Ranka Monastery / Lingdum

 

Monastery in Sikkim has its unique signature / aura about it. This monastery is also known as the Lingdum Monastery. This is a fairly peaceful place and hence one can spend more time photographing or simply going around the place. There is a long line of prayer wheels just near the entrance. It is customery spinning these prayer wheels. Before the Tibetian New Year one can find the young Buddhist monks practising the Lama dance. It has a distinct style and form and is quite enjoyable just to see them training. There is steep flight of stairs which leads guest to the inner sanctum. It is better to visit this place during prayer. 

 

Hymns are sung with various musical instruments used along with the traditional Buddhist gong. The sound and the silence both are appealing. Young monks conducts the evening prayer session. The inside of the monastery has colourful wall hangings touching nearly all the way to the floor. The walls as usual have depictions and drawings all around. The inner sanctum of the Lingdum monastery is very much like any other large monastery. Large sized Buddha statues plated in gold could be seen. The best part of this monastery is its access. This monastery is open to tourists and one can happily explore the entire perimeter. 

 

There are  a few view points from where guest can get brilliant views of the monastery, the training session taking place in the courtyard below and even the sunset views on the neighbouring hills. Lama dance is a popular dance performed in the Buddhist monasteries, it is a festive mask dance performed annually before Losar, the Tibetan New Year.

 

One will be surprised to see that the entire monastery functioning by the young monks. 

Tags: Sight Seeing Point in Gangtok Local Sight Seeing, Ranka