Hanuman Tok and Ganesh Tok, Gangtok

01Where Hanuman rested

Tok means a temple in the hill speech of Sikkim. Sikkim’s tradition says that when Hanuman was carrying the Sanjeevani mountain from the Himalaya to Lanka for the wounded Lakshmana, he rested here a moment, and the place has been his since. The shrine at about 7,200 feet is maintained by a unit of the Indian Army, which keeps it clean and orderly and serves tea to pilgrims. Below it lies the cremation ground of the Chogyals, the old kings of Sikkim.

02Ganesh Tok

Ganesh Tok, on another ridge closer to the town at about 6,500 feet, is so small that one person at a time can enter on hands and knees. Prayer flags of the Buddhist neighbours hang over both shrines, and Hindu and Buddhist visitors come to both. On clear mornings in October and November the whole Kanchenjunga massif stands over the valley; Sikkim reveres that mountain as its guardian deity.