Must-see attractions in Sikkim

With a breathtaking backdrop of Himalayan peaks, the gigantic, 41m-tall Buddha statue is one of Sikkim's most iconic sights. Finished in 2013, it's…

This wobbly old temple is a peaceful, half-forgotten delight with appealingly naive paintings and an incredible 360-degree mountain panorama. There's no…

All aflutter with prayer flags, the Norbugang 'coronation park' is a historic woodland garden containing a small temple, a huge prayer wheel, a chorten…

Visible for miles, this 45m-high statue of Padmasambhava (Guru Rimpoche) is painted in shimmering copper and gilt and sits on a lotus plinth high above…

The NIT's 1958 core building feels like a Tibetan fantasy palace, with corner towers, colourful mural frontage and a forest-glade setting. The main hall…

This unmissable feast of colour is a remarkable Hindu religious theme park crowning Solophuk hilltop, 5km southwest of Namchi. It brings together replicas…

Gangtok's 'royal' monastery has a very impressive centrepiece temple whose superb interior incorporates a pair of carved dragon columns flanking the main…

Rumtek is Sikkim's most spiritually significant monastery complex. It's essentially a self-contained village with a colourful main prayer hall that was…

One of Sikkim’s oldest and most significant Nyingmapa monasteries, Pemayangtse (literally ‘Perfect Sublime Lotus’) is 500m off the Geyzing road – turn…

Like Tashiding Gompa way, way below, Silnon (see-non) was founded by Ngadhak Sempo Chempo. Its fairly modest central temple has a spectacular backdrop of…

The ridge between Ralang and Yuksom ends with an upturned promontory (1450m) on which sits the multibuilding complex of Tashiding Gompa, an important…

If you're visiting the zoo, whose ticket booth is 50m away, it's well worth stopping at this viewpoint tower to survey a vast sweep of cityscape: notice…

Said to be Sikkim’s oldest still-functioning monastery, this compact, peaceful gompa is beautifully set in tended gardens on the ridge above Yuksom, with…

Layered amid peaceful forests, Lingdum Gompa is arguably the most photogenic monastery in the Gangtok area. Its centrepiece is a large, attractive…

Near the foot of the vast new Chenrezig Statue, this monastery complex is a contrastingly calm, meditative place with fabulous views, with seven stone…

A few partially rebuilt wall stubs are all that remain of the palace complex at Rabdentse, which was Sikkim's royal capital from 1670 until it was sacked…

Built in the 1730s and set on a flat field surrounded by monks' quarters, Sanaienchi Gompa's main three-level prayer house has a real sense of age. Even…

At the southern end of the Tashiding Gompa complex, this unusual compound contains a 2008 dharma bell, two giant Kashmir cypress trees and a series of…

Among India's best-maintained zoos, this lushly forested park occupies an entire hillside. The star attractions are Sikkim's animal emblems, the red…

A spectacular feast of coloured walls and gilded roofs, this 1995 monastery temple is set in a wide courtyard with swastika-patterned tiling and contains…