Pemayangtse Monastery

Pemayangtse Monastery stands near Pelling in Gyalshing district of West Sikkim and is counted as the second-oldest monastery in the state after Dubdi. Its name means perfect sublime lotus. It traces its origin to a small shrine, the Tsangkhang, set up by Lhatsun Chhenpo in 1650-51; in 1705 Chogyal Chhagdor Namgyal and Lama Khanchhen Rolpai Dorje, its first head lama, moved it to the present site and dedicated it to Guru Padmasambhava. Chador Namgyal later decreed that Bhutia families should send their second sons here as monks.

The monastery is the parent house of all Sikkimese monasteries of the Mindroling lineage and is home to more than a hundred monks of the Ta Tshang order. Its three floors are filled with murals, carved and painted doors and windows, old images, scriptures and statues of saints, among them Padmasambhava. A small shrine at the entrance holds an image of Dorje Phagmo. Masked dances honouring Guru Drakmar, the wrathful form of Padmasambhava, are performed at the yearly Guru Drakmar Chham.