Tagong, also known as “Lhagang” in Tibetan, means “a place that Bodhisattva likes”. It is a township under jurisdiction of Kangding City.
It was pure animal husbandry township, however, it is getting popular in recent year, hence, tourism gradullay become the pillar industry of Tagong
Location
Tagong Township borders Danba County to east, Jiulong County and Xinduqiao Town to south, Yajiang County to west, and Dawu County to north.
It is 115 kilometers away from prefectural cappital of Kangding, and 403 kilometers away from provincial capital of Chengdu.
Best time to travel
From May to October
Local climate
Plateau and mountain climate
Legend
According to legend that Princess Wencheng passed by here when she was on her way to Tibet to marry Tibet King Songtsen Gampo. All of sudden, the Buddha statue of Sakyamuni which Princess Wencheng carried with her began to talk and wishing to stay here. As a result, one copy of the Buddha statue was made and left it here. and at the site where the Buddha statue was left a monastery was built and had it named “Tagong Monastery” which was also regarded as “Little Jokhang Temple“, and the grassland where Tagong monastery was situataed was also named Tagong grassland
Most popular sites
Muya Gold Pagoda
This is a stupa built to commemorate the 10th Panchen Lama’s Abhisheka and Spread Dharma here.
It is located in the center of Tagong Grassland surrounded by eight sacred mountains, including Zhara Lhatse (Yala) Mountain, which is called “Gurutang” in Tibetan meaning “The Dojo of Padmasambhava”
This Pagoda is a mandala-style Buddhist temple building, divided into three floors and covering an area of 35 acres.
The first floor is Hall of Exotoric Buddhism, which enshrines the statues of eight bodhisattvas and eighteen arhats, including Buddha Shakyamuni, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and Manjusri Bodhisattva;
The second floor is Hall of Esoteric Buddhism (Tantra), which enshrines the statues of Padmasambhava and Tantra lineage masters. The exquisite thangkas on the walls of this Hall are painted with the biography of Shakyamuni and Padmasambhava, as well as Tibetan and Chiese “Tripitaka” and “the Four Sutras of Tantra”
The third floor is the Buddha’s body Pagoda, which contains the Tripitaka, five kinds of relics and collections, etc.
The three floors represent three treasures of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; and three Vehicles of Mahayana, Theravada, and Tantra
There is a 383-meter-long prayer corridor around the Muyajin Pagoda, equipped with 470 prayer wheels, and there are 4 pagoda-style towers around the gold pagoda, and each pagoda contains many small pagodas
There are 158 towers of eight kinds of achievement surrounding the golden pagoda, which contains a rich and complete collection such as the Tripitaka.
Zhara Lhatse Mountain
Also known as “Yala Mountain” in Chinese Pinyin, is one of the four great sacred mountains in Kham that recorded in Tibetan epic “The Biography of King Gesar”.
It is located at the junction of the southeast of Dawu County and Kangding City with altitude of 5820 meters above sea level.
Viewing Zhara Lhatse from Bamei Town, it is in the shape of a crown;
Viewing Zhara Lhatse from Tagong Grassland, it is in the shape of a lotus throne surrounded by petals;
Viewing Zhara Lhatse from due west, it is just as Maitreya Buddha sitting upright.
It is the sacred mountain where Huiyuan monastery and surrounding Tibetans worship.
Tagong monastery
Also known as “Lhagang Monastery” in Tibetan, is a Sakya pa monastery with a history of more than a thousand years.
There is a statue of Sakyamuni that is the same as the one in Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. Because of the extremely special and peculiar relationship between this two Sakyamuni statues, there is a saying that “anyone who wishes to go to Lhasa of Tibet but fails to do so, worshiping the statue of Sakyamuni in Tagong monastery will also have the same effect and merit”, so Tagong monastery is regarded and known as the “Little Jokhang Temple”.
The temple also cherishes the footprint on the stone left by Phagpa whom was National Advisior of Yuan Dynasty. In addition, there are a large number of precious Buddhist relics.
Major Puja of Tagong Monastery
From 1st to 15th day of 1st month of lunar calendar, Wishing Puja
From 1st to 10th day of 4th month of lunar calendar, Tathagata Dharma Puja
From 1st to 14th day of 6th month of lunar calendar, Dharma-protecting Puja
From 24th to 29th day of 12th month of lunar calendar, Dharma-protecting Puja
Population and ethnicity
As of 2017, the total population of Tagong Town is 10,070, and Tibetans account for 98% of total population. Other ethnic groups include Han, Miao, Zhuang and Mongolian.
How to get to Tagong
The nearest airport to Tagong is Kangding airport. It is about 75 kilometers from Tagong town which is on the northern Sichuan-Tibet Road.
There are many small buses between Kangding and Tagong every day, which cost usually 20 yuan/person one way, another option is to rent a local 7 seats mini bus, which costs 200 – 300 RMB one way trip
Kangding Airport
Contact: +86 836 282 7811
IATA Code: KGT
Altitude: 4,238 meters
Kangding Bus Station
Add : Qingge Ave
Contact : +86 836 282-2211
Altitude : 2,650 meters
Attn: There is no bus station in Tagong township, if you might need to take bus to return Kangding or to Bamei town, the best option is to stand by the road, thumbs up, to get a hitchhike or the minibus shall stop if there is a seat available
Distance from Tagong to
- Bamei Town: 30 kilometers, about 45 minutes’ drive
- Kangding City: 115 kilometers, about 3 hours’drive
- Chengdu : 403 kilometers, about 6.5 hours’ drive
- Danba County: 120 kilometers, about 2.2 hours’ drive
- Luhuo County: 180 kilometers, about 3.5 hours’ drive
- Garze County : 280 kilometers, about 5 hours drive
- Litang County : 230 kilometers, about 4.5 hours drive
Brief history
In 1952, Tagong Township was established
In 1966, it was changed to be a commune
In 1984, Tagong township was restored
