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. Security and identification checks are in place at the gate.

History

Rumtek was first built in the mid-18th century under the 12th Karmapa, Changchub Dorje, and served for a time as the main seat of the Karma Kagyu lineage in Sikkim. When the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, came to Sikkim in 1959 he found it in ruins and chose to rebuild it; after four years of building, relics brought from Tsurphu Monastery in Tibet were installed, and the Karmapa inaugurated the new seat, the Dharmachakra Centre, at Losar in 1966 (Wikipedia, Rumtek Monastery).

Highlights

• 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.

Good to know

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.

Key facts