The Inside Story — Centuries-old saga

MAGICAL MOMENTS: At Ranka Monastery. Photo: Lakshmi Sharath

There's something magical about a monastery. Spinning the prayer wheels, we enter the Lingdum or Ranka Monastery near Gangtok. While the lamas are in the midst of their evening chants, some of the younger boys are practising their ritualistic dances in the courtyard. As they swirl around, their movements synchronise with the sonorous music from the monastery.

Watching them perform, I recall some of my earlier trips to Sikkim when I visited a couple of monasteries. Steeped in myriad myths, they had a mystical aura about them.

Our first stop is at Enchey Monastery, built atop a ridge near Gangtok. We are admiring the views of the city, when we hear this story from our guide. The 19th Century Gompa was home to a flying saint who had built his hermitage here. Lama Drutob Karpo, a tantric who could levitate, is believed to have flown in here from South Sikkim and blessed this site. Even today, people from Gangtok believe that the Gompa (known as the Solitary Temple) contains and preserves the spirits of protective deities that take care of them.

A little further from Gangtok is the older Rumtek Monastery, one of the largest in Sikkim. We are awed, not by just the sheer size of the monastery, but also by the heavy security. The silence, however, is all-pervading, as we walk around the Dharma Chakra complex, the Institute of Buddhist Studies and the Golden Stupa.

Our guide explains that the monastery was the seat of the Karmapas, who belonged to Karma Kagyu, one of the schools of Buddhism. Rebuilt by the 16th Karmapa in the 1960s, who took refuge here after his exile from Tibet, it was founded in the 16th Century. Even today, precious relics along with the remains of the Karmapa are preserved in the Golden Stupa.

The Karmapas are also called the Black Hat Lamas, on account of the Black Crown that symbolises their power. Legend has it that the first Karmapa was visited by several

dakinis or the Buddhist versions of fairies, and each of them gave him a strand of their hair as a gift. These strands were later woven together into a black hat, and the hat handed down by one Karmapa to another. My guide explains that the black hat is at Rumtek Monastery, and has to be either worn by the Karmapa or tucked safely in a box, for they believe that otherwise, it will fly away.

The monastery was mired in controversy and sectarian violence over the selection of the 17th Karmapa, which led to heavy security. As the guide finishes the narration, I look around at the peaceful monastery set amidst the mountains, and find it ironic that it has to be protected by men with guns!