Drupka Tseshi

A sacred Buddhist holiday celebrating Buddha's first turning of the wheel of dharma and preaching at Sarnath.

Commemorates the historical event where Lord Buddha, after attaining enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, traveled to Sarnath and delivered his foundational sermon to his first five disciples, expounding the Noble Eightfold Path.

The day is marked by quiet, intense contemplative devotion across Sikkim. Devotees visit local monasteries dressed in traditional garments (Bakhu) to offer prayers, light hundreds of brass butter lamps (Chome), and participate in holy circumambulations. Monks conduct special reading cycles of sacred scriptures and host community teaching forums.

The central ritual involves the Choe-Khor recitation, where high lamas lead chant cycles of Buddha's original discourses. At the Deer Park shrine in Gangtok, a special statue of Buddha delivering the sermon is decorated with elaborate silk scarves (Khadas). In alpine plateaus like Muguthang, the day includes traditional yak races and community horse-archery displays.

It is believed that meditating on the Four Noble Truths on this precise day amplifies spiritual wisdom and cleanses the intellect of worldly illusions. Devotees believe that making offerings to the monastic sangha on this day helps create highly positive karmic conditions for subsequent lifetimes.

Rooted in ancient Indian Buddhist monastic traditions, the festival has been preserved for over a millennium within the Mahayana and Vajrayana institutions of the Himalayas, transitioning seamlessly into a state-recognized gazetted holiday in modern Sikkim.

The crisp mountain air of Sikkim is filled with the deep, resonant drone of monastic trumpets and the gentle, continuous murmur of pilgrims spinning prayer wheels. Inside the monasteries, the warm, golden glow of hundreds of butter lamps highlights the faces of meditating monks. The spiritual focus is palpable, with travelers a quiet, meditative experience deep within the heart of Himalayan Buddhism.