A Land Will Leave You Spellbound - Sikkim India.

Sikkim was blessed by Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava, the great Indian Buddhist saint who visited Sikkim in the 8th century and consecrated the land, meditating at its four corners to rid it of all negativity. He is believed to have hidden many secret teachings, which he prophesized would be discovered in the future by those specially blessed by spiritual powers. 

Today Sikkim has nearly 200 monasteries and Lhakhangs and the influence of Buddhism is felt in nearly every corner of the state. From the fluttering prayer flags to the sacred caves, lakes and stupas, the images and symbols of Buddhism retain a freshness undimmed by the passage of time. 

Sikkim paid homage to its patron saint by constructing the tallest statue of Guru Padmasambhava in the world atop the Samdruptse hill near Namchi in South Sikkim. The grand 138 ft statue was unveiled in February, 2004 and has been crafted according to details specified in religious texts. The statue is visible from as far away as the India-Nepal border and Darjeeling. It has already become a major pilgrimage site with both domestic and foreign tourists making it a part of their itinerary. A two-kilometre long ropeway will soon connect the Samdruptse hilltop with Namchi. Sikkim, is truly a land of the Buddha that will leave you spellbound.

His Holiness the Karmapa' principal seat in exile is the Rumtek Monastery Sikkim India and also called the Dharmachakra Centre, is a gompa located in the Indian state of Sikkim near the capital Gangtok. Rumtek is one of the most significant and largest monasteries in Sikkim, Rumtek is perched on a hill overlooking Gangtok. 

The monastery was founded by Wangchuk Dorje, the 9th Karmapa. Rumtek served as the main seat of the Karma Kagyu lineage in Sikkim for some time. After construction of the monastery was completed. The sacred items and relics brought out from Tsurphu Monastery, the Karmapa's seat in Tibet, were installed. On Losar in 1966, the 16th Karmapa officially inaugurated the new seat, called "The Dharmachakra Centre. The monastery is currently the largest in Sikkim. It is home to the community of monks and where they perform the rituals and practices of the Karma Kagyu lineage. Due to a controversy within the Karma Kagyu school over the recognition process, the identity of the current 17th Karmapa is disputed.  

A golden stupa contains the relics of the 16th Karmapa. His Holiness the Sixteenth Karmapa has written about the benefits of veneration at Rumtek Monastery. One of these is a method of accumulating merit with one's body, which leads both visitors and residents alike to perform kora, the circumambulation of the Dharma Chakra Centre complex along the stupa walkway. At the top of the hill is the tenkhar, a small home built for the dharma protectors and local deities.

The Buddha Park of Ravangla, also known as Tathagata Tsal, is situated near Rabong (Ravangla) in South Sikkim district, Sikkim, India. It was constructed between 2006 and 2013 and features a 130-foot high statue of the Buddha as its centerpiece. The statue was consecrated on 25 March 2013 by the 14th Dalai Lama, and became a stop on the 'Himalayan Buddhist Circuit'. 

The statue of the Buddha marks the occasion of the 2550th birth anniversary of Gautama Buddha. This statue was built and installed in the place through the joint efforts of the Sikkim government and its people. The Buddhist circuit of this park was built here under a State government project, for boosting pilgrimage and tourism in the region. 

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Thank you for reading, may you find peace and great bliss. With your support it helps to spread the Buddha’s precious teachings and turning the Dharma wheels in the world.

Aspiration For Bodhichitta
For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen
May it arise and not decrease
But increase further and further.

Dedication of Merit
By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.
Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.
May we liberate migrators from the ocean of existence.
With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

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