Rumtek Monastery

The sixteenth Karmapa, head of the Karma Kagyu lineage, left Tibet in 1959 and rebuilt his seat here through the 1960s on the site of an older monastery, modelling the new complex on the one at Tsurphu and bringing with him relics and ritual objects. The main building has a large assembly hall with murals and a gilded reliquary stupa in a separate shrine behind it. The Karmapa succession has been disputed since the sixteenth Karmapa's death in 1981, and the dispute has involved the monastery directly, which is why security and identification checks are in place at the gate.

What you actually see

• The assembly hall - murals, thangkas and the main prayer space.
• The golden stupa - the sixteenth Karmapa's reliquary in the shrine behind.
• The monastic institute - the teaching college in the complex.
• The valley view - Gangtok visible across the valley from the courtyard.

When to go

March to May and October to December for clear weather; masked cham dances are performed before Losar in late winter. The monsoon brings landslides on the access road.

Honest expectations

Identification is checked at the gate and security is present because of the succession dispute. Photography inside the halls is restricted. The road from Gangtok is slow despite the short distance.

Nearby

Gangtok lies northeast; Ranka monastery is nearby.