Gangtok, Sikkim,
India
Gangtok ("top of the hill"), capital of Sikkim state, lies at 5,600 ft. It
was the seat of the kingdom of Sikkim until the monarchy was abolished
(1975) and Sikkim became part of India in 1976. The town, a market centre
for corn, rice, pulses, and oranges, was an important point on the
India-Tibet trade route via Nathula (Nathu Pass), 21 km northeast, until the
border with Tibet was closed in 1962. From Gangtok the North Sikkim Highway
(1962) reaches the Tibetan border areas via Lachung and Lachen. The town's
landscape is marked by the former royal palace and chapel, two monasteries,
the open-air Lall Market, and the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology (1958; a
centre for research in Mahayana Buddhism). The noted Buddhist monastery of
Rumtek and the royal cremation ground at Lukshiyama lie nearby. The
population includes Nepalese, Tibetans, Lepchas, and Indians.
♣ [-
Oct 05]
Gangtok (more)
 |
Namgyal
Institute of Tibetology
 |
Inside the NIT
museum
 |
Ridge park
 |
Do-Dul chorten
(pagoda)
 |
|
Prayer lamps
 |
Do-Dul chorten
(pagoda)
 |
Picnicking
schoolgirls
 |
Enchey gompa
(monastery)
 |
Boy monks at
Enchey
 |
East Sikkim in
October
 |
Roadside
waterfall
 |
Tsomgo (Changu)
lake, 3720 m
 |
|
Army baba
temple (1,
2)
 |
Yak rider (more
yaks)
 |
Nathula,
India-China border
 |
|
Rumtek Dharma Chakra Center (info) |
Rumtek entrance
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Rumtek gompa
 |
View of
entrance from gompa
 |
Wall art (more)
 |
Monks at
Rumtek monastery
 |
Karma Shri
Nalanda Institute
of Buddhist studies
▒
 |
Visitors
chatting up monk
 |
View from
golden pagoda
 |
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|
|
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