Trapchi Monastery

Also known as “Trapchi Lhamo Monastery” or “Trapchi Lakhang“

It is located on Trapchi East Road in the northern suburbs of Lhasa City. This is a Gelug Pa monastery of Tibetan Buddhism.

The name “Trapchi” originates from the fact that when the monastery was first built, there were only four monks. In Tibetan, monks are called “Traba,” and “Chi” is the Tibetan word for the number “four”.

Since there were only four lamas when it was first established, the monastery was named “Trapchi Gompa” (meaning “Monastery of Four Lamas”).

Trapchi Monastery is a subordinate monastery of Sera Monastery, with monks dispatched from Sera Monastery to serve in rotation.

Origin

The monastery is also known as “lang-chen-Ri” (Elephant Mountain) due to a mountain behind it that resembles an elephant.

At the foot of the mountain, there is a plaza that must be passed to reach the sky burial platform. According to Tibetan customs, lamas are invited to recite scriptures to bless the deceased during sky burials. However, there were no monasteries nearby. Thus, during the Qianlong period （AD 1736 – AD 1796） of the Qing Dynasty, a lama from Sera Monastery named “Jamyang Mulang” established a small two-story monastery here. In front of the monastery, there is a plaza named “Tashi Tang,” which served as a training ground for Tibetan and Chinese soldiers, with nearby barracks. Consequently, many Qing dynasty’s soldiers came to the monastery to burn incense and pray.

Inside the monastery, there are numerous Chinese plaques from the Qing Dynasty, and a bronze bell inscribed with both Chinese and Tibetan characters from the Daoguang period （AD 1821 – AD 1850）of the Qing Dynasty.

Brief

Trapchi Monastery is neither exclusively dedicated to the God of Wealth nor the only monastery in Lhasa that enshrines this deity.

Trapchi Monastery was initially built to offer safety and peace for visitors. However, because many of those coming to Lhasa were businesspeople, they found their prayers at Trapchi Monastery to be especially effective, particularly in terms of financial success. Consequently, the monastery gradually became known as the God of Wealth monastery.

According to legend, the “Trapchi Lhamo Goddess” is considered a worldly protector deity. In Tibetan Buddhism’s classification of protector deities, worldly protector deities are those who have not yet transcended the human realm and still need to continually accumulate merit. They remain connected to the world and often take human form to interact with people.

In contrast, “transcendent protector deities” in Tibetan Buddhism, such as the Goddess of Fortune (Palden Lhamo) and the Yamantaka, are considered higher-level deities who have escaped the suffering of samsara (the cycle of rebirth).

According to traditional customs, Monday is for worshipping the God of Wealth, Wednesday for safety, and Friday for health.

Nowadays, those who come to Trapchi Monastery to worship, whether Chinese Han or Tibetan, mostly do so to seek wealth.

Since Trapchi Lhamo and the earth deities are worldly protectors, Buddhists generally do not bow to their images but only make offerings, praying for the fulfillment of worldly desires.

Worshippers buy offerings at the entrance, place mulberry branches in the incense burner outside the main hall of this monastery, and then enter the hall with white wine and khatas (ceremonial scarves).

Those praying to Trapchi Lhamo hand the wine to the responsible monk in front of her statue. The monk pours the wine into a special vessel. The worshippers then present khatas and offerings to the statue of Trapchi Lhamo and touch their foreheads to her image in prayer.

The Legend of Trapchi Lhamo

The “God of Wealth” at Trapchi Monastery is called “Trapchi Lhamo” in Tibetan. Her statue is enshrined in the main hall of the monastery

It is said that “Trapchi Lhamo” is not originally a protector deity of Tibet. Instead, she is an earthly incarnation of the protector deity of Lhasa, “Goddess of Fortune (Palden Lhamo).” Initially from the Cinese-Han regions, and there are various legends about how she came to Tibet.

According to Tibetan lore, she was mistreated by her sisters due to her beauty. Her sisters cut off her feet, which she replaced with chicken feet. She requested the second incarnation of Jichang Ritro Living Buddha to take her back to Tibet.

One version of the legend states that the Living Buddha refused, so she transformed into a bird and followed him back to Tibet. Another version says she was poisoned by her sisters, and her spirit followed the second Jichang Ritro Living Buddha back to Tibet.

Other scholars suggest she arrived in Lhasa with a master from Sera Monastery who had traveled to the Chinese – Han regions (some say she came with Princess Wencheng). She was then enshrined at Trapchi Monastery.

When she first arrived in Tibet, many local female ghost deities were jealous of her beauty and poisoned her, cutting off her legs. Trapchi Lhamo used her divine powers to force the poison to her tongue and attached chicken feet to replace her severed legs. Since then, the local ghost deities have not dared to harm her.

According to this tale, the statue of Trapchi Lhamo has wide-open eyes, a black face, and a tongue that protrudes from her mouth due to the swelling from the poison. Her legs are replaced by chicken feet.

Perhaps because she came from inland of China, outsiders in Lhasa regard her as their protector. Many of these outsiders are businesspeople, so they pray for business success, thus transforming Trapchi Lhamo into a deity of wealth.

Tibetans preparing to travel outside Lhasa for business or studies also pray to her for protection, considering her an outsider deity herself.

Belief

Trapchi Monastery was primarily venerated by Han Chinese in Lhasa and Qing soldiers stationed in Tibet. Many who sought financial fortune used to pray and make offerings at a small Gelugpa temple (Muru Ningba) in Sera Dago Alley.

The main hall of Trapchi Monastery houses the Buddha statue and statues of revered masters, similar to other Gelugpa monasteries. However, upon entering, there is a statue of Trapchi Lhamo on the left and a statue of the Earth God on the right.

This layout is also common in other Tibetan monasteries. For example, the small Gelugpa temple in Sera Dago Alley, north of Barkhor Street, has a central altar with statues of Kasyapa Buddha and the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, flanked by statues of Dzambhala, Vaisravana, Vasudhara, and other deities associated with wealth.

Temples of other schools of Tibetan Buddhism also often enshrine various wealth deities.

The scriptures recited by monks at Trapchi Monastery are similar to those at Sera Monastery and other Gelugpa monasteries. Many worshippers come here specifically to request the monks to chant prayers for them.

On the upper floor of the monastery, there is a service for divination by the Goddess of Fortune (Palden Lhamo). Devotees can make offerings according to their means and pray for guidance, after which they draw a divination slip and have it interpreted by the responsible monk.