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I had set alarm in mobile-4:30 am and went to sleep. I dreamed that we could not wake up on time and Kanchendjonga has disappeared forever. It woke me up at somewhere around 3 in night and after that I was not able to sleep at all but was not feeling tired. At four finally I waked up Manish. We both were sitting on bed looking outside, trying to figure out where IT could be. Soon it was twilight and we both were stunned. They were right in front of us; we did not need to move an inch from our bed to have a view of the mountains but for the whole expanse. We went out in balcony. First rays of sun turned it into pink and then orange-gold and all this happened in just 10 minutes. We were still spellbound by all this but suddenly we realized that soon the show will be over and Rachit( my 5 yr young son) has not seen. We waked up Rachit asking him to look outside the window. All of us were sitting on bed- speechless, looking at the mighty snow clad mountains; Rachit’s first ever. He rushed out in balcony, then to terrace and then wanted binocular to have a closer look. He was so excited, so happy and we both were happier than him to see him. It reminded me of Yesudas, singing

Aaj in nazaron ko tum dekho aur main tumhe dekhte huye dekhoon…main bus tumhe dekhte huye dekhoon

When clouds drew the curtain to end this magnificent show of 40-45 minutes, we reluctantly came inside and got ready for the day. By 8 am we were out of the hotel on our way to Pemayangtse Monastery. It was a little more than 2 km from upper Pelling, taking around 45-60 minutes to walk (with a kid). Both me and Manish hate hiring a taxi and going out on a Visit-less-run-more kind of sight seeing tours if things are in 4-5 km. Distance.

The walk to Pemayangtse. was a lovely one. We were out of the town in 10 minutes and walking on a smooth, winding road lined (not by planted trees but by naturally growing vegetation) with tall trees, in fact tall is a small word to describe them; they were rooted somewhere deep down on slopes and were reaching far out to sky. We were stopping here and there, asking people (they were a few) about trees. People were friendly, told us in detail about the trees they knew and became friendlier when they came to know that we were basically from Udaipur.

Pemayangse means “ the perfect sublime lotus”. Lhatsun Champo, one of the three Lamas of Yuksom, founded the monastery in 17th century. It is the most important gompa in Sikkim and belongs to Nyingmapa sect. As we entered the gate we explained to Rachit about Prayer Wheels that were on both the side of gate. After this, a winding and climbing road is lined with fluttering prayer flags in all colors, sending the wishes riding on the horses of air in all the directions, till it reaches to Gompa.

First came the outhouses with intricate woodwork. It was for the first time that we were seeing any Buddhist Monastery. Moving past those outhouses, we reached to Gompa. We stepped inside. There were statues of Guru Rinpoche- for us better known as guru Padmasambhava. He was one of the most well known disciples of Bhagvan Buddha. In Sikkim, he is revered more than Bhagavan Buddha, as it was he who spread the messages and religion here. After having taken a round of ground floor, looked for someone who could tell us about the Gods depicted there etc. but found nobody so we took out our travel guide to know at least something about those three floors of the Gompa.

It states-

“ Built on three floors, the Monastery centers around a large hall which contain images of Guru Rinpoche and Lhatsun Chempo, later was an enigmatic Tibetan Lama, and an exquisite display of thagkas and murals. On the top floor, a magnificent wooden sculpture (it was indeed) carved and painted by Dungim Rinpoche, a former abbot of gompa, depicts sang thok palri – The celestial abode of Guru Rinpoche, rising above the realms of hell. The extraordinary detail includes demons; animals, birds, Buddhas and Bodhistavas, chortens and flying dragons and it all took him just five years to complete. An annual cham- a masked dance is held here during the Tibetan new year (Feb).”

That was it and we were out.

Outside there were some kid monks; lazing around in shade of trees. Somehow I did not feel good. Such little ones, they should better live with parents. They are sent to Monasteries sometimes because of financial problems and at other times being a Lama guarantees respect in society. Sometimes parent sent them as they felt that the kids are going out of control and a way of giving them the good education is by sending them to Monastry.

We intended to go to Rabdentse- it was the second capital of Sikkim and was founded by second Chogyal. As at most of the places in India- there were no sign boards for people who want to trek- making us spend next half an hour understanding from people how to go there. There were two options- first was a shortcut passing through woods and second was a longer route by road. We chose first option. There was a proper track passing through dense vegetation- too dense to let any light fall on trek. Rachit simply refused to go through it so we took longer route that was around 2 kms from Monastery. It was going down and down so Rachit was happily walking or almost running but I was a little worried about climbing up while returning. Anyway we continued and reached Rabdentse.

The board outside Rabdentse displays mind-blowing number of varieties of ferns, conifers, bamboos, birds, and butterflies to be found inside Rabdentse Sanctuary. We were thrilled. We looked for any guide who would take us on Nature Trail but NO. Tourists are not expected to be nature lovers, they SHOULD BE naturalists to simply go inside and be able to know each and every thing. All right. Where are the trails? None but one leading to Rabdentse. But it did not show distance. We asked some locals who were going on that path for some picnic – it is half an hour walk. So we figured out it to be at least one and half-hour for us. Before adventuring out, we must eat something but there is nothing there. Well! We still decided to go ahead banking on the reserve for rachit in our Pittho bags. After all both of us are walk alcoholic teetotalers. We finished more than half of the trek but Rachit was not walking willingly. The dark shade of dense vegetation was a big deterrent for him. Ruins were visible but Rachit was very tired, so we returned and were out by 2 pm. Now it was more than 4 km climb up to Pelling. We waited there for Jeeps coming from Legship/ Ghezing and luckily found one and finally reached Pelling.

We took our lunch and went to Hotel for a siesta of an hour or so and were out again at 3:40 pm. We searched for ice-cream for Rachit to give him some concentrated calories but could not found any and settled for chocolate. Rachit was looking fresh so we decided to trek to Sanga Choling Monastery perched on top of a hill at a climb of 4 kms from Upper Pelling. He was surely not going to make any fuss, as it was not a Tar road. He simply dislikes walking on roads. Replace it with a pagdandi and he will walk for 6-8 hrs very happily-chirping like a bird and jumping like a monkey all along.

There was no one else on that trek which was being converted into a motorable road. So soon it will be another spot on Sight seeing tours. The trek was moderately steep and very scenic. As we climbed up and up we were able to see far out to our next destination-Yuksom and the beautiful serpentine road leading to it. Beneath us were rolling hills of stepped farms in all shades of green-yellow-golden-brown surrounded by mighty mountains, all under the roof of azure blue sky filled here and there with fluffy clouds hiding snow capped mountains from the late risers.

Suddenly some pebbles started falling down on us from somewhere up. May be some machines lying there are working for road and we kept on climbing up cautiously. There was no man in sight and no machines were working. We became more cautious. After some 3-4 bends, we got some company- a mother Goat and her four babies. Rachit was delighted. Soon the whole family left the trek and started climbing vertically. I was really afraid to see that. They were climbing and sliding down again and again. If any of them fell, it was sure to die. Soon they all climbed up letting us breath easily. OK! These little ones and their mom caused so all that stony showers. We laughed out heartily only to be stopped by another shower of Rachit’s never ending why, how, whats and so on. My little ones brain was processing too much of information and too fast-“ why do they not follow the track?why did they climb up vertically? Can I climb up like that? Where is their papa? Oh, he must have gone to find food for babies. Why their droppings are so small? And so on…” We were smiling, replying and climbing up knowing that this shower will end only when some other fascination catches him up. And soon it was there. He had been collecting pebbles all along- Manish has filled his all four pockets of cargo , both his palm and lastly my one palm. Now there was a puddle- a God sent opportunity for us to get rid of those extra kilos. There has not been a place where he has not thrown pebbles in to water. I still remember wasting our one trip to museum in Dublin ( he was 1.3 yrs) when we could not go inside simply because it was a pebbled pathway with waterbodies. He can spend hours and hours simply throwing stones in water. Was he a Majnu in his previous life always waiting for Laila throwing pebbles in water!

Finally, enjoying the path dotted with wild flowers and frequented by colorful butterflies, we reached Monastery. It was beautifully perched on a ridge looking down to all that beauty that no camera can ever catch. It must be a great place to see sunrise and Kanchendjonga, but only if we could come. Those who are not with kids must reach there before dawn to get an experience of lifetime. Me and Rachit settled down on the edge as he was afraid of big eyes and angry teeth of images in Monasteries. When Manish came out he pushed me to go inside. It was very peaceful inside but here as well was no one to explain anything. Wanted to sit more but sun was in a mood to return home after it’s day of hard work. We too came down and reached to helipad Ground in upper Pelling from where we had started.

There was a football match between two teams of young boys. Whatever little tourists were there in Pelling, had all collected there and everyone was enjoying the game. We too sat there. It was really great fun watching a real game being played for leisure.

Happy ending of a great day!

We ate dosas, finally got ice-cream and went to room to put Rachit to sleep. Manish as ever went down for our next day’s plans and arrangements.

Some Information:

Information about Different Sects in Buddhism:
After Bhagwan Buddh attained Nirvan, in about 100 A.D differences of opinion caused a split and formation of two schools: Hinayana and the Mahayana. Hinayana adhered to the Philosophy with rules and ethics and emphasized on realisation of Nirvan for oneself by directly worshiping to Bhagwan Buddh. Mahayana school believes in attaining Niravan by worshiping the deities called Boddhisattvas who do not want to attain Niravan until they freed all the human beings from sufferings. The native religion of Tibet was called Bon. This religion was fused and refined in Buddhism by Guru Padmasambhav and this gave birth to red hat sect of Buddhism. The red hat sect was further reformed and the Kadampa Sect was established. Modification of it led to the formation of Yellow Sect.

Tibetan Buddhism is therefore divided into Red and Yellow Sects. The Red sect comprises Nyingmapa: Associated with Guru Padamsambhav, Kargyu: with Marpa and Sakya:with Khon Konechog Gyalpo. The sects and the lineages are differentiated from each other by the rituals performed, monastic discipline and the founder.

Chogyal: The first king was consecrated as the king of Sikkim in the year 1642 with the title of Chogyal which means the king who rules with righteousness.

Capitals of Sikkim: First Capital of Sikkim was Yuksom. Second being Rabdentese, followed by Tumlong and finally it was Gangtok. The last shift was in 1894.

Idols: Most of the monasteries in Sikkim contain the idols of the Bodhisattvas Avalokitesvara, Padmasambva and Manjusri. There are a few monastries which emphasizes the tantrik form of worship. Kalchakra is one of the dieties worshiped in this form. Kalchakra diety is usually represented in union with Viswamata.
To be continued———