Ravangla – Finding Peace And Serenity

Kanchenjunga Peak from Ravangla

Perhaps Sikkim is one of the most beautiful places I have visited so far in India. I fell in love with the place when the very first time I visited Sikkim. For people in West Bengal it is a very beautiful tourist location easy to go. The serenity and calmness in the atmosphere will give you a pleasant charm. You will find a break from your restless mind.

A view of the valley from Ravangla

A view of the valley from Ravangla

I was travelling with Anirban da and Rimbik. Anirban (Saha) da is a year senior to me from my college. He is a very close friend, elder brother and well wisher of me. We both are in IT field. He is the founder of Kolkata Bloggers. We both started photography almost at the same time, back in the year 2010. Rimbik (Das) is junior to me. He is a fantastic person. He studies Multimedia in St. Xaviers Kolkata. He and his team make animation movies. Recently one of their movies ‘The Tumling Street’ got selected and will be shown in Kolkata International Film Festival, 2015.

Rimbik having his morning tea

Rimbik having his morning tea

It was in December 2014. We left Kolkata by train at night and we reached Siliguri at 9 AM next morning. We shared a cab from there. Our next stop was Singtham. On our way to Singtham we halted and had some food. At around 1 PM we reached Singtham. We shared another cab from there for Ravangla. From the very moment we entered Sikkim, the weather and scenic beauty changed a lot. So much calm and pleasure in the environment. We passed some hills through the winding roads and reached Ravangla at around 4:30 PM. The sun was about to set. The western sky was changing its colour gradually. It was a beautiful moment to see the sun setting behind the greater Himalayas. The sky was clear and there was very little fog. I tried to capture few moments.

A panoramic view from Ravangla

A panoramic view from Ravangla

Ravangla is a very small town situated in South Sikkim. If you want to stay few days far from the mad crowd and crazy shout of everyday boring life, Ravangla is certainly the place to think about. I was little sceptical about the phone network connectivity, but my Airtel worked very well. I got network everywhere there. We stayed in a small hotel little down to the main market area. It had a quite nice balcony with a beautiful view of long mountain ranges. As the night was growing, the temperature started falling down. We got saved by the room heater though.

Another photograph I made of the valley

Another photograph I took of the valley

I experienced a very amazing thing. As the night grows, the dark sky was gradually filling up with bright and beautiful stars. The lights of the remote village huts were also getting visible. It was an amazing experience.

A beautiful starry night view from Ravangla

A beautiful starry night view of Ravangla

Next morning we went to explore the place. There is a Tibetan Refugee Settlement Camp. We spent some time there. Then we went to visit the Buddha Park. It was situated between Ravangla and Ralang. It is an amazing view to see the large Buddha statue in the middle of the park. There is a museum in the park where the life of Buddha has been portrayed in mural art. You should visit the museum. Either you reserve a cab or you can walk up to the park if you are fit enough. We chose to walk. On our return from the Buddha Park, we thought of making a visit to the market. The market is not very big. Most of the things you will find there are available now in city malls and shops. There are few incense sticks which are said to be locally made.

A resident of Tibetan Refugee Settlement Camp with his child

A resident of Tibetan Refugee Settlement Camp with his child

Local people of Ravangla

Local person of Ravangla

A man praying in a Buddhist temple

A man praying in a Buddhist temple

Buddha Park in Ravangla

Buddha Park in Ravangla

We all walked day long. We were tired severely. Next morning we were supposed to go to the next mountain, our next destination Ralang to experience the Kagyed Festival and the Cham Dance performed by Buddhist monks.

You will always able to view Kanchenjunga in the background.

You can always see Kanchenjunga in the background.

Stay connected to my website. My next blog post will be about my experience of Ralang and Kagyed festival.

Joker Mask used in Kagyed Festival

Joker Mask used in Kagyed Festival

Please leave your comments and feedback. Thank you.

All photographs are copyrighted to © Koustav Ghosh.

If you want to see some photographs taken with mobile, follow me on Instagram @koustavghosh10

Comments

comments

14 Comments

  1. Its just awesome. .wish to go there someday. . . The beautiful starry night was the besssssst… really great work… keep posting 🙂

    Reply
  2. Hi Koustav! We are planning to visit Ravangla on December 24th & 25th and very much interested to experience the mask festival at Ralang monastery. Can you please share the exact dates of celebrating this festival?

    Reply
    • Hi Sangita,
      The Kagyed festival usually happens during December following the Moon Calendar. In 2014 I went to Ravangla around 21st December. Hopefully you will be able to witness the festival. You can call the Sikkim tourism if they can provide more information regarding this year’s festival date. 🙂

      Reply

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