Sikkim
This wobbly old temple is a peaceful, half-forgotten delight with appealingly naive paintings and an incredible 360-degree mountain panorama. There's no…
Must-see attractions in Sikkim
Sikkim
All aflutter with prayer flags, the Norbugang 'coronation park' is a historic woodland garden containing a small temple, a huge prayer wheel, a chorten…
Sikkim
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…
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…
Sikkim
This unmissable feast of colour is a remarkable Hindu religious theme park crowning Solophuk hilltop, 5km southwest of Namchi. It brings together replicas…
Sikkim
Rumtek is Sikkim's most spiritually significant monastery complex. It's essentially a self-contained village with a colourful main prayer hall that was…
Sikkim
One of Sikkim’s oldest and most significant Nyingmapa monasteries, Pemayangtse (literally ‘Perfect Sublime Lotus’) is 500m off the Geyzing road – turn…
Sikkim
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…
Sikkim
The ridge between Ralang and Yuksom ends with an upturned promontory (1450m) on which sits the multibuilding complex of Tashiding Gompa, an important…
Sikkim
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…
Sikkim
Layered amid peaceful forests, Lingdum Gompa is arguably the most photogenic monastery in the Gangtok area. Its centrepiece is a large, attractive…
Sikkim
Near the foot of the vast new Chenrezig Statue, this monastery complex is a contrastingly calm, meditative place with fabulous views, with seven stone…
Sikkim
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…
Sikkim
The Ngadak gompa's large 2014 prayer hall contains some of the richest new monastery paintings in Sikkim. Beside it is the ruinous, unpainted shell of a…
Sikkim
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…
Sikkim
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…
Sikkim
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…
Sikkim
Officially unveiled in November 2018, this huge, four-armed statue of Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara) sits around 500m beyond the attractive little Sanghak…
Sikkim
The most dramatic of four waterfalls between Yuksom and Tashiding, the Phamrong's powerful flow fires itself through a high, green notch then crashes down…
Sikkim
Beside the main Legship road, 5.5km from central Ravangla, very modest Yungdrung Kundrakling is one of only two Bon monasteries in India.
Sikkim
Just 10 minutes' stroll from Upper Pelling's Zero Point junction, the helipad is about the best viewpoint around, with almost 360-degree views.
Sikkim
When Yuksom was Sikkim’s capital, a royal palace complex known as Tashi Tenka sat on a ridge to the south of town. Essentially nothing remains, but the…
Sikkim
If you're visiting Tashiding Gompa, a minor 'extra' sight is this tiny prayer cave, accessed via 250m of mossy stairs down to a small, tin-roofed hut…
Sikkim
Just outside Norbugang's south wall, this giant, seated statue-shrine commemorates Lhatsun Chempo's 20th-century 'reincarnation'. Seen from Tashi Tenka,…
Sikkim
Right in the village centre, this unique creation is a glass-walled, templelike building enclosing 18 oversized prayer wheels in two close-packed rows.
Sikkim
This relatively new gompa, accessed opposite Hotel Tashi Gang, features an impressively stern statue of Guru Padmasambhava.
Sikkim
Old Rumtek Gompa is an oasis of peace, 1.5km beyond Rumtek proper. Originally founded in 1734 but thoroughly rebuilt, the prayer hall has an intensely…
Sikkim
Well-proportioned and with a distinctively golden-russet-coloured facade, this new gompa sits on the nose of the Rinchenpong ridge, adding a distinctive…
Sikkim
Set at 1720m, with groomed green mazes of terraces rising above, this 1969 factory complex processes Sikkim's most famous teas.
Sikkim
Lachung's small but colourful monastery has a two-storey prayer hall with twin metal dragons above a porch containing a pair of extra-heavy prayer wheels.
