Rabong or Ravangla is a small town with an elevation of 8000 feet located, near Namchi City in the Namchi district of the Indian

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

. It is connected by state highway to other major towns in the state and lies between Namchi, Pelling and Gangtok. It is the starting point for the trek to Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary. It is approximately 65 km from the state capital, Gangtok, and 120 km from

Siliguri Siliguri (, ; ), also known as Shiliguri, is a major Tier ii cities in india, tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms the twin cities, Twin Cities with the neighbouring city of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeel ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. The name is derived from the Sikkimese language. ‘Ra’ means wild sheep, 'vong' translates to a rearing place, and ‘la’ means a pass.

Geography

Mt. Kanchenjunga, Mt. Pandim, Mt. Siniolchu, Mt. Kabru are some of the major peaks visible from Ravangla.

Flora

Upper parts of Ravangla sometimes experience snowfall during winter. During the months of April–May, the area is surrounded by many flowers including

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s and

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

Fauna

Ravangla attracts many Himalayan birds. Verditer flycatchers, blue-fronted redstarts, grey bush chats, dark-throated thrush, blue whistling-thrush, green-backed tits, and white-browed fantails are common. The forests around Ravangla have other birds like laughing thrushes, babblers, cuckoos, and hill partridges. The rare satyr tragopan can also be spotted in Ravangla.

Tibetan community

A Tibetan community is located 1 km away from the Ravangla Market. It consists of seven camps, with 328.5 acres of total land and 1,300 people. The Tibetan settlement has one primary Tibetan medium school, two monasteries, administrative offices, and a primary health care clinic. Ralang Monastery, a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monastery of the

Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. ...

school of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

is located 6 km from Ravangla. The old monastery is also a few kilometers from Borong. There are many small hamlets where these communities live. Tourism is a major source of income for these communities.

Geography

Flora

Fauna

Tibetan community

Education

Gallery

See also

References

External links