Proposed & Upcoming 

LORD BUDDHA STATUE AND ECO GARDEN

The year 2006 marked the 2550th birthday of Lord Gautama Buddha. The state government in a policy decision had decided to observe the birthday throughout the year in Sikkim. And as a part of the celebrations, the initiative was being taken by the people of Rabong to construct and install a large statue of Lord Buddha and eco-garden to commemorate the event. This would also be a landmark in Sikkim's  unique effort in uniting tourism and religion. Apart from  the well known aspects of commercial tourism, Sikkim has also long played a part in the religious, a mainly Buddhist, circuit, due to the abundance of important monasteries in Sikkim . This has been reinforced off late with several initiatives of the Government, like the statue of Padmasambhave at Samdruptse will receive another impetus with the current project.

    Since Rabong is located in between the most important religious sites, It receives a large number of pilgrim tourists. This status would be an additional religious site to visit for the pilgrims coming  to the area. Further, the statue would be located amidst an eco garden which will help conserve the bio diversity of the area which will see the conservation of the herbs and flora found in the area.

The annual religious events like the Guru Dragmar are held in Pemayangtse, while the Gutor is the biggest event in Ralang monastery. The annual Bhumchu ceremony is held in Tashiding. Pemayangtse which follows the Nyingmapa order, is considered to be the premier monastery of Sikkim since it was also patronaged by the Namgyal dynasty, who ruled Sikkim. Apart from two of the holy caves where Guru Padmasambhave (Guru Rimpoche) who brought Buddhism to Sikkim in the 8th century while on his way to Tibet is said to have  meditated, is located near Rabong. The Sharchok Phe-pu cave at Sangmo and the Khandosanghphu at Tinkitam both important pilgrim centers are also located very close to Rabong.

Chief Minister Pawan Chamling Lays the foundation stone for the Buddha Statue along with His Eminence Goshir Gyaltshab Rinpoched align="left" bgcolor="#e7e7ca" colspan="4" height="19" valign="top">