Ravangla or Ravongla is a small tourist town situated at an elevation of 7000 ft in South Sikkim

South Sikkim

South Sikkim is a district of the Indian state of Sikkim. Its capital is Namchi.-Geography:South Sikkim lies at an altitude of 400 to 2000 metres and hence enjoys a temperate climate for most of the year. Major urban centres include Teesta Bazaar and Melli....

 district of the India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n state of Sikkim

Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

. It is connected by state highway to other major towns in the state and lies between Pelling

Pelling

Pelling has a helipad ground though there is no regular air service. Helicopters can connect Pelling with Gangtok on request....

 and Gangtok

Gangtok

Gangtok is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Sikkim. Gangtok is located in the Shivalik Hills of the eastern Himalayan range, at an altitude of . The town, with a population of thirty thousand belonging to different ethnicities such as Nepalis, Lepchas and Bhutia, is administered...

. It acts as the starting point for the trek to maenam la wildlife sanctuary.

Geographical situation

Mt. Kanchenjunga, Mt. Pandim, Mt. Sinialchu, Mt. Kabru

Kabru

Kabru is a mountain in the Himalayas on the border of India and eastern Nepal. It is part of a ridge that extends south from Kangchenjunga.The main features of this ridge are as follows :* Kangchenjunga south top, 8476 m, at...

 are just a few of the major peaks that are clearly visible from Ravangla.

Flora

Upper parts of Ravangla experiences snowfall during winter. During the months of April–May the place is surrounded by many flowers including orchids and rhododendron

Rhododendron

Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...

s.

Avi Fauna

Ravangla attracts a lot of Himlayan birds and a bird watcher's paradise. Birds like Verditer Flycatcher

Verditer Flycatcher

The Verditer Flycatcher is an Old World flycatcher found in the Indian subcontinent, especially in the Lower Himalaya. It is named after its distinctive shade of copper-sulphate blue and has a dark patch between the eyes and above the bill base. The adult males are intense blue on all areas of the...

s, Blue-fronted Redstart

Blue-fronted Redstart

The Blue-fronted Redstart is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family.It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.-References:...

s, Grey Bushchat

Grey Bushchat

The Grey Bushchat is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family.It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam....

s, Dark-throated Thrush

Dark-throated Thrush

The Dark-throated Thrush is a passerine bird in the thrush family. It has two races: T. r. atrogularis, the Black-throated Thrush, and T. r. ruficollis, the Red-throated Thrush. These are sometimes considered different species...

, Blue Whistling-thrush

Blue Whistling-thrush

The Blue Whistling-thrush is a species of thrush in the family Turdidae. At 178 grams and 33 cm , it is believed to be the world's largest species of thrush...

, Green-backed Tit

Green-backed Tit

The Green-backed Tit is a species of bird in the Paridae family.It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Vietnam....

 and White-browed Fantail

White-browed Fantail

The White-browed Fantail, Rhipidura aureola, is a small passerine bird.The White-browed Fantail breeds across tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Vietnam. This species is found in forest and other woodland. Three eggs are laid in a small cup nest in a tree.- Description :The...

s can be easily spotted.

The forests around Ravangla have other avi faunal species like Laughingthrush

Laughingthrush

The Laughingthrushes are the genus Garrulax of the large Old World babbler family of passerine birds. They occur in tropical Asia, with the greatest number of species occurring in the Himalaya and southern China....

es, Babbler

Babbler

Babbler may refer to:* Old World babbler, a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds* Australo-Papuan babbler, passerine birds endemic to Australia-New Guinea* The Babbler, the journal of BirdLife International in Indochina...

s, Cuckoo

Cuckoo

The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...

s and Hill Partridge

Hill Partridge

The Hill Partridge is a species of bird in the Phasianidae family. It is found in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam...

. The rare Satyr Tragopan

Satyr Tragopan

The Satyr Tragopan Tragopan satyra, also known as the Crimson Horned Pheasant, is a pheasant found in the Himalayan reaches of India, Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan. They reside in moist oak and rhododendron forests with dense undergrowth and bamboo clumps. Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, shrubland...

 can also be spotted in Ravangla.

Tibetan Community

Ralang Monastery

Ralang Monastery

Ralang Monastery is a Buddhist monastery of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism in southern Sikkim, northeastern India. It is located six kilometres from Ravangla....

, a Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 monastery of the Kagyu

Kagyu

The Kagyu, Kagyupa, or Kagyud school, also known as the "Oral Lineage" or Whispered Transmission school, is today regarded as one of six main schools of Himalayan or Tibetan Buddhism, the other five being the Nyingma, Sakya, Jonang, Bon and Gelug...

 school of Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...

is located six kilometres from Ravangla.