Tashiding Monastery

Tashiding Monastery sits at about 1,465 m on a hilltop where the Rangit and Rathong rivers run on either side, in Gyalshing district of West Sikkim. Its name is often rendered as the devoted central glory. The site is linked with Guru Padmasambhava, who is said to have visited in the 8th century and declared the hill the holiest place in Sikkim, and the monastery is the parent house of the Jhang-Ter lineage of the Nyingma school.

Tradition dates the monastery to 1641 and credits it to Ngadak Sempa Chempo Phunshok Rigzing, a member of the trio of lamas who crowned the first Chogyal, who built it after he saw a beam of light fall from Khangchendzonga onto the hilltop; another story says Padmasambhava fired an arrow that landed on the spot. The compound holds stone tablets carved with mantras and 41 chortens containing relics of Chogyals and lamas. The best known, Thong-Wa-Rang-Dol, is believed to wash away sins at a single glance. The Bhumchu water ceremony is held each year over two days, the 14th and 15th, of the opening month of the Tibetan calendar.