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…
Must-see attractions in Sikkim
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…
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…
Namgyal Institute of Tibetology
Gangtok
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…
Sikkim
This unmissable feast of colour is a remarkable Hindu religious theme park crowning Solophuk hilltop, 5km southwest of Namchi. It brings together replicas…
Gangtok
Gangtok's 'royal' monastery has a very impressive centrepiece temple whose superb interior incorporates a pair of carved dragon columns flanking the main…
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…
Gangtok
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…
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
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…
Gangtok
Among India's best-maintained zoos, this lushly forested park occupies an entire hillside. The star attractions are Sikkim's animal emblems, the red…
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
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
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.
Gangtok
When clouds lift, Gangtok's best glimpses of Khangchendzonga are from this roadside knoll at the junction of routes to Mangan and Nathu La, around 7km…
Sikkim
This relatively new gompa, accessed opposite Hotel Tashi Gang, features an impressively stern statue of Guru Padmasambhava.
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.
Gangtok
On the city's northern outskirts, approached through rustling conifers, Enchey is a small but appealing Nyingma-Buddhist monastery that is, in a sense,…
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
Beside the main Legship road, 5.5km from central Ravangla, very modest Yungdrung Kundrakling is one of only two Bon monasteries in India.
Gangtok
Flower-wise it's less exciting than many a British garden-centre shop, but a visit to this small, covered collection of potted plants is perversely…
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
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.
