Culture · Lachen
The hermit of Lachen and Alexandra David-Néel
Hear the story of the French scholar who studied with the Lachen Gomchen from 1912, lived in a cave hermitage above the village, and slipped into Tibet from here in 1916. A story most Gurudongmar visitors never learn.
Photo: Lionel Allorge · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Alexandra David-Néel came to Sikkim in 1912 to study Buddhism and befriended the crown prince, Sidkeong Tulku Namgyal. In late May that year she reached Lachen and met its Gomchen, the hermit lama of the monastery. She stayed near Lachen on and off for several years, often in a cave hermitage at about 4,000 m, practising meditation under his guidance.
The Gomchen gave her the name Yeshe Tome, Lamp of Wisdom. From her retreat near Lachen she crossed into Tibet in July 1916, without permission, to visit Tashilhunpo near Shigatse, and the British expelled her from Sikkim on her return. In 1924 she reached Lhasa in disguise, and her book My Journey to Lhasa made her famous.
We tell this story on the evening in Lachen, and a local host can sometimes add what the village remembers. The cave itself is not a tourist site and lies in restricted, high terrain, so we do not take visitors there. The point is to see Lachen as more than a stop before the lake.
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Who was Alexandra David-Néel?
A French explorer, writer and scholar of Buddhism, born in 1868, who studied in Sikkim from 1912, including with the Lachen Gomchen, and in 1924 reached Lhasa in disguise. Her book My Journey to Lhasa, published in 1927, made her famous. She died in 1969.
Can we visit David-Néel's cave near Lachen?
No, not as a tourist outing. The hermitage lies in high, restricted terrain above the village, and there is no regular route or permit for visitors. We share the story in Lachen instead. Some books about her life describe the site in detail.
What books tell the Lachen story?
David-Néel's own My Journey to Lhasa and Magic and Mystery in Tibet describe her Sikkim years, including her teacher at Lachen. Several biographies cover the period in detail. Wikipedia's article on her gives a well-referenced summary.
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