Sacred and Sublime

A road trip through Sikkim reveals how prayer flags, meditation caves and mountain monasteries weave Buddhism into the landscape

- Kartikeya Shankar

I first noticed them in Yumthang Valley in North Sikkim. Tall white flags stood planted along the slopes and beside the road, stretching across the mountainside in long rows. At first I assumed they were another form of the colourful prayer flags common across the Himalayas. But these were different: vertical, white and far more numerous.

Later I learnt they were funeral prayer flags known as manidhar, raised by families to honour the dead. Inscribed with sacred mantras and placed in windy locations, they allow prayers to travel through the air. Traditionally, 108 flags are erected, symbolising the overcoming of 108 forms of human suffering in Buddhist philosophy.

Once I understood this, I began noticing them everywhere across Sikkim, beside rivers, along village roads and on ridges overlooking valleys. Gradually it became clear that symbols of Buddhist belief are woven deeply into the landscape itself.

In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Sikkim is known as Beyul Demojong. Texts such as the Dejong Ney-yig describe it as a sacred refuge protected by Avalokiteshvara and other divine guardians, and as a land associated with abundance and spiritual prosperity.

“Sikkim is understood in Tibetan Buddhist thought as a land protected by divine forces,” said Tsewang G. Bhutia, head of the Department of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the Namgyal Institute of Technology. “Guru Padmasambhava is believed to have identified it in the eighth century as one of the Four Great Hidden Lands—places meant to preserve Buddhist teachings during times of turmoil.”

According to tradition, Padmasambhava travelled through the region in search of such sanctuaries and consecrated caves, lakes and mountains. “Four sacred caves across Sikkim are still associated with his meditative journeys, and continue to be visited by practitioners,” Bhutia noted.