The Enchey Monastery was established in 1909 above
Gangtok, the capital city of
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 Silig ...
in the Northeastern
Indian state
India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions.
History
Pre-indepen ...
. It belongs to the
Nyingma
Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...
order of
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
. The monastery built around the then small hamlet of Gangtok became a religious centre. The location was blessed by Lama Drupthob Karpo, a renowned exponent of
tantric (adept) art in
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
with flying powers; initially a small
Gompa
A Gompa or Gönpa ( "remote place", Sanskrit ''araṇya''), also known as ling (), is a Buddhist ecclesiastical fortification of learning, lineage and sādhanā that may be understood as a conflation of a fortification, a vihara and a universit ...
was established by him after he flew from
Maenam Hill in
South Sikkim
Namchi District is a district of the Indian state of Sikkim. Its headquarters is at Namchi.
Geography
South Sikkim lies at an altitude of 400 to 2000 metres and has a temperate climate for most of the year. Major urban centres include Nam ...
to this site. The literal meaning of Enchey Monastery is the "Solitary Monastery".
Its sacredness is attributed to the belief that
Khangchendzonga and
Yabdean – the protecting deities – reside in this monastery. As, according to a legend,
Guru Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...
had subdued the spirits of the Khangchendzonga, Yabdean and
Mahākāla
Mahākāla is a deity common to Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism. In Buddhism, Mahākāla is regarded as the sacred '' Dharmapāla'' ("Protector of the Dharma"), while in Hinduism, Mahākāla is a fierce manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva and th ...
here. In view of this legend, the religious significance of Enchey Monastery is deeply ingrained in every household in Gangtok. It is also believed that these powerful deities always fulfil the wishes of the devotees.
Geography
The monastery is built on a stunning ridge of a hill above the Gangtok city to its northeast from where the Kanchendzonga range is visible. It is located on Gangtok –
Nathula
Nathu La
(, ) is a mountain pass in the Dongkya Range of the Himalayas between China's Yadong County in Tibet, and the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal in Bengal, South Asia. The pass, at , connects the towns of Kalimpong and Gangtok ...
road, above the
Siniolochu lodge and passes through an avenue of
sylvan
Sylvan or Sylvans (from the Latin ''silva'': "forest, woods") may refer to:
Places
United States
* Sylvan, Illinois, a former settlement
* Sylvan, Wisconsin, a town
** Sylvan (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated area in the town
* Sylvan ...
coniferous tree
Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All exta ...
s, bypassing the TV telecommunications tower. It is about from the northeast of the main market place in Gangtok.
Even though it is a small monastery situated on a strategic peak overlooking Gangtok, compared to other monasteries in Sikkim, it provides views of the Kanchendzonga peak.
Architecture
The monastery was first built in the 1840s by the eighth Chogyal and as a result, Gangtok as the small hamlet became a pilgrimage place. However, the monastery as seen now was aesthetically built in 1909, one of the two in Gangtok, like a Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
Pagoda
A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...
during the rule of Sikyong Tulku (1909–1910). The monastery was built at the exact location where Lama Druptub Karbo had his hermitage. The monastery is topped by a shining golden cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.
The word derives, via Italian, fro ...
. It houses a number of images of Gods, Goddesses and religious objects. The deities worshipped in the monastery are the Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
, Loki Sharia and Guru Padmasambhava. The walls of the monastery in the large prayer hall are fully covered with paintings and murals of four religious kings, the deities of the four cardinal directions as stated in the scriptures and the entire galaxy of Mahayan Buddhist deities. Manuscripts of scriptures are kept in an almirah. The four pillars supporting the roof of the monastery are elaborately carved. Built under the Nyingma order, it houses 90 monks. The windows of the monastery are very ornately carved and painted.
The monastery has a large collection of masks
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practi ...
which are used for the annual ritual dances. As its name implies, monastery has a peaceful atmosphere and also maintains a good library.
A very serene atmosphere has been created with the colourful prayer flags fluttering around the monastery. Like all other Nyingmapa monasteries in Sikkim, this monastery is also under the jurisdiction of the Pemayangtse Monastery
The Pemayangtse Monastery is a Buddhism, Buddhist monastery in Pemayangtse, near Pelling in the northeastern Indian state of Sikkim, located 110 km west of Gangtok. Planned, designed and founded by Lama Lhatsun Chempo in 1647, it is one o ...
.
The monastery was gutted in 1947. However, it was rebuilt in 1948 with the support of the devotees.
Earthquake damage
In a reconnaissance report on Sikkim Earthquake of 14 February 2006, it was noted that the Enchey Monastery, apart from other buildings in Sikkim, also suffered severe damage in the 2006 Earthquake (with the maximum intensity of shaking as VII on MSK scale); wide shear and vertical cracks were noted in masonry walls, at corners and near openings. It was not the first time that the monastery, among other masonry structures in Sikkim, was subject to damage by earthquake. Earthquake events in the 1980 and 1988 had also caused damage to the monastery but the repairs done were not adequate, as in 2006, the masonry wall of the building suffered damage again. The report has observed that "The damage seen in and around Gangtok was clearly disproportionate to the size of the earthquake, which was a moderate 5.7 on the Richter scale. This very clearly establishes the high level of seismic vulnerability of the region. Such disproportionate damage is a direct consequence of poor design and construction practices in an inadequate professional environment that is challenged by the lack of trained human resources in the state." Sikkim as a whole, and particularly masonry structures, are vulnerable to suffer damage from such severe earthquakes. Hence, it has been suggested to adopt "safer constructions through choice of appropriate construction systems, incorporation of earthquake resistant technology, use of good construction materials and their quality control, and involvement of competent manpower for design, construction and supervision."[ ]
The Enchey Monastery, a heritage structure built in stone masonry with 500 mm thick walls, is a double storied structure with timber frames making up the columns and beams in the roof and also in the flooring. Galvanised iron sheet roofing is also supported on wooden trusses. The masonry wall was damaged due to seismic shear. The decorative plaster of the walls also fell off due to cracks in the masonry walls and spoiled some of the beauty of the structure. Grouting of the cracks was suggested as a solution to strengthen the damaged portions of the walls.
Festival
Detor Cham is the colourful and vibrant Cham dance festival that is held in the monastery during on the 18th and 19th day of the 12th Lunar month
In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive syzygies of the same type: new moons or full moons. The precise definition varies, especially for the beginning of the month.
Variations
In Shona, Middle Eastern, and Eur ...
of the Tibetan calendar
The Tibetan calendar (), or Tibetan lunar calendar, is a lunisolar calendar, that is, the Tibetan year is composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three years ...
, corresponding to the dates during January/February of the Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...
.[ Other festivals observed in the Enchey Monastery are: the Singhe Chaam performed once every three years, Pang Lhabsol commemorating the swearing of blood-brotherhood between the ]Bhutias
The Bhutia (; sip, Drenjongpa/Drenjop; ; "inhabitants of Sikkim".) are a community of Sikkimese people living in the state of Sikkim in northeastern India, who speak Drenjongke or Sikkimese, a Tibetic language fairly mutually intelligible w ...
and Lepchas in the presence of Khangchendzonga as witness.[ The Cham dances are mask dances where the dancers wearing ornate robes perform dances representing the ]Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
an deity figurines of Mahakala
Mahākāla is a deity common to Hinduism and Tantric Buddhism. In Buddhism, Mahākāla is regarded as the sacred '' Dharmapāla'' ("Protector of the Dharma"), while in Hinduism, Mahākāla is a fierce manifestation of the Hindu god Shiva and th ...
(the protector) and mythical snow lions; both depict a third eye on their foreheads to represent the "need for inner reflection." The dance festivals are usually held prior to the Losar
Losar (; "new year"William D. Crump, "Losar" in ''Encyclopedia of New Year's Holidays Worldwide'' (McFarland & Co.: 2008), pp. 237-38.) also known as Tibetan New Year, is a festival in Tibetan Buddhism. The holiday is celebrated on various d ...
, the Tibetan New Year
Losar (; "new year"William D. Crump, "Losar" in ''Encyclopedia of New Year's Holidays Worldwide'' (McFarland & Co.: 2008), pp. 237-38.) also known as Tibetan New Year, is a festival in Tibetan Buddhism. The holiday is celebrated on various d ...
day (February/March) and Losoong, the Sikkimese New Year (December/January).
Gallery
File:Chorten in Enchey Gompa in Gangtok.jpg, A Chorten in Enchey Monastery in Gangtok
File:Close view of Enchey Gompa in Gangtok.jpg, A close view of Enchey Monastery in Gangtok
File:Courtyard of Enchey Gompa in Gangtok.jpg, Courtyard of Enchey Monastery
File:Prayer wheels in Enchey Gompa in Gangtok.jpg, Prayer wheels in Enchey Gompa
File:Signage Enchey Monastery-Gangtok-Sikkim-MA-19.jpg, Signage in front of the Enchey Monastery in Gangtok
See also
*Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
*Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
*History of Buddhism in India
Buddhism is an ancient Indian religion, which arose in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha (now in Bihar, India), and is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha who was deemed a "Buddha" ("Awakened One"), although Buddhist doctrine ...
*Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India
In religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance. Sometimes, it is a journey to a sacred place or to a shrine of importance to a person's beliefs and faith. Members of every major religion par ...
References
External links
Coordinates of Enchey
*
{{Buddhist monasteries in Sikkim
Gangtok
Buddhist monasteries in Sikkim
Nyingma monasteries and temples
Religious buildings and structures completed in 1909