West Bengal Ghum Monastery
In the hill station of Darjeeling, in the famous state of West Bengal, there is a Ghum Monastery, popularly named as Yiga Choeling Monastery. The name has been so given as it is located atop 8000 feet at Ghum hill top, at a distance of 8 kms from Darjeeling. This monastery belongs to the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The primary attraction is the 15 feet high statue belonging to Maitreya Buddha or the Buddha, which is in the making or arriving in the future. There are also images of disciples of Buddha, namely Chenrezi and Chongapa.
The Ghum Monastery was constructed by Lama Sherab Gyatso in the year 1875, which is considered to be the largest among the monasteries in Ghum region. In this monastery, there is the famous Kangyur scripture and the Tibetan Buddhist Canon, which is said to be about 108 volumes. The monks are said to pray the fly paper flags as per the Tibetan tradition.
History
Among the Mongolian Scholars and well known astrologers in Tibet, in 19th century, Sherab Gyatso was quite a famous personality, even in India. He became a tutor for the Eighth Panchen Lama and in the middle part of 19 century, the established the Ghoom Yiga Choeling Monastery. This monastery became the first ever Tibetan monastery to be constructed in the Darjeeling region, probably in the Darjeeling region of West Bengal. Sherab Gyatso is said to have authored a number of books on astrology in Tibetan culture but they couldn’t be found from the library of the monastery.
Description
Architecture of the Ghoom Monastery is quite eye catching, with the centre of the main shrine having a statue of Maitreya Buddha, which is about 15 feet tall. In Darjeeling monasteries, this is the largest and the oldest ones. The specialty of the statue is that it is made of clay completely, which had been brought from Tibet. Furthermore, towards the right side, there are three more statues of Buddha, which are representations of the future, present and past forms of the Lord. Above these statues are images of 14th Dalai Lama, two attendants of Buddha, Tsongkhapa and the Lama Sherab Gyatso and finally the Penchen Lama, who was the 9th incarnation of the Lama.
Towards the left are images of Doma Geshe Rinpoche, who was responsible for constructing the main statue of Maitreya Buddha and the idol of Chenrezig Avalokiteswara, who is considered to be the god with 1000 eyes, hands and 11 head and is supposedly the god of love and compassion. Some people believe that His Highness the Dalai Lama is an reincarnation of Avalokiteswara.
There are many other idols inside the Ghum Monastery. Lord Manjushree idol is located on the top of the Chenrezig while below is the Lord Amitabh Buddha. The left is adorned by idol of Vajrapani or Shakna Dorje, who is considered to be the protector deity of the monastery. Below the Shakna Dorje is the idol of Guru Rinpoche or the great Padmasambhava, who is said to be one of the greatest saints of the Buddhist culture in Tibet.
Book shelves are found in plenty inside the main altar, where holy books related to Buddhism are well preserved. These include the Tengyur and Kangyur, consisting of 213 volumes and 102 volumes respectively. There are also books on commentary and philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism, which are also quite sought after in the collection.
Inside the monastery are special seats of HH The Dalai Lama as well as one for the head of Incarnated Lama. Two lamps are kept burning throughout the year, in front of the Maitreya Buddha. Throughout the monastery walls are beautiful paintings and Tibetan Buddhism artistic portraits, mainly concentrating on bodhistavas. It can be marked that the paintings are done in a style of symmetry, allow easy understanding of the Buddhist philosophy. Another temple of Maa Kali is situated on the hill above the monastery. On the day of full moon,, and the fifteenth day of every Tibetan calendar month, this temple is visited by thousands of tourists.
Attractions Nearby
War Memorial
Near the Ghum monastery, there is a raised platform, which is sanctified as a war memorial, with a 9 feet statue of bronze and 30 feet high triangular cenotaph made of granite, below which there is a octagonal base, where a number of engravings can be found, depicting the role of honour.
Tiger Hill
From Ghum, the Tiger hill is about 5 kms and is situated at height of about 1,100 feet, higher than that of ghum. From this point, on a clear day, without clouds, the entire view of Kanchenjunga is visible, which is the third highest peak in the world. Also from the tiger hill, one can easily see the Mount everest also, which is the highest peak of the world.
Ghum Hill
While going from Ghum towards the Sukhiapokri road, there is a large rock, which is detached from the main cliff and offers a great scenic view of the Balsan Valley and the sights beyond.
Reaching There
The airport which is nearest to Ghum Monastery is at Bagdodara, while taxis can be available from Ghum to reach the airport.
The nearest railway station is at New Jalpaiguri, where buses of the state transport and taxis are available for transport of the tourists, which will fall on the way to Darjeeling.
Photo Gallery