Blog

Dragkar Gonpa is a nunnery affiliated with the Gelug Pa of Tibetan Buddhism.

Located in Tongfoshan Village, Gexi Township, Dawu （also “Tawu” or “Daofu”） County, Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, it is only 13 kilometers from the county seat of Dawu. Its advantageous geographical position is enhanced by access to roads and electricity, providing modern support for the temple’s daily operations and the nuns’spiritual practices.

Dragkar Gonpa is renowned for its large community of nuns, making it one of the largest nunneries in the Kham region and even across Tibetan areas. This highlights the significant role of women in the practice of Tibetan Buddhism.

As a Gelug institution, the gonpa upholds the tradition of this school, which emphasizes strict adherence to monastic discipline, a balanced focus on scriptural study, and meditation. The nuns diligently follow the Gelug teachings, engaging in intensive practice, studying scriptures, and undertaking long-term retreats to attain the wisdom of the Buddha’s teachings.

The Gelug school, founded by the great master Tsongkhapa, is known for its systematic doctrine and well-organized monastic community. As a representative of this lineage, Dragkar Jomo Gonpa provides a pure and peaceful environment for numerous female practitioners.

Built against the mountainside, the gonpa is surrounded by a tranquil landscape of rolling hills, blending harmoniously with the natural scenery. This reflects the traditional wisdom of Tibetan Buddhist temple site selection, offering practitioners a serene and peaceful setting for their spiritual pursuits.

This geographical environment not only creates ideal conditions for the nuns’ practice but also imbues the temple with an air of solemnity and mystery.

The gonpa’s overall architectural style is elegant and dignified, fully embodying the characteristics of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. It is equipped with facilities such as a scripture hall, meditation rooms, and dormitories for the nuns, providing comprehensive support for their practice and daily life.

The scale of the nunnery is striking, with a monastic community of 358 nuns—a rare size among nunneries in Kham.

These nuns adhere to strict monastic discipline, dedicating their daily lives to chanting scriptures, meditating, and studying Buddhist teachings, thereby preserving the Gelug lineage.

The gonpa serves not only as a spiritual home for the nuns but also as a source of spiritual solace for the local community.

During religious festivals or significant Dharma assemblies—such as the Tibetan New Year, Saga Dawa, and the Festival of Lights–the gonpa holds grand religious ceremonies. These events attract villagers from the surrounding areas to come and pay homage, participate in prayers, make offerings, and experience the solemnity and compassion of the Buddha’s teachings. This makes Dragkar Jomo Gonpa a vital link between the community and its faith.

The large number of nuns also reflects the deep devotion and commitment of Tibetan women in the Dawu region to Buddhist faith.

Thanks to the availability of roads and electricity, Dragkar Jomo Gonpa maintains its traditional religious atmosphere while incorporating the conveniences of modern life. This enhances the quality of life for the nuns and attracts more visitors to explore this unique nunnery.

As a religious landmark in Dawu County, Dragkar Jomo Gonpa showcases a distinctive charm through its adherence to Gelug teachings, its vast community of nuns, and its beautiful natural surroundings.

It stands not only as an important vessel of Tibetan Buddhist culture but also as a testament to the pursuit of liberation and wisdom by female practitioners on the eastern himalayan plateau.

Today, Dragkar Gonpa stands quietly atop Tongfoshan Mountain. As times evolve, it continues to uphold its Buddhist traditions while adapting to societal changes, guiding the faithful with compassion and wisdom, and spreading the teachings of the Buddha.

Nyintso Gonpa, also known as “Nyintso Tosam Dargyaling”, is a Gelug pa monastery of Tibetan Buddhism that located in Xianshui Town, Dawu (Tawu or Daofu) County.

It is one of the 13 Gelug Sect monasteries in Kham and was founded in 1662 AD (the first year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty).

Legend

Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a large lake named Nyintso in the location of the county town, meaning “a sea with fish.” Nyintso is the Tibetan transliteration of Nyitsuo

Buildings

The monastery is built on a mountain with a water view and has a terraced layout, surrounded by the residents of Dawu. The architecture is centered on the main hall, forming a stepped building complex. There are four mountain gates, with over 500 halls, pavilions, and monk rooms.

The back hall of the main hall is a “biankong” composed of 21 11-meter-high pillars. In the center is a 10-meter-high Jizhi-benba Buddha statue, with Atisha and Tsongkhapa and his three disciples on both sides. Adjacent to the biankong is the middle hall, which can accommodate 2,000 monks reciting sutras on Tibetan carpets. The hall has exquisitely carved large niches, with a 2-meter-high Tsongkhapa Buddha statue in the center and twelve other statues on both sides. In addition, there is a stupa of the recently deceased Pema Lingpa.

Sutra and Butter flower

The main hall of Nyintso Gonpa houses hundreds of volumes of the Kangyur and Tengyur. The interior is painted and carved in the Tibetan style, with auspicious treasures, holy monks, and various thangkas. The hall is magnificent, with thousands of Buddhist artifacts made of gold, silver, and bronze. The butter lamps are always lit.

The butter sculptures and butter flowers of Nyintso Gonpa are extremely famous, not only depicting the life stories of Shakyamuni and the deeds of the founding fathers such as Tsongkhapa, but also interweaving Buddhist tales such as “Journey to the West.” They are renowned throughout the Tibetan region for their unique style and exquisite sculpting techniques, earning the title of “a unique wonder in Kham.”

Religious Events

Every year on the 15th day of the 1st Tibetan month, Nyintso Monastery holds grand Buddhist rituals in the square in front of the main hall, erecting tall and colorful tents displaying large butter sculptures. The butter sculptures and butter flowers of Nyintso Monastery are renowned for their exquisite craftsmanship, rich content, and delicate sculpting. Their themes include not only the life stories of Shakyamuni Buddha and the deeds of the founding fathers like Tsongkhapa, but also interweave Buddhist tales such as “Journey to the West,” as well as folk legends, historical stories, and more. While butter flowers in other places and temples are mostly focused on lines, patterns, and floral designs with very few human figures, the butter flowers of Nyintso Monastery are predominantly centered around human figures, supplemented by flora and fauna, and are particularly remarkable for their vivid and lifelike expressions.

The butter flower festival on the 15th day of the 1st Tibetan month, the Jangkak Great Prayer Festival from September 22nd to 29th in the Tibetan calendar, and the An-que Great Prayer Festival from October 21st to 25th in the Tibetan calendar are all very grand, with the butter flower festival being the most famous. The butter flowers made at Nyintso Monastery are exquisitely shaped and brightly colored, representing the finest craftsmanship in Tibetan art and are renowned in Kham.

Tagtsa Monastery, formally known as “Tagtsa Auspicious Virtuous Dharma Monastery,” is located in the northeastern part of Tagtsa Town, the capital of Zoigê County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture.

The monastery was founded in 1663 AD by the 1^st Tagtsa Rinpoche, Chökyi Molang Lhundrup, and belongs to the Gelug pa of Tibetan Buddhism.

Overview

The monks of Tagtsa Monastery strictly uphold monastic discipline and diligently practice various Buddhist teachings, earning the monastery the reputation of being a sacred site of Chakrasamvara.

Before 1958, the monastery had direct administrative authority over the Zoigê and Washa tribes and indirect authority over the Doma tribe.

Historically, it was under the jurisdiction of Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse.

During the tenure of the 6th Tagtsa Rinpoche, Gesang Jigmey·Tenpé Gyaltsen, he attained a high level of spiritual realization, was known for his profound wisdom and analytical insight, and was well-versed in both Sutrayana and Tantrayana teachings. In 1956, he was granted the title of “Sharwa Chökyi” by Drepung Monastery in Lhasa.

Currently, the monastery operates three major Dratsangs (monastic colleges): the College of Dialectics (Shungten Academy), the Tantric College, and the Kalachakra College.

At present, the monastery has about 172 monks, including 50 Geshe scholars, and is home to two living Buddhas (tulkus).

The ancient buildings and cultural relics of the monastery are well preserved, and in 2004, it was designated as a Provincial-Level Key Cultural Heritage Protection Site by the Sichuan Provincial Government.

Architecture

The entire monastery is built along the mountainside, covering an area of 88,000 square meters, with a total building area of approximately 23,838 square meters.

The architectural style combines traditional Tibetan stone-wood structures with Han-style architectural elements such as beam-frame structures and gilded rooftops. This seamless integration of Tibetan and Han construction techniques and artistic styles results in a grand, uniquely designed monastery complex, characterized by its well-organized layout and distinct hierarchy of structures.

The main buildings include the assembly halls of the three major Dratsangs (monastic colleges), the Tagtsa Academy, the living quarters of the Tagtsa Rinpoches, the monastery’s Tibetan medical clinic, the Tsongkhapa Hall, the Guardian Deity Hall, the Vajrapani Protector Hall, the Kalachakra Stupa, the Bodhi Stupa, the Victory Stupa, the Demon-Subduing Stupa, as well as 86 meditation rooms for monks, a circumambulation hall with 900 large and small prayer wheels, a retirement home, a Dharma supply center, a dining hall, and the monastery administrative office building, all built in traditional Tibetan architectural style.

Tagtsa Academy

Tagtsa Academy is the only monastic academy of its kind in Kham. Located on the right front side of the monastery, it covers an area of 3,570 square meters and is a three-story building in traditional Tibetan architectural style.

Originally, it was a scripture hall within Tagtsa Monastery. Recognizing the limited educational resources among local nomadic and farming communities, as well as the uneven study opportunities for monks, the 7th Tagtsa Rinpoche, Garang Töpten·Rabshe Gyangtso, took five years to establish the first modern multifunctional monastery academy in Tibetan regions.

The academy was founded with the aim of promoting and preserving Tibetan culture and providing broader educational opportunities for the local population. This initiative has been warmly welcomed by Buddhist devotees.

The academy was opened to the public in 2006 and houses a collection of over 100,000 Tibetan and Chinese books. The Tibetan texts cover subjects such as religion, medicine, astronomy, calendrical sciences, and biographies.

The academy is divided into several functional areas: a library, an exhibition hall, a Grand Master Hall, a general administrative section, and a training center.

• The first floor houses the library, which includes a book storage hall, a reading room, and a lecture hall. The library holds over 100,000 books, including precious Buddhist scriptures in Tibetan and Chinese. The reading room accommodates nearly 100 people, while the lecture hall is equipped with modern educational tools such as computers and projectors for hosting academic lectures, seminars, and cultural training sessions.
• The second floor features the exhibition hall, which displays a variety of religious and cultural artifacts, including gold and bronze Buddha statues, wooden carvings, Bodhisattva images, tsa-tsas (small clay votive tablets), murals,thangkas, ritual instruments, as well as various musical instruments, handicrafts, and traditional household items.
• The third floor houses the Grand Master Hall, where over 100 statues of eminent Tibetan Buddhist masters and scholars who have significantly contributed to the preservation and dissemination of Tibetan culture and Buddhism are enshrined.

The main deity enshrined in the hall is Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug pa of Tibetan Buddhism, along with his two main disciples, Gyaltshab Je and Khedrup Je.

Tagtsa Monastery’s Academy provides a valuable cultural and spiritual resource for local nomadic and farming communities while serving as an important platform for Tibetan cultural research and preservation.

On March 5, 2013, the State Council of the People’s Republic of China designated Tagtsa Monastery as a National Key Cultural Heritage Protection Site under the seventh batch of listed sites.

Collections

The monastery houses a vast collection of sacred statues, including numerous Buddha and Bodhisattva images. Among its most treasured relics are a Prajñāpāramitā Sutra written in golden ink, a Buddha statue over 3,000 years old, a high lama’s skull inscribed with Tibetan letters, and a stone stele imprinted with the handprint of the 6^th Tagtsa Rinpoche.

Dharma Assemblies

Tagtsa Monastery holds numerous religious festivals and ceremonies throughout the year.

The main annual Buddhist events include:

• The Great Prayer Festival (Mönlam Chenmo) in the first lunar month, which features rituals such as the Buddha Unfolding Ceremony (Thangka Display), butter sculpture exhibitions, scripture recitations, and a Maitreya procession.
• The Nyungne Retreat in the fourth lunar month, a fasting retreat in which all monks observe a sixteen-day period of strict fasting and intense Avalokiteshvara practice while reciting the Six-Syllable Mantra.
• The Debate Festival in the seventh lunar month, also known as the “Festival of Teachings.”
• The Lamp-Lighting Festival in the tenth lunar month.
• The Calamity-Averting Rituals and the Dance of the Dharma Kings in the twelfth lunar month.

Seventh-Month Debate Festival

The Seventh-Month Debate Festival at Tagtsa Monastery, held during the seventh month of the Tibetan calendar, is a traditional monastic debate period known in Tibetan as “Denbé Rozha”, meaning “Seventh-Month Grand Debate”.

This debate session coincides with the monks’ summer retreat (Yarne), creating a period that is both intense and contemplative.

The festival begins on the 7th day of the seventh month and concludes on the 15th day, with a dedication ceremony on the 16th.

The primary focus of this period is Buddhist debate, with daily debates occurring in the morning and afternoon. The topics cover Buddhist Logic (Pramāṇa), Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā), Madhyamaka (Middle Way), Abhidharma (Treasury of Knowledge), and Vinaya (Monastic Discipline). On the 15th day, the debates culminate with a special session known as the “Turning of the Wheel of Dharma.”

Debate Format

• The debate takes the form of a one-on-one debate in front of the entire assembly in the main prayer hall,
• Each debate is a one-on-one session, lasting for the time it takes to burn a single incense stick (approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour).
• Participants are selected through a rotational system within their classes.
• The final selection is made at the Dorma Mani Dharma Assembly at the end of the third lunar month, where the Chief Dharma Teacher and Geshe Supervisors announce the chosen participants.
• In the following months, the debate participants undergo a preparation period. Besides reciting the required texts, their practice primarily focuses on debate topics.
• Selected monks spend over three months preparing for the debates, though the actual debate lasts only about 40 minutes.

Debate Process

The formal debate ritual spans three days:

1. Day One: Flower Gathering – Participants, accompanied by family and friends, gather fresh flowers from the monastery grounds and surrounding grasslands.
2. Day Two: Offering & Prayers – The two debate participants present their offerings, including fresh flowers, khatas (ceremonial scarves), butter lamps, and other ritual items, at the main prayer hall and various shrine rooms.
3. Day Three: The Grand Debate – The debate takes place in the monastery’s main hall, with monks gathered in complete silence, attentively observing the two participants. Fresh flowers are scattered across the hall, symbolizing blessings and auspiciousness.

This debate serves as a rigorous examination, testing not only the depth of their knowledge but also their mental resilience under high-pressure conditions.

Once the debate concludes, classmates, friends, and family members present khatas to the participants as a gesture of congratulations and respect for their successful completion of the debate.

Brief History

Tagtsa Monastery has undergone development and expansion under the leadership of seven generations of reincarnated lamas (Tagtsa Rinpoches).

• 1663 CE – When first established, Tagtsa Monastery was merely a small meditation retreat, with only a dozen resident monks.
• 1829 CE – The Fourth Tagtsa Rinpoche, Losang Tenzin Gyatso, along with his brother Solang Tashi, relocated the monastery from the confluence of the Heihe (Black River) and Rhe River to its current site. They constructed the Main Assembly Hall, the Prajnaparamita Shrine, and established the Upper Tantric College.
• 1960s – The monastery suffered severe destruction.
• May 1981 – Restoration of Tagtsa Monastery began.
• 1984 onwards – Large-scale restoration projects were carried out, including the reconstruction of major shrine halls and the sculpting of over 2,000 Buddhist statues.
• July 2, 2006 – The Tagtsa Academy was completed and officially opened.
• 2009 – The Main Buddha Hall (Mahavira Hall) was reconstructed.