Located below Ghoom railway station, at an elevation of 8000 feet, Ghum or Ghoom Monastery is the popular name of Yiga Choeling Monastery. It is the first ever Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in Darjeeling which was built by the monk and a famous astrologer Lama Sherab Gyatso in 1850. He had administered the monastery till 1905, later went to Tibet and died in his bieth place.
This monastery is a part of the Yellow Hat sect of Buddhism, known as the Gelupka Sect who worship the ‘Coming Buddha’ or ‘Maitreyi Buddha’. A 15-foot high statue of Maitreyi Buddha is seen in the central hall, made entirely of clay brought from Tibet.
This is one of the biggest and oldest statues of Buddha in the region. In front of the Buddha’s statue there are two huge oil lamps that keep burning all the time and all through out the year.