Lachung Monastery is a Nyingma

Nyingma

The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...

 Buddhist gompa

Gompa

Gompa and ling are Buddhist ecclesiastical fortifications of learning, lineage and sadhana , located in Tibet, India, Nepal, and Bhutan...

 in the Lachung

Lachung

thumb|150px|Lachung is located in the northeastLachung is a town in northeast Sikkim, India. It is located in the North Sikkim district and is near the border with China. Lachung is at an elevation of about 9,600 ft or 3,000 m and at the confluence of the Lachen River and Lachung...

 Valley, Sikkim

Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

, northeastern India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It was established in 1880.

Lachung

Lachung

thumb|150px|Lachung is located in the northeastLachung is a town in northeast Sikkim, India. It is located in the North Sikkim district and is near the border with China. Lachung is at an elevation of about 9,600 ft or 3,000 m and at the confluence of the Lachen River and Lachung...

 means a 'small mountain'. Lachung is at an elevation of about 3,000 m (9,600 ft) at the confluence of the Lachen River

Lachen River

Lachen River is a tributary of the Teesta River....

 and Lachung River

Lachung River

-References:...

, tributaries of the Teesta River

Teesta River

River Teesta or Tista is said to be the lifeline of the Indian state of Sikkim, flowing for almost the entire length of the state and carving out verdant Himalayan temperate and tropical river valleys. The emerald-coloured river then forms the border between Sikkim and West Bengal before joining...

. The word Lachung means "small mountain". The village is 118 km from Gangtok

Gangtok

Gangtok is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Sikkim. Gangtok is located in the Shivalik Hills of the eastern Himalayan range, at an altitude of . The town, with a population of thirty thousand belonging to different ethnicities such as Nepalis, Lepchas and Bhutia, is administered...

on the North Sikkim Highway and is the last one before the Indo-Chinese border. It was a trading post between India and Tibet before India annexed Sikkim in 1950. Permits are required for visits to North Sikkim. The monastery hosts a famous mask dance each year.

External links

• Photos of monastery at: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/10708579 and http://www.flickr.com/photos/26579512@N06/2518758208/