Sikkim Phodang Monastery
Phodang monastery belongs to the Karugpa Buddhism sect of the Buddhism culture in India. it is found in the northern section of Sikkim and is one of the well known and maintained monasteries in Sikkim. The Phodang Monastery is situated near Gangtok, at a distance of about 28 kms from the capital city, which falls on the Northern Sikkim highway, about 1 km towards the hill from this road. It is believed that the Phodang Monastery was built in 18th century, although some also believe that there was a smaller monastery in this location, much before the 18th century.
History
The Phodang monastery is said to have been built by Chogyal Gyurmed Namgyal, who was the 9th Kamrapa. He was invited by the king of Sikkim, who established three monasteries during his visit, at Rumtek, Ralang and Phodang. The monastery is significant as a beautiful structure and houses about 260 monks of the Karugpa sect of Buddhism. The interiors of the Phodang monastery has a number of mural paintings from different time periods and the interiors are also well decorated.
Festival
According to the Tibetan calendar, in the 10th month, the festival of Gompa is held on the 28th and 29th days, which falls in the month of December in English calendar. During this annual festival, the monks of the Phodang monastery undertake dance and folk performances along with various other rituals according to Buddhist traditions.
Getting There
The nearest railway station to the Phodang monastery is at New Jalpaiguri while the airport which is nearest to the monastery is at Bagdodara. Gangtok highway, towards the northern side is connecting cities like Kalimpong, Siliguri, Kolkata and Darjeeling, which is the National highway 31A. Buses ply on this route at regular intervals and this route is also traversed by jeeps and taxis.
Photo Gallery