Yuksom and the 1642 crowning of Sikkim's first king

In 1641–42 three Nyingma lamas travelled into Sikkim from Tibet, each by a different route. They were Lhatsun Chenpo (Lhatsun Namkha Jigme), Ngadak Sempa Chenpo and Kathok Rigzin Chenpo. Wikipedia's account of Sikkim's history describes them as coming from the north, west and south, and says the Lepcha name of the place where they met, Yuksom, means 'the place where the three monks met': a lama is 'yukmun' in Lepcha, and three is 'som'.

Their purpose, as the tradition tells it, was to open the hidden land of Demazong, the 'valley of rice', blessed by Guru Padmasambhava, and to find the man who would rule it as a religious king. Three had come; the prophecy called for a fourth, from the east.

Each lama brought his own lineage within the Nyingma school, and each is remembered at a different monastery. That is one reason why the monasteries of West Sikkim feel so closely linked: they grew from the same moment, among the same small group of teachers, in the same few years of the 1640s. When you visit Dubdi, Pemayangtse and Tashiding, you are visiting the foundations of those three men.

Here history and legend run side by side, and we should say which is which. Tradition holds that the lamas sent messengers east and found a man near present-day Gangtok churning milk. He offered them refreshment and shelter, and they took this, with signs of his descent from Khye Bumsa's line, as proof that he was the chosen one. His name was Phuntsog.

The record is firmer on what happened next. In 1642 Phuntsog Namgyal, then 38 years old, was brought to Yuksom and consecrated as the first Chogyal, the 'righteous king', on a stone seat set under a pine on a hill at Norbugang, and anointed with water from a sacred urn. Lhatsun Chenpo gave him the name Namgyal. The dynasty he founded ruled Sikkim, through twelve kings, until 1975.

Norbugang is a short walk from Yuksom's main road, inside a small park with a prayer hall and a large prayer wheel. The coronation throne is a tiered platform of whitewashed stones with four seats; the highest was for Lhatsun Chenpo, the others for the two lamas and the king. It sits beneath a huge old cryptomeria. Opposite stands the Norbugang Chorten, which, according to the accounts, the lamas built from earth and stones gathered from every part of Sikkim, sealing inside it the gifts the people had brought to the ceremony.

A stone near the throne shows what is said to be the footprint of one of the lamas. Down the lane, Kathok Lake is a small, quiet pond ringed with prayer flags; its water, tradition says, was used for the consecration. On the hill above the village, about an hour's walk, Dubdi Monastery was established in 1701 and is described as the oldest surviving monastery in Sikkim. Images of the three lamas are kept inside.

None of this is behind glass. There is no museum, no audio guide and, usually, no ticket. The throne is simply there, a little worn, often draped with white scarves left by pilgrims. That plainness is part of what makes Norbugang moving. Sit for a few minutes, look up at the old tree, and remember that a kingdom that lasted more than three centuries began on this patch of ground.

Phuntsog Namgyal made Yuksom his capital and set up Sikkim's first central administration, dividing the kingdom into twelve districts, or dzongs, under Lepcha governors. His reign is also credited with the idea of Lho-Mon-Tsong-Sum, the unity of the Bhutia, Lepcha and Limbu communities, formalised in 1663. He died in 1670, and his son Tensung Namgyal moved the court to Rabdentse, on the ridge near today's Pelling, ending Yuksom's time as capital.

Each of the three lamas left a foundation of his own. Lhatsun Chenpo is linked with Dubdi and with Pemayangtse, begun in 1647. Ngadak Sempa Chenpo is remembered at Tashiding, where the Bumchu vase is kept. Together these places form the old pilgrimage circuit of West Sikkim, and Yuksom sits at its head.

Yuksom is still small: about 1,950 people at the 2011 census, mostly Bhutia and Nepali families, living along one main road and the lanes that branch off it. The visitors often outnumber the residents in October, when trekking groups come and go from the Goecha La trail, but for most of the year the village is quiet. Cows wander past the coronation park, children walk to school in uniform, and the evening smells of wood smoke and frying momos.

The village has looked after its own landscape. The Khangchendzonga Conservation Committee, based in Yuksom, has worked with the forest department on clean-up drives along the trek and on homestays that keep tourism money in local hands. If you stay in a homestay, eat local food and walk rather than drive between the sites, you are travelling the way the village has asked visitors to travel.

Yuksom is about 35 km and 1.5–2 hours from Pelling, and about 150 km and 6–7 hours from Siliguri. Shared jeeps run from Gyalshing for about ₹120–180 a seat, indicative 2026; a reserved car from Pelling costs ₹2,000–2,800 one way. We suggest two nights: arrive in the afternoon, walk to Norbugang and Kathok Lake the next morning, climb to Dubdi before lunch, and keep the following morning for Tashiding on the way out.

Go early. In the first hour after sunrise the Norbugang park is usually empty, the light falls softly through the cryptomeria, and you can sit by the throne without a crowd. Walk clockwise around the chorten and the prayer wheels, keep your voice low, and do not climb on the throne. Dubdi is sometimes locked when its caretaker monk is away; ask in the village before you climb. Check current status before you travel.

• Best months: October–December and March–May; January–February are cold but clear.
• Stay: Hotel Yangrigang on the main road, or one of the village homestays.
• Wear proper shoes for the Dubdi path, which is steep and slippery after rain.
• Carry cash; Yuksom has limited ATM access.