Sangacholing Monastery Premises, Pelling, Sikkim
There are two monasteries (also known as Gompas) in Pelling, Sangacholing and Pemayangtse. As of now to reach Sangacholing, one has to walk. As Sesha and I love to walk, it was the first place we visited in Pelling.
While we were going up, two couples were coming down. At first glance, I thought one girl had leaves stuck in her hair. I said to her, “You have leaves in your hair.” And while saying, I realized it was deliberate. She laughed and said she was trying the ‘jungle girl’ look. I had already started laughing and I really enjoyed looking at her ornaments. She was using ferns as a head gear, ear rings and necklace. As we walked a few paces ahead, there was another couple, the girl similarly attired and the guy was carrying her on his shoulders, what we call a ‘piggy back ride.’ The girl waved and shouted at us and I returned her greetings.
Reminds me of a time when my younger nephew was just a few years old. In our small town, we would watch a 6.30 to 9.30 evening movie show and he would get very tired and sleepy walking back home. I used to give him a piggy back ride and he would almost fall asleep while we walked half a kilometer to home. Now, he has grown to a height of six feet 2 inches and tries to bully me most of the time. And I feel amused that I have to almost look up when I talk to him. How fast the time flies!
Those buildings are beautiful.Children grow so fast, don’t they?
Nice read. They have something similar ‘stupa’ in Nepal as well.And piggy ride is so common in hilly areas.. its fun watching them.. whether they are carrying small children or a basket full of tea leaves. But yeah, your description was different, with a romantic touch 😉
Teri, the structure you see in the picture is a place of prayer for Buddhists. Quite commonly found in mountains in India. Oh yes, the kids grow up so fast. Cuckoo, the couples looked like they were on Honeymoon in Sikkim or at least newly wed. They were behaving romantically. Otherwise, no one is going to carry an adult on a downward sloping 2-4km road after climbing all the way up!
Hi Mridula,A very happy newyear to you and Sesha. Have been lapping up the tit bits about Sikkim, waiting for the full article:). Thx for bringing these lovely experiences to us – your writings make me feel as if I myself am there. As you pointed out, I haven’t updated my blog for some time. We did have a wonderful holiday in Diu in Oct and went to my parents in Solan (HP) later, just haven’t got down to write abt it :(, too lazy i guess, or probly the memmory is too fresh. May take me while to feel the need to revisit it mentally.
Rajeev, thanks a lot for your wishes. I have passed through Solan but know next to nothing about Diu. I would definitely wait for your posts.
The Gompas look enchanting. How long was the walk to that place ?
Nice pick and nice read…
Pooja, it took us 45 minutes to walk to Sangacholing and around 1 hour to walk to Pemayangtse.Thanks Prashanth.
Nice pic!
Thanks Sidhu.