Nyintso Gonpa

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.