Tashiding, 1,465 m (4,810 ft)
Once a year, on a hill between two rivers in West Sikkim, lamas break the seal on a vase of holy water and read the year ahead in its level.
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Between two rivers
Ngadak Sempa Chempo, one of the three lamas who crowned Sikkim's first king, built here in 1641, on the ridge between the Rathong Chu and the Rangeet. From Pelling it is about 31 km by road, by way of Legship.
Photo: Renjith Ponnappan / Pexels
On foot
The last stretch is on foot, a gentle path past mani walls, prayer wheels and flagstones carved with Om Mani Padme Hum. Keep them all on your right and walk clockwise, as everyone around you will.
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41 chortens
At the top stand 41 chortens and Thongwa Rangdrol, raised by the first Chogyal and said to free anyone who simply sees it. The halls admit everyone, but cameras stay at the step before the shrine.
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Bumchu, February or March
On the 14th and 15th days of the first Tibetan month, the lamas open a vase of holy water sealed a year earlier. Full to the brim foretells a year of peace and plenty; brimming over, disturbance and disaster; low or dry, famine.
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After the reading
The water is shared out in an order the monastery keeps, then the vase is refilled from the river and sealed for another year. Thousands come and wait from midnight; your guide will show you where to stand, and it will not be at the front.
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Planning
Bumchu follows the Tibetan lunar calendar, so its dates move each year; ask early and they can be confirmed with the monastery. For the rest of the year Tashiding is quiet, and sees a tour coach only at Bumchu.
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