Buddhism as its major religion) with loudspeakers playing Holi songs, large crowd dancing and celebrating, people roaming around shaded in colours wishing each other. Free lunch and Bhaang flavoured milk is arranged for everyone by the Marwari community in the area.
Valentine’s Day — The entire street is decorated in a love mood with red balloons tied across and trees spiralled with yellow fairy lights in the evening. Couples are seen taking strolls and sitting on the benches as MG Marg wishes them a day of love.
Many other events are organised on MG Marg, covering all sorts of community interests such that every person will find something or the other of his/her liking happening there. Even charity events like old books, cloth donation, fundraising for a cause through music performances etc. are seen on MG Marg, thus making it an open social ground, for the society, by the society.
MG Marg takes a sharp turn after continuing a long stretch of straight layout, here the street provides access to the vehicular road and also to steps that lead to the aforementioned Lal market. At this turn, along with a projector screen playing clips promoting Sikkim tourism, another big sculpture can be seen. The 4m (approx.) high sculpture is that of Red Panda, which is the state animal of Sikkim. It has been strategically merged with the space such that it doesn’t stand out as an informative or promotional element rather as an architectural example of subtle expression.
LIGHTING- The street is beautifully lit during the evening hours, there are street lamps placed all along the centre of the street. The lights are all white and the light fixture of these lamps are of old Victorian style, they seem to be flaunting the Art Nouveau period with curved floral forms. All these street lights are in pairs such that one-one lamp hangs on either side of the middle line of the street, while the shops, cafes, restaurants etc. have large windows and are brightly lit thus lighting up the street enough on the sides too.
There are numerous benches along with beautiful plantations and Victorian-style street lamps throughout the middle line of MG Marg. The benches are made of metal frames and wooden planks placed with gaps so that rainwater can easily drain off. Also, a mindful design choice is seen at play, with a series of non-continuous hard wooden planks being uncomfortable for street animals or drunkards to sleep on, thus keep them intact even during night hours when not in use. All the benches are linearly arranged one after another on both sides of the middle black band with trees and pots. The benches face the shops and are placed with a gap of 1.5m — 2m between consecutive benches. This kind of spacing between the benches which is neither too little nor too much, allows privacy to people sitting on different benches as well as provides the scope for a wishful interaction between people sitting on nearby benches.
A linear setup of the benches also ensures that the people remain in a linear spread supporting the movement and circulation across the street, not causing unnecessary crowding in seating spots. Also, it provides ease of access while walking along the marketplace as the nearest bench is within meters at every spot.
Along with being a posh marketplace, MG Marg is also a physical activity Space for old aged people, people from the senior age group are often seen on MG Marg, taking strolls, evening walks and relaxing on benches. School-going teenagers are often seen spending time with their friends on the benches, buying snacks from shops or waiting for their friends. Normally, people crossing through MG Marg often take a seat on the benches to have rest, check their phones, wait for someone etc.
WAYFINDING — The buildings on MG Marg are mostly donned with signages of the corresponding commercial spaces. The shops, cafes and restaurants have their names written in big bold letters on a saturated base colour for high contrast and ease of reading. Along with horizontal boards placed on the facades, vertical ones can be seen placed perpendicularly which would lie in the field of vision for a longer duration for people walking along the street. Many of the plaques are neon signages that colourfully light up the street at night.
The buildings on MG Marg are covered with brand banners, most restaurants have beautiful interiors visible through big sized windows on the facade, clothing and accessories shops have display showrooms looking down at the street. Some buildings stand out among the others (and thus act as location markers) because of their facade design. For instance, The Dragon Wok resto-bar has huge dragon sculptures on its facade which can’t be missed easily, Baker’s Cafe has a distinct English bakery feel with the chosen colours and lighting. Thus, it can be said that commercial signages and advertising form a major part of wayfinding in MG Marg.
The street is levelled throughout and there are hardly any physical obstructions in the space that might cause problems for a wheelchair user. Uncluttered spacing between benches also makes the arrangement universal as wheelchair users can pull in their chairs alongside these benches and spend time with their friends and family sitting on the benches without any extra adjustment or effort.
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design — This is observed as the seating distribution and commercial spaces are placed in such a way that the shops are in a clear field of view of people sitting on the benches and also easily accessible from those in case any crime takes place, say it is very hard to steal stuff from any shop on MG Marg as compared to any other marketplace because of this very design feature. Also, all the planters and trees have been centrally placed all along the street instead of the commercial spaceline, thus, not creating any visual obstruction in those spaces that might give a hiding opportunity to criminals. Even the central plantations have been kept dwarf and in proper shape, in order to provide a maximum cross street view as well, further reducing any possibility of unnoticed crime.
Maintenance and Cleaning — The Roads and Bridges Department of the Government of Sikkim looks after the maintenance of MG Marg. The place is cleaned during the early morning when the shops are yet to be opened and there is not much activity in the area. However, on special occasions like Holi, the cleaning is done in the evening itself. The cleaning is done by a thorough washing of the street with hose pipes letting out water at effective pressure. Numerous dustbins for dry waste (blue coloured) and wet waste (green coloured) are placed throughout the MG Marg. The waste is removed and transferred along with the street cleaning in the early morning hours by the workers under Gangtok Municipal Corporation.
WEATHER — Rains are common in Gangtok throughout the year. As rains are mostly uncertain and short-timed here, people usually take shelter under roofs of the buildings on MG Marg and wait for the rain to stop. The buzz gets back as soon as the rain stops and MG seems even more beautiful with reflecting lights on the wet ground. Occasional hailstorms cover MG Marg in snow for some hours, walking becomes difficult as the paved street becomes slippery in snow, people are seen playing with the snow or taking leisure walks after the hailstorm stops.
Effect of COVID — In consideration of the ongoing pandemic and rising no. of COVID cases in Gangtok, various measures were taken in the functioning of MG Marg. — On the paved area just outside shops, white squares had been drawn with a spacing of around 1.5m for maintaining social distancing. The stores didn’t allow more than five people to enter for purchasing at a time. Small shops had tied rope or ribbon barriers for the shopkeeper to maintain distance from the customers. Most stores and cafes had sanitisers in the reception area and visitors were asked to use them before entering, some hotels performed temperature checks of the visitors. People roaming on MG Marg were fined for not wearing masks by the local police on duty.
In May 2021, the Sikkim government issued the order to restrain both vehicular and non-vehicular movement from 5 PM till 9 AM, followed by a complete lockdown during the month’s end. This led to MG Marg being left empty, devoid of people. All the shops (except medical stores) were shut down for days in a row, the benches were being kept out of use by placing planters and planter stands over them.
All in all, if you ever visit Gangtok, MG Marg should top your list of places to go!
NOTE — I had done an observational study of MG Marg as a part of a college assignment during my undergrad course in Architecture. You can find the full report here.
