The locals informed us that the monastery was established by Chogyal Gyurmed Namgyal in the 18th century and is owned by the Kargyupa sect. He is believed to be the ninth Karmapa and was asked by Sikkim’s King to construct the three monasteries.
On entering the monastery, we could see that there were around 300 monks living there. The monks were extremely friendly and helpful and enabled us to have some noodles and momos from their personal kitchen. All four of us were really pleased at having the opportunity to interact with such peaceful people. We were really happy at the fact that such smiling and loving people still exist in the world.
After getting out of the Phodong Monastery Sikkim, we could see that it was already dark and decided to stop our journey for the day. We returned to the hotel, had for a bath and then tasted some exquisite Sikkim dishes before going to bed. We were very tired but felt very happy that we still had many more places to explore.