Rumktek monastery is situated at a distance of 24 km away from Gangtok, in a hillock, facing Gangtok. The Rumtek monastery is also known as the Dharma Chakra Center serves as the seat of His Holiness Gyawla Karmapa the XVI, the head of the Karma Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery is the replica of the original monastery in Tsurpu in Tibet. The main monastery is a four storey structure building, fortified by the monk’s quarters.

The drive to Rumtek monastery meanders through the terraced paddy fields sprawled over a slope overlooking Gangtok. The entrance of the monastery is decorated with murals and the beautiful paintings of the four guarding deities of the four directions. Long round silk banners and ancient thankas are suspended on a red pillar inside the main shrine. One can also observe the beautiful paintings of Kargyu lineage and the Eight Bodhistavas. A ten feet high statue of Sakyamuni with Sariputra and Mangalputra is seen behind the throne of Gyalwa Karmapa.

The old Rumtek monastery is located fifteen minutes walk downhill from the Dharma     Chakra Center. The monastery is dedicated to the 9th Gyalwa Karmapa. There is a statue of the 9th Karmapa in the main shrine and some beautiful wall paintings of Kargyu lineage  Vajradhara, Tilopa, Naropa, Narpa, milerapa, Gampopa, Karmabakshi and the 16th Karmapa are seen. It is believed that when the 9th Karmapa threw the holy rice after performing a ritual, four rice grains were scattered in Sikkim and one of the rice grain landed on the spot where the old Rumtek monastery is erected today.