Nyingma Pa Monasteries

Larung Gar Monastery is also called Larung Gar Five Sciences Buddhist Academy. It is a Buddhist academy located in the Larung Gar valley, some 20 km east from Sertar County.

Brief

It was founded in 1980 in the uninhabited valley by Jigme Phuntsok, a lama of the Nyingma Pa tradition. The academy has grown substantially ever since. The highest population was in 2008, by then approximately 110,000 monks and nuns live and study in this valley;

Till 2015, it is still a “home” to over 35,000 monks and nuns. Nuns and monks are segregated by age and sex. Housing for monks and nuns are divided by a winding road cut the mountains that divides the “city” like monastery. Alcohol are strictly prohibited in this valley.

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Larung Gar Monastery’s Guesthouse is the largest one in this valley; It is recommended for its good location that provides full view of the valley and easy access to the monastery, whether to its vegetarian restaurant or the assembly hall
Be advised: Alcoholic beverages are strictly prohibited in this monastery

In addition, there are about 8 smaller guesthouses near the assembly hall, and another 11 guesthouses are built or being built at the valley entrance, all of which are with distance about 2-3 kilometers from the main hall

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How to get to there

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The easiest way and comfort way is to rent a vehicle from Chengdu to Larung Gar, the rental is vary in different season, usually for a 4 wheel drive vehicle, the one way rental is from RMB 1,500.00 – 4,000.00

The nearest airport is Garze Airport, which is about 286 kilomers via Luhuo County, or go straight to Serta through Donggu village of Garze county, The road is about 150 kilometers, but the road condition is too bad, a 6-7 hours drive may be required

Alternatively, the public transportation is also very popular. There are three buses leaving from Cha-Dian-Zi Bus Terminal of Chengdu to Serta Countyevery day. It departs separately at 06:10 am , 06:15 am and 06:20 am with rates of RMB 209.00 OR RMB 231.00, it takes about 14 hours’ drive

Additional info

• the bus ticket is quite popular, you may have to book online in advance, the ticket booking web: http://www.scqcp.com/
• The bus goes directly yo Serta County , so you will have to inform the driver that you go to Larung Gar, and need to get off the bus at the “The Road intersection of Buddhist Academy”
• Once you get off the bus at the “The Road intersection of Buddhist Academy”, you will need to take another local vehicle to cover the final 3.5 kilometers to reach at the Assembly hall of Larung Gar Five Sciences Buddhist Academy

Yarchen Gar Monastery is also known as Yaqing Temple (Ya Qing Si in Chinese), located in an isolated valley with altitude of 3,900 meters above sea level, in which the river Dzin-Chu flow through.

Brief

Yarchen Gar Monastery was founded by The abbot Achuk Rinpoche in 1985, and with lineage of the Nyingma Pa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

Yarchen Gar monastery becomes more popular in Pelyul County (Baiyu in Chinese), Kanze (or Garze) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in western Si-Chuan province.

The nuns

Currently, houses more than 10,000 Sangha, which is considered to be the largest concentration of nuns and monks in the Tibetan plateau after Larung Gar monastery. Most of the Sanghas are nuns. Among of those, about 7,000 nuns live in self constructed shacks on a 25 hectare flood plain near a river, and another 3000 around monks live on East side of the river in their own shanty town.

Location

This monastery is almost at the center between Kanze county or Pelyul County, slightly closer to Kanze; Approximately 850 km (about 3 days) drive from Chengdu which has direct international flight to Europe and North America.

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Accommodation

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There are 2 monastery run guesthouse near the meditation area by the river; In addition, there are another 9 small guesthouses being run by local villagers; conditions of those guesthouse is quite basic;

Room rates is usually from 30 per bed per night to 200-300 per room per night

How to get to there

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Yarchen Gar Monastery is seated on the grassland of A-cha village in Pelyul County. It is about 7 kilometers to the road intersection which leads 130 kilometers to Pelyul in the northwest, and 95 kilometers northeast to Garze (Kanze). There is no public transportation to this site.

The only possible way to get here is to rent local vehicle, and to get here;

The rental for a minibus (7 seats) usually costs RMB 400.00 – 500.00 per trip

Mindrolling Monastery was established in 1676 AD. It was mandatory for the monks to learn astronomy, the Tibetan lunar calendar, as well as Buddhist scriptures, calligraphy, rhetoric, and Traditional Tibetan medicine.

Brief

It was once damaged in 1718 by Mongols and was rebuilt during the reign of the 18^th century under the reign of the 7^th Dalai Lama. Then after it was damaged again in the middle of the 20^th century. Today, it is still under rebuilding.

Location

The monastery is located in Zhanang County about 100 kilometers southwest of Lhasa , and there is about 100,000 square meters large. The main hall is called “Zulukang”, and its murals are painted ferocious Buddha with multiple heads and arms, which is one major feature of Ningma pa. There are two main chapels on the third floor of this main hall, one of which is called “Lama Lhakhang Chapel”, and it houses the painting of the important Nyingma Pa Lamas。

Features

Mindrolling Monastery features on astronomical & calendar teaching , Tibetan medicine teaching , and being well-known across Tibet for the beautiful calligraphy. According to the tradition, some well educated monks are selected, and being assigned as the teacher in the monk’s academy that is attached with Potala Palace, while others are assigned to Menzikang whom are responsible for the research and the preparing the revision of “Tibetan calendar” for each year. The monks of this monastery are allowed to get marry and having kids and the succession of the monastery is not entirely limited to the relationship between father and son.

How to get to there

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Mindrolling monastery is about 15 kilometers southeast from Dranang county, it is recommended to rent a local vehicle that costs usually RMB 30.00 – 50.00 per person for a trip from Tsetang to here with one 7 seats minivan.

Distance from Mindrolling

• To Lhasa : 130 kilometers, about 2.5 hours’ drive
• To Tsetang: 50 kilometers, about 1 hours’ drive

The Four Major Sects of Tibetan Buddhism

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Shechen Monastery is one of the 6 Great Nyingma Pa monastery of Tibetan religion. It is located in north edge of Dege county, approximately 20 kilometers west from Dzogchen monastery.

Brief

It was founded in 1695 by Shechen Rabjam Tenpé Gyaltsen who was sent to Kham by Dalai Lama V. It is renowned for the authenticity to the teachings at shedra and the quality of its sacred arts. The location is at the valley, which is 10 kilometers to the road junction between Nangdo and Dzogchen. Shechen monastery has 160 satellite monasteries spread out in the Himalayan region.

How to get to there

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Shechen monastery is located in a open valley of Base village, which is about 20 kilometers from the road intersection that connects Manigango in the east and Sershul county in the west. It is about 80 km west from Manigango. The only pass between Manigango and Shechen monastery is the Hai-Zi La pass (4500 meters), and it takes nearly 3 hours’ drive to cover this distance;

Sershul is about 150 northwest of Shechen , which may take 3-4 hours to cover this distance, and Sershul county is about another 3.5 hours drive to Yushu airport, which has direct flight to major cities of China, such as Beijing, Xining….

Alternative, Garze Gesar airport will be the nearest airport to this site

There is no bus to reach Shechen monastery, the possible way that you can use are:

• To take the bus from Garze(Kanze) to Sershul, get off the bus at San Ca He, from which you will need to hitchhike for 20 kilometers to reach the valley entrance to Shechen monastery, which is about 300 meters westward at the bottom of the valley
• The simpler way is to rent one local minibus from Manigango to Shechen , which may cost RMB 700.00 – 800.00 for a round trip within a day

Katok monastery is one of the 6 great monasteries of the Nyingma Pa tradition of Tibetan religion. It is located on a top of mountain with altitude of 4200 meters above sea level in Baiyu county.

Brief

It was founded during the 12^th century and expanded in 1656. The original gompa fell into disrepair and was rebuilt in 1956.

Its reputation

The monastery had a reputation for fine scholarship and produced some of the greatest scholars in Tibetan history. In 1999, disciples of Kenpo Munsel and Kenpo Jamyang at Katok Monastery compiled a Katok edition of the ‘Kama’ (also ‘Karma’ ) in 120 volumes. It contains many rare Nyingma treaties on Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga that had never been seen outside of Tibet. Its mystery festival is held on June 10^th on the Tibetan Calendar each year.

The drive to here

The drive from Pelyul county to Katok monastery takes usually 3 hours, the driving distance is about 70km, the first 35km was to drive along Jinsha River, which is one of the tributaries of the Yangtze River, to the road intersection, where one dirt road leads into the valley, then another 25km around to reach He Po village, where to cross a bridge passing through the monastery’s attached guesthouse, then entering the mountains, the altitude starts to ascending. The last 20 km may take 1 hour or more to complete.

New Buildings

The new assembly halls, and guesthouse, and chapels are just accomplished in 2016, and the 2016 Katok festival was also the ceremony to activate those new buildings.

How to get to there

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Katok Monastery is located in the site almost the top of the mountain in Shu-Song village of Pelyul County. For centuries, this monastery has been isolated due to its difficult location; However, this monastery can be view from the air when taking the flight from Chengdu to Lhasa;

Nowadays, one jeep-able paved road has been build that you can reach this site with auto-mobile. The village where the monastery is located in is in a valley that is nearly 30 kilometers from the valley junction, which is about 40 kilometers to Pelyul county in the south, and 60 kilometers to Derge County in the north.

To rent a vehicle from Pelyul county to Katok monastery usually cost RMB 700.00 – 800.00 per trip;

Dzogchen Monastery is one of the six great monasteries of the Nyingma Pa of Tibetan Buddhism.

Location

It is located in the east Derge of Kanze (Garze) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Kham, Present, West Sichuan Province). Approximately 52 kilometers west from Manigango which is a wild-west small town in the northwest region of Kham.

Inheritance

It was founded by Pema Rigdzin, 1^st Dzogchen Rinpoche in 1675 AD and is thought to be the largest Nyingma monastery. It became renowned for its Shri Singha Shedra established by Gyalsé Shenpen Thayé, and is also known as the principle repository of the Konchok Chidu cycle of the Jangt. It was one of the most famous centers of sacred ritual dance, commonly known as “Lama Dance” OR “Monk Mask Dance“.

How to get to there

The monastery is by the road that connects Manigango and Sershul county. It is about 50 km west from Manigango, the only pass between this two sites is the 4,500 meters Hai-Zi La pass, it takes about 2.5 hours to cover this distance;

Sershul is about 170 northwest of Dzogchen, which may take 4 hours to cover this distance, and Sershul county is about another 3.5 hours drive to Yushu airport, which has direct flight to major cities of China, such as Beijing, Xining….

Alternative, Garze Gesar airport will be the nearest airport to this site when it is completed in the end of 2018

There is no bus to reach Dzogchen monastery, the possible way that you can use are:

• To take the bus from Garze (Kanze) to Sershul, get off the bus at Geng Da village, from which you will need to walk for about 1 kilometers to reach the assembly hall
• The simpler way is to rent one local minibus from Manigango to Dzogchen , which may cost RMB 600.00 – 700.00 for a round trip rental

Pelyul monastery is also known as “Palyul Monastery”, which means “auspicious land” in Tibetan Language. It is one of the 6 Great Nyingma pa monastery of Tibetan Buddhism.

Brief

It was built in 1665 by Lhachen Jampa Phuntsog, the first Dharma King of Dege Kingdom.

It is located on the northern side of Pelyul county on the top of mountain with an altitude of 3,100 meters, surrounded by mountains and forests, overlooking the township of Pelyul. An easy walk from the township can reach this monastery;

The monastery is the seat of the Nam Cho Terma of Terton Migyur Dorje. Penor Rinpoche was the 11^th Abbot whom returned to Pelyul for the first time after leaving Tibet. He visited the Pelyul Monastery and many of its branch monasteries. Thousands of local Tibetan came to received the blessings.

How to get to there

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Pelyul monastery is actually located on the north side of the hill in the center of Pelyul county, so the first thing is to get to Pelyul county first, then to this site.

The overland journey is via three routes that leading in or out Pelyul county:

• Pelyul to Garze (Kanze) : 230 kilometers, about 7 hours drive
• Pelyul to Derge : 100 kilometers, about 3.5 hours drive
• Pelyul to Batang : 200 kilometers, about 6.5 hours drive

Airport : There is no airport near Pelyul county. The closest one is Garze Gesar Airport, which is about 290 kilometers northeast.