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Rumtek Monastery

Rumtek Monastery
Vikramjit-Kakati-Rumtek.jpg
Rumtek Monastery
Tibetan transcription(s)
Tibetan རུམ་ཐེག་དགོན་པ་
Wylie transliteration Rum-theg Dgon-pa
Rumtek Monastery is located in Sikkim
Rumtek Monastery
Rumtek Monastery
Location within Sikkim
Coordinates 27°19′55″N 88°36′07″E / 27.33194°N 88.60194°E / 27.33194; 88.60194
Monastery information
Location Near Gangtok, Sikkim, India
Founded by Wangchuk Dorje, 9th Karmapa Lama
Wangchuk Dorje
Founded 16th century
Type Tibetan Buddhist
Sect Karma Kagyu

Rumtek Monastery (Tibetan: རུམ་ཐེག་དགོན་པ་Wylie: rum theg dgon pa), also called the Dharmachakra Centre, is a gompa located in the Indian state of Sikkim near the capital Gangtok. It is a focal point for the sectarian tensions within the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism that characterize the Karmapa controversy.

Originally built under the direction of Changchub Dorje, 12th Karmapa Lama in the mid-1700s, Rumtek served as the main seat of the Karma Kagyu lineage in Sikkim for some time. But when Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa, arrived in Sikkim in 1959 after fleeing Tibet, the monastery was in ruins. Despite being offered other sites, the Karmapa decided to rebuild Rumtek. To him, the site possessed many auspicious qualities and was surrounded by the most favorable attributes. For example, flowing streams, mountains behind, a snow range in front, and a river below. With the generosity and help of the Sikkim royal family and the local folks of Sikkim, it was built by the 16th Karmapa as his main seat in exile.

After four years, construction of the monastery was completed. The sacred items and relics brought out from Tsurphu Monastery, the Karmapa's seat in Tibet, were installed. On Losar in 1966, the 16th Karmapa officially inaugurated the new seat, called "The Dharmachakra Centre, a place of erudition and spiritual accomplishment, the seat of the glorious Karmapa."


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