Monastery entrance

Thursday Doors - January 21, 2016

On our trip to Sikkim we visited the Rumtek also called the Dharma Chakra Centre, is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located in the Indian state of Sikkim, 24 kilometers away from the capital Gangtok. Rumtek is situated at an altitude of about 5800 feet. The monastery is one of the most important seats of the Kagyu lineage outside Tibet. This monastery complex embodies the vision and aspiration of the Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, to establish his seat-in-exile in order to spread the teachings of the Buddha throughout the world.
Originally built under the directios of the 12th Karmapa Changchub Dorjee in mid-1700 AD, after (Ralang Monastery,first) and (Phodong Monastery,second), Rumtek served as the main seat of the Karma Kagyu lineage in Sikkim for some time.
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. If you're interested to find out more about the monastery click on the first image.

More doors from the same monastery..