The Buddha Park of Ravangla, also known as Tathagata Tsal, is situated near

Ravangla Ravangla or Rawangla or Ravongla is a small tourist town with an elevation of 8000 feet located in the South Sikkim district of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is connected by state highway to other major towns in the state and lies between Pelli ...

South Sikkim district 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 Namch ...

of the Indian state 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 Siligur ...

. It was constructed between 2006 and 2013, and features a statue of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, 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 ...

, erected to mark the 2550th anniversary of the birth of Gautama Buddha, as its main attraction. The statue, built of 60 tonnes of copper, is an example of repousse work. Mount Narsing forms the backdrop to the statue. The site was chosen within the larger religious complex of Rabong Monastery, itself a centuries-old place of pilgrimage. Also nearby is

Ralang Monastery New Ralang Monastery or Ralong Palchen Choling is a Buddhist monastery of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism in southern Sikkim, northeastern India. It is located six kilometres from Ravangla. Ralang Monastery has an extensive collection of pain ...

, a key monastery in

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

. Built and installed through the joint efforts of the government and people of Sikkim, the statue was consecrated on 25 March 2013 by the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (spiritual name Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, known as Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: བསྟན་འཛིན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་, Wylie: ''bsTan-'dzin rgya-mtsho''); né Lhamo Thondup), known as ...

. The Buddhist circuit of the park was built under a state government project, intended to boost pilgrimage and tourism to the region. The Cho Djo lake is located within the complex, surrounded by forest. The park has a tranquil setting with spacious pathways, and there is a Buddhist conclave, a meditation centre and a museum with a spiral gallery.

Access

The Buddha Park is located approximately north of the city of Ravangla, in the

of India's

state. The city of Ravangla is connected by road, rail and air. It is located from

Bagdogra Airport Bagdogra Airport is a customs airport located in the western part of Siliguri, in Bagdogra in northern West Bengal, India. It is operated as a civil enclave at AFS Bagdogra of the Indian Air Force. It is the gateway airport to the hill station ...

, from

Jalpaiguri Jalpaiguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district as well as of the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, covering the jurisdiction of the five districts of North Bengal. The city is loca ...

, from

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...

, and from

Gangtok Gangtok is a city, municipality, the capital and the largest populated place of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is also the headquarters of the East Sikkim district, Gangtok District. Gangtok is in the eastern Himalayas, Himalayan range, at an e ...

. Nationalized Transport SNT buses run from the headquarters of South Sikkim district. Apart from this, taxis are also available on private or shared fare, and the park is within walking distance of the bus stand in Ravangla.

Gallery

File:Large Buddha statue inside Buddha Park of Ravangla.jpg, Buddha statue File:Buddha Park 3.JPG, The Dalai Lama entering the Buddha Park File:Buddha Park - Tathagata Tsal.jpg, View of the Buddha Park

Translation

Tathagata Tsal translates to the following: * Tathagata is just one of the titles of a buddha, but was the one most frequently employed by Siddhartha Gautama, and the generally adopted interpretation is "one who has thus (''tatha'') arrived (''agata'')" or "one who has thus (''tatha'') gone (''gata'')". * Tsal is difficult to translate and refers to the potential of the awareness to manifest and the manifestation itself.

References

External links

www.tathagatatsal.comBuddha Statue in Sikkim
{{Coord, 27.3136, N, 88.3636, E, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title Namchi district Sikkim Tibetan Buddhism in India India–Tibet relations 2013 sculptures 2013 establishments in Sikkim