(Saturday): A day tour to South Sikkim (optional)
Highlights: Samdruptse, Char-Dham, Tathagata Tsal
Today, you will be starting from Pelling and be driven to Namchi, in South Sikkim, which is roughly a 3-hour drive. Namchi is a famous hotspot for pilgrims as it’s dotted with many monasteries and temples. The structures are really spectacular. Your sightseeing tour will include Samdruptse Hill and Char Dham.
Samdruptse Temple houses a huge statue of Guru Padmasambhava, which is a true man-made wonder. The hill offers the vista of the magnificent Mt. Khangchendzonga. It is believed that the hill is a dormant volcano and only prayers can hold it from erupting. That's why the local monks offer their reverence and devotion to it.
The four most revered ‘dhams’ of the Hindus (Badrinath, Jagannath, Dwarka, and Rameshwaram) have been replicated in the Char Dham complex to benefit devotees and tourists. The 108-foot-high statue of Lord Shiva in a sitting posture marks the location of the main temple.
You will then be driven to Ravangla to visit the world-famous Tatagatha Tsal or Ravangla Buddha Park, which hosts a 130-foot-high statue of seated Buddha as its centerpiece and offers a meditation center too.