The Serene Enclave of Ghoom Monastery

• Helloཚེས་པོ་ལས་ནས་བདག
  [tse po la na dak]
• Goodbyeཞེན་པོ་སྐད་པའི་བདག
  [zhen po ske pa'i dak]
• Yesརེས་བདག
  [re dak]
• Noམེད་བདག
  [me dak]
• Please/You're welcomeསྐད་པའི་བདག
  [ske pa'i dak]
• Thank youབསྟན་བཅུལ་བདག
  [ten chul dak]
• Excuse me/Sorryདགེ་བསྒོའི་བདག
  [ge sog'i dak]
• How are you?ཁྱེད་རང་ཉིད།
  [khe rang nyi]
• Fine. And you?ལུང་ལ་འོས། ཁྱེད་རང་ཉིད།
  [lung la o. khe rang nyi]
• Do you speak English?ཨིན་གྲོར་སྐད་པའི་བདག་ཡིན།
  [in dro ske pa'i dak yin]
• I don't understandའདི་མ་དེས།
  [di ma de]

• I'd like to see the menu, pleaseམཚོ་སྒོ་ལོ་བདག
  [tso go lo dak]
• I don't eat meatདམ་དེས་ཁྲི་ཏོར་མིན།
  [dam des tri tor min]
• Cheers!འཚོ་ལོས།
  [tso los]
• I would like to pay, pleaseང་སྐད་བདག
  [nga ske dak]

• Help!ང་ཚོར།
  [nga tsor]
• Go away!འཛུང་ཞུ།
  [dzung shu]
• Call the Police!བོན་རིགས་སྲིད།
  [bong rik srid]
• Call a doctor!སྨོན་ཚོར་སྲིད།
  [mon tsor srid]
• I'm lostང་སྐྱབས།
  [nga kyab]
• I'm illང་ལོབ།
  [nga lob]

• I'd like to buy...ང་ནབ་ནས།
  [nga nab na]
• I'm just lookingང་འཚོལ་དེས།
  [nga tso de]
• How much is it?དུས་ཁྱབ།
  [dus kyab]
• That's too expensiveདུས་དམ་ཁྱབ།
  [dus dam kyab]
• Can you lower the price?འབད་པ་དུས།
  [ba pa dus]

• What time is it?ཁྱོད་མཆོག་དུ།
  [kho cho dak du]
• It's one o'clockགཅིག་པའི།
  [chik pa'i]
• Half past (10)སྡུད་ཀྲོང།
  [duk trong]
• Morningཉིད།
  [nyi]
• Afternoonདགོངས།
  [gong]
• Eveningཉིད་པོ།
  [nyi po]
• Yesterdayཁ་པོ།
  [kho po]
• Todayདེ་རང།
  [de rang]
• Tomorrowནས་རང།
  [na rang]
• 1གཅིག
  [chik]
• 2གཉིས
  [nyi]
• 3གསོ
  [so]
• 4བཞད
  [zha]
• 5ལྷག
  [lhak]
• 6ནླབ
  [lab]
• 7དགུ
  [gu]
• 8བར
  [bar]
• 9དགོས
  [gos]
• 10བཅོག
  [chok]

• Where's a/the...?ཤེས་ལ་ལོ་འཇག་པའི་བདག་ཡིན།
  [she la lo jak pa'i dak yin]
• What's the address?ཡིན་རྒྱས་དོང་འཇག་པའི་བདག་ཡིན།
  [yin gyas dong jak pa'i dak yin]
• Can you show me (on the map)?ང་འཛུགས་མ་སྦེ།
  [nga dzug ma be]
• When's the next (bus)?མཇུག་བར་སངས་བཟོས།
  [jug bar sang zos]
• A ticket (to ....)ཚོན་དུས་འབད་པའི་བདག
  [tsong dus ba pa'i dak]

Ghoom Monastery, known as Yiga Choeling, was established in 1850 by a Tibetan monk, Bhuti Lama. It was the first Gelugpa monastery established in Darjeeling and served as a significant center of Buddhism in the region. The monastery was built in response to the increasing number of Tibetan refugees and the growing interest in Buddhism among the British and local communities.

The monastery is renowned for its stunning architecture, featuring traditional Tibetan design elements, including intricate wood carvings and vibrant murals depicting Buddhist deities. The central figure is a 15-foot tall statue of Maitreya Buddha, which is one of the largest of its kind in India. Its design reflects the rich cultural interactions between the Tibetan and British colonial influences in the region.

Ghoom Monastery has served as a cultural hub for the local Buddhist community and a pilgrimage site for devotees. The annual religious festivals attract monks and visitors from various parts of India and Nepal, fostering a sense of community and shared spirituality. The monastery's teachings and practices have contributed significantly to the preservation of Tibetan Buddhist culture in the region.

During the British colonial era, Ghoom Monastery became a focal point for British officers and tourists interested in Buddhism and the local culture. The serenity of Ghoom and its panoramic views of the surrounding mountains made it a popular retreat. The British interest in the monastery helped to promote tourism in Darjeeling, which continues to be a significant part of its economy today.

In recent years, Ghoom Monastery has faced challenges related to modernization and tourism. Efforts have been made to preserve its historical and cultural significance amidst the changing landscape of Darjeeling. The local community, along with various organizations, is actively involved in maintaining the monastery's heritage and ensuring its continued relevance in contemporary society.

Ghoom Monastery is located about 8 kilometers from Darjeeling town center and can be reached via several transportation options. The most common way is to take a shared jeep or taxi from the main taxi stand in Darjeeling, which takes approximately 30 minutes. Buses also run from Darjeeling to Ghoom, but they may be less frequent. Alternatively, for a more scenic experience, you can take the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (toy train) to Ghoom station, which is a short walk from the monastery.

Ghoom Monastery is compact and can be easily explored on foot. The area is pedestrian-friendly, allowing visitors to enjoy the scenic beauty and local culture. For longer distances or if you're looking to explore nearby attractions, local taxis and shared jeeps are available. Bicycles can be rented in Darjeeling, but the steep terrain may be challenging for some.

Ghoom is generally safe for tourists, but standard precautions should be taken. Petty crime like pickpocketing can occur, particularly in crowded areas. It is advisable to avoid isolated areas after dark and keep valuables secure. While Ghoom itself does not have specific high-crime areas, it’s best to stay vigilant and be aware of your surroundings when exploring.

In case of an emergency, dial 100 for police assistance or 108 for ambulance services. The nearest hospital is in Darjeeling town. It is advisable to have travel insurance that covers medical emergencies. For minor health issues, local pharmacies are available, but it is wise to carry basic medications with you.

Fashion: Do dress modestly, especially when visiting the monastery; avoid revealing clothing. Religion: Do respect local customs; always remove your shoes before entering the main prayer hall. Public Transport: Do be polite and give your seat to elderly passengers; don't eat or drink on public transport. Greetings: Do greet locals with a smile and a polite 'Namaste'; don't engage in loud or disruptive behavior. Eating & Drinking: Do try local teas and snacks; don’t waste food or refuse hospitality, as it is considered impolite.

To experience Ghoom Monastery like a local, visit during the early morning or late afternoon for a quieter experience. Engage with the monks if they are available, as they are often willing to share insights about their practices. Explore the surrounding area, including the nearby Ghoom Railway Station and the Batasia Loop, for stunning views of the mountains. Sample local street food from vendors around the monastery for an authentic taste of Darjeeling.