Tashiding Monastery

Up a steep track, perched atop a conical hill, close to Pemayangtse, is Sikkim’s most venerated shrine, the Tashiding Monastery, built in 1717. Countless prayer-flags whisper in the breeze as you approach this holiest of holies. Sikkimese believe that just a glimpse of the nearby, famous chorten (stupa) of the holy lama Thong-Wa-Rang-To (saviours by mere sight), is powerful enough to cleanse you. The sonorous repetition of Om Mani Padme Hum fills the air. Every spring, thousands of devout Buddhists trek to Tashiding to participate in the Bhumchu Festival and sip the sacred water from a sacred Bhumpa (water vessel), filled with waters collected from the Rahthong and Rangit rivers.