Day Excursion to Tsomgo Lake and Baba Mandir

Day Excursion to Tsomgo Lake and Baba Mandir

Visiting the beautiful lake of Tsomgo Lake and Baba Mandir is one of a kind experience. The Scenic Beauty and the unforgettable memories to make

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Tsomgo Lake, Jawaharlal Nehru Road Tathangchen Area, Gangtok 737101 India


Tsomgo Lake, also known as Changu Lake is a glacial lake in Sikkim and located at an altitude of 12,310 feet. The name Tsomgo means 'Source of water'. It's located 40kms from Gangtok town and on the steep route known as Jawaharlal Nehru Road which leads all the way to Nathula Pass.

This is one of the few and awesome high altitude lakes in India. The lake becomes doubly attractive with the reflections of the surrounding hills on the water. From Gangtok which is at 5410 ft, the altitude rises to about 10,000 ft in just 15kms. You can imagine how steep the gradient would be on this stretch of the road.

Prior to 1962, this was part of the old trade route between India and China. Mules used to carry loads along this route. Some parts of the route below Karponang (which is 15kms away from Gangtok) used to be very treacherous and dangerous.

Many mules would slip and die falling into the depths of the ravines below. But no longer so, proper road has been built, although condition of the road usually remains bad due to snowy & foul weather conditions. From Karponang the road is not as steep as the earlier stretch.

Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Baba Harbhajan Singh Temple, East Sikkim, Sikkim 737131, India

Located between Nathula and Jelepla pass at an altitude of 13,123 ft and about 52kms from Gangtok, Baba Harbhajan Singh Temple is popularly known as Baba Mandir. One usually covers this temple along with a visit to Tsongmo Lake and Nathula Pass.

There is a touching story associated with this temple. Harbhajan Singh was a Sentry of Punjab Regiment and was posted here as part of border patrol force. The border with China is nearby. In October 1968 he disappeared. It is said that while escorting mules carrying provisions, he fell into a stream and drowned. After a few days he reappeared in the dreams of one of his sentry colleagues and asked him to make a memorial here on his name.

The sentries then made a samadhi and later this temple was built. Although Harbhajan Sing is no more, the sentries and guards here believe that his spirit is still alive and he is therefore treated as a living being. They all believe that Harbhajan will guard and protect them in this very difficult terrain.

In fact there has been reports that Chinese soldiers across the border having seen a turbaned sentry doing his rounds at night. Many sentries here believe that Harbhajan comes here every night as his camp bed sheet gets crumpled every morning and his polished shoes turn muddy by the evening.

Baba Mandir
Baba Mandir Near Gangtok
Photo by: Devraj Bhattacharya

While Harbhajan Singh is dead since long, his live memories have resulted in several actions from the army which is rarely seen. Out of sheer belief that he his spirit is still around, he has been promoted to the rank of honorary Captain.

Every year during his annual leave, Harbhajan is known to visit his hometown in Punjab even today although he is well past his retirement age. Two soldiers actually accompany his uniform in a jeep up to Siliguri then in a train to his hometown. In fact his salary is still sent to his home.

Over the years the temple has become a place of pilgrimage. Inside the temple you will find large photo of turbaned Harbhanaj Sing which is worshipped. Many who come here leave a bottle of drinking water which they arrange to collect a few days later. It is believed that one can fulfill one's wishes by drinking that water. You will often find that army trucks passing by stop here and soldiers come and offer quick prayers before proceeding.

On one side of the temple is Harbhajan Sing's Office where he is believed to be carrying out his day to day work. Next to it is his dining place. A room has his bed, shoes and uniform. There is a souvenir shop here and a cafe. Although this temple is on a roadside, it is surrounded by mountains in all sides and the views all around is magnificent. If you are lucky, you will get lots of snows here, particularly during the winter time (November to March).

Duration: 1 hour