Rumtek Monastery

Rumtek Monastery, 24 km from Gangtok, is the largest monastery in Sikkim and the principal seat-in-exile of the Karmapa, the head of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The complex was built between 1962 and 1966 by the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, after he fled Tibet in 1959. The monastery is a near-replica of the original Tsurphu Monastery in Tibet (which the Chinese cultural revolution destroyed) and houses some of the rarest sacred objects in Tibetan Buddhism, including the Black Crown of the Karmapa. The main shikhar of the monastery, the Karma Shri Nalanda Institute (a Buddhist university), and the Golden Stupa containing the relics of the 16th Karmapa are the visitor highlights. The monastery houses around 200 monks and operates as a fully functional teaching institute. Following the death of the 16th Karmapa in 1981, two competing claimants to the title (Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Trinley Thaye Dorje) have created an ongoing succession dispute that affects access to certain sacred objects. The Tibetan New Year (Losar, February-March) is the most active festival period; masked Cham dances are performed.