Culture · Ranipool and Saramsa Garden
The Ipecac Garden's story, told on site
Walk Saramsa with its history in mind: a 1922 Forest Department orchard that grew pineapples, guavas, oranges and lychees for the British Political Officer and the Palace, then ipecac for medicine until 1970. A small story that links Gangtok's royal past to the wider world.
Photo: Shajahan T · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
When the Sikkim Forest Department set up the garden in 1922, Sikkim was a kingdom under British protection, with a British Political Officer living in Gangtok. The garden's job was to grow fruit for his table and for the Palace: pineapples, guavas, several kinds of oranges and lychees. It became the state's main centre for trying new fruit trees.
Around 1940 the department switched to ipecacuanha, a South American plant brought here from Johor in Malaya. Its root was the source of syrup of ipecac, an emetic once kept in medicine cabinets worldwide. Cultivation stopped in 1970, but the name stuck: many locals still call Saramsa the Ipecac Garden.
As you walk, look for older fruit trees and terraces among the orchid houses, traces of the garden's first life. Then think of the date it became an orchidarium: 1975, the year Sikkim joined India. The garden's three lives track the state's own history over half a century.
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Why is Saramsa called the Ipecac Garden?
From about 1940 to 1970, the garden grew ipecacuanha, a medicinal plant introduced from Johor in Malaya. Its root was used to make syrup of ipecac, an emetic. Although cultivation stopped in 1970 and the garden became an orchidarium in 1975, the old name is still widely used.
Who founded Saramsa Garden?
The Sikkim Forest Department established Saramsa Garden in 1922. From 1922 to 1954 the Forest Manager developed it closely, introducing many plants. It first grew fruit for the British Political Officer and the Palace, then ipecac, and has been an orchid and recreational garden since 1975.
Is Saramsa in Gangtok district or Pakyong district?
Saramsa Garden is just inside Pakyong district, on NH717A about 2 km from Ranipool, which is in Gangtok district. Since the 2021 reorganisation the district line runs close by. In practice it is visited from Gangtok, about 14 km away.
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