ITS MONASTERIES. 25 



Q 



II.— GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF SIKHIM MONASTERIES. 



Monasteries in Sikhim are of three kinds, viz. — (a) Tak-phu,'^ liter- 

 ally a "rock-cave" or cave-hermitage ; [h) Gompa,'^ 



^_jIonasteries of three literally "a solitary place " or monastery proper ; 

 and (c) the so-called '■^ r/ompas " founded in or near 



villages. These latter are, as a rule, merely temples {hla-Jchmg) with 



one or more priests engaged in ministering to the religious wants of 



the villagers. 



The four great caves of Sikhim hallowed as the traditional abodes 

 of Guru Rimbochhe and Lhatsiin Chhembo, and 



ofsS'^'^''*"^^'' "°^ ^^^ objects of pilgrimage even to lamas from 

 Tibet, are distinguished according to the four 



cardinal points, viz. — 



The North Lha-ri nyinp phu, or " the old cave of God's hill." 

 It is situated about three days' journey to the north 

 of Tashiding, along a most difficult path. This is 

 the most holy of the series. 



The South Kah-do Simg phu^ or " cave of the occult fairies." 

 Here it is said is a hot spring, and on the rock are 

 many footprints ascribed to the fairies. 



The East Pe phn,* or " secret cave." It lies between the Ten- 

 dong and Mainom mountains, about five miles from 

 Yangang. It is a vast cavern, reputed to extend by a 

 bifurcation to both Tendong and Mainom. Pensile go in 

 with torches about a quarter of a mile. Its height 

 varies from five feet to one hundred or two hundred 

 feet. 



The "West De-chhen phu,^ or "cave of Great Happiness." It is 

 in the snow near Jongri, and only reachable in the 

 autumn. 



" GiJmpa," as has been noted, means "a solitary place," and most 

 of the gompas still are found in solitary places, 

 nalter '^"ro^ « ^^ '"°' Isolation from the world has always been a desider- 

 atum of Buddhist monks ; not as an act of self- 

 punishment, but merely to escape mundane temptations. 



The extreme isolation of some of the gompas has its counterpart 



. in Europe in the Alpine monasteries amid the ever- 



s ISO a ion. lasting snows. One of these gompa is T6-lung, 



which for the greater part of the year is quite cut off from the outer 



world, and at favourable times is only reachable from the south by a 



' brag.phug. | ^ (/yon-pa. ] ' mkhah Agro gsang. | ♦ «bas. ) ° ide chhen. 



