Rumtek monastery is about 20 kms from Gangtok. (Rumtek is different direction from Ranka monastery, but you can combine them both in one trip). Once you leave the highway, the roads are in very bad condition. The vehicle can take very long time. Rumteck is a famous monastery – the main seat of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The place is guarded by Indian army. The army people checked our ID card at the entrance gate before allowing us to enter into the monastery. You have to pay Rs 10 towards entrance fee and buy the tickets to visit the monastery. As there are armed soldiers at every corner of the monastery you feel very cautious like visiting a live fort. The original structure was contructed in 18th century. The current structure was built in 1959. There are two rumtek monasteries, old and new, but the newer one is the attraction. The older one is largely for monks. The new monastry is very large. There is a large courtyard and structures aound it. We visited the Buddha temple inside which was extremely beautiful. We also climbed to the top of the roof where we got beautiful views of the mountains. After visiting the monastery we went to another campus on the back side where we saw the golden stupa. The golden stupa is preserved in a small temple guarded by the army.
You can visit Jawaharlal Neheru botanical Garden which is on the way while going to Rumtek monastery. This is a garden with various plants, flowers etc. Nothing special to see here as the Himalayan plants are there everywhere. Shanti view point is also another attraction on the way to Rumtek. This is a small place to halt, view and proceed. You get beautiful views of Gangtok city from here. The city is really beautiful as the huge mountains look fully covered with buildings.
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