Phodong Monastery (or Phodang and Podong; ) is a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monastery in

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligu ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. It is located 28 kilometres from

Gangtok Gangtok is a city, municipality, the capital and the largest populated place of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is also the headquarters of the Gangtok District. Gangtok is in the eastern Himalayan range, at an elevation of . The city's populat ...

. It was built in the early 18th century but an older monastery had pre-existed the current one. 9th Karmapa was invited by the king of

, where he founded three monasteries :

Rumtek Rumtek Monastery (), also called the Dharma Chakra Centre, is a gompa located in the Indian state of Sikkim near the capital Gangtok. It is the seat-in-exile of the Gyalwang Karmapa, inaugurated in 1966 by the 16th Karmapa. It is also a focal po ...

, one of the most important monastery of the

Karma Kagyu Karma Kagyu (), or Kamtsang Kagyu (), is a widely practiced and probably the second-largest lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, M ...

school of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in maj ...

, Phodong and Ralang Monastery. It was reconstructed by Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal, who was recognized as the reincarnation of his uncle,

Sidkeong Namgyal Sidkeong Namgyal ( Sikkimese: ; Wylie: ''srid skyong rnam rgyal'') (1819–1874) was king of Sikkim from 1863 to 1874. He was son of Tsugphud Namgyal Tsugphud Namgyal ( Sikkimese: ; Wylie: ''gtsug phud rnam rgyal'') (1785–1863) was kin ...

, the abbot of the monastery.Mahendra P. Lama
Sikkim: society, polity, economy, environment
/ref> The line was to be continued by

Palden Thondup Namgyal Palden Thondup Namgyal ( Sikkimese: ; Wylie: ''dpal-ldan don-grub rnam-rgyal'') (23 May 1923 – 29 January 1982) was the 12th and last Chogyal (king) of the Kingdom of Sikkim. Biography Palden thondup Namgyal was born on 23 May 1923 at the ...

The monastery has a residence of approximately 260 monks and has a numerous collection of some ancient murals.

References

External links

Buddhist monasteries in Sikkim Karma Kagyu monasteries and temples {{Buddhism-monastery-stub