Lava Monastery - History, Timings & Entry Fee

At a distance of 500 m from Lava Jeep Stand, Kagyu Thekchen Ling Monastery is a Buddhist monastery situated in the picturesque Himalayan hamlet of Lava in West Bengal. Popularly called as Lava Monastery, it is one of the top places to visit in Lava.

Kagyu Thekchen Ling monastery was built in 1987 by the third Kongtrul Rinpoche, Karma Lodro Chokyi Senge, when the Buddhist community living here offered him three acres of land for the local community of Lava. Though the monastery started off with a mere handful of monks, over time, the numbers kept increasing and today, it houses over 110 monks. Today, the fourth Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche studies and trains here. One can see the monks are occupied in rigorous study of Buddhist literatures and meditation.

Built in Tibetan style of architecture, the monastery has various prayer halls, lawns, sitting areas and a huge Buddha statue. The monastery offers great view of the mountains and one can also see Aritar in Sikkim as well as the Jelep La pass from the monastery. Outside the main gate is the market with hotels, eateries and shops where you can purchase clothes, souvenirs etc.

Timings: 8 AM - 5 PM