Tashiding Monastery: Where Guru blessed?-i

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Tashiding, in West Sikkim, was one place I wanted to visit for the last few years, but it never happened until last month, and I am in high spirits. I finally did it. Regarded as the holiest of monasteries in Sikkim, the Tashiding Monastery, over the centuries, does hold strong its own legends and folks. The first look at the faintly yellow roof of the monastery on top of a hill from the opposite roadway gave me a pleasant feel that was beyond my expectations. The Monastery is built atop a ridge between the Rangit and Ratong rivers.

I am told of a legend that Guru Padmasambhava had shot an arrow to select his place of meditation, which is the present site of the Tashiding Monastery. It is even said that the rock is still found at the Tashiding Monastery premises, where the great Guru meditated.

One of the reasons I wanted to visit this place was to see the stupa of Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö, regarded as the most outstanding Tibetan master of the last century. I tried my best but failed to recognize it among the many chortens lying out there. I was only later informed that the golden-coloured chorten was the one I was looking at. The other famous crucial holy chorten Tashiding is “Thong-wa rang toa”. The “funeral granules of the mythical Buddha” are believed to be preserved inside it.

Build in 1716 according to “The Gazetteer of Sikhim” Tashiding Monastery was the fifth monastery to be built in Sikkim after, Sanga Cholling, Dubdi, Pemayangste and Gangtok is sacred and is regarded as the centre of Sikkim state that is surrounded by four holy caves. The name “Tashiding” means ‘devoted central glory’. I first heard about this famed monastery during my days at Weekend Review Newspaper some 7-8 years back when one of my colleagues had visited the place to cover the “Bhumchu” event. Bhumchu festival is a rare event in which a blessed vase that holds water predicts the future of Sikkim for the year. That sounds incredible, and I am sure I will witness this “rare event” someday, too. The event is held every year and draws large numbers of followers.

Nagadak Sempa Chempo, one of the three men behind the coronation of the first Sikkim Chogyal at Yoksum in the 17^th century, built a small Lhakhang there. The main monastery was later built by Pedi Wangmo during the reign of Chakdor Namgyal, the third Chogyal of Sikkim Kingdom. Some of the relics built then still exist inside the present monastery.