Polok Hot Springs

Polok Hot Springs are natural geothermal springs in the South Sikkim district of Sikkim state, India, situated in the subtropical river valleys of the eastern Himalayas where bicarbonate thermal waters emerge from the ancient metamorphic and granitic geology of the Sikkim Himalayan fold belt — a geologically active zone of intense tectonic deformation where the Indian plate continues to collide with the Eurasian plate. Sikkim, a small Himalayan state bordered by Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan, is one of India's most ecologically sensitive states, with over 35% of its territory protected as national parks and wildlife sanctuaries harboring the endangered snow leopard, red panda, and extraordinary floral diversity including hundreds of orchid species and rhododendron forests. The bicarbonate hot spring bathing of Polok reflects the Sikkimese spiritual tradition that regards natural springs as sacred sites, combining Tibetan Buddhist, Hindu, and indigenous Lepcha cosmological frameworks in a uniquely Himalayan thermal experience.