Tashi Lhunpo | |
---|---|
Tibetan transcription(s) Tibetan: བཀྲ་ཤིས་ལྷུན་པོ་ Wylie transliteration: bkra shis lhun po Pronunciation in IPA: [ʈáɕil̥ympo] Official transcription (China): Zhaxi Lhünbo THL: Trashi Lhünpo Other transcriptions: Tashi Lhunpo, Tashi Lhümpo Chinese transcription(s) Traditional: 扎什倫布寺 Simplified: 扎什伦布寺 Pinyin: Zhāshí Lúnbù Sì | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Tibetan Buddhism |
Sect | Gelug |
Location | |
Location | Shigatse, Tibet Autonomous Region, China |
Country | China |
Geographic coordinates | 29°16′07″N88°52′12″E / 29.26861°N 88.869940°E |
Architecture | |
Founder | 1st Dalai Lama |
Tashi Lhunpo Monastery (Tibetan : བཀྲ་ཤིས་ལྷུན་པོ་) is an historically and culturally important monastery in Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet. Founded in 1447 by the 1st Dalai Lama, [1] it is the traditional monastic seat of the Panchen Lama. [2]
The monastery was sacked in 1791, when the Gorkha Kingdom invaded Tibet and captured Shigatse. A combined Tibetan and Chinese army drove them back as far as the outskirts of Kathmandu, [3] when they were forced to agree to keep the peace in the future, pay tribute every five years, and return what they had looted from Tashi Lhunpo. [4]
The monastery is the traditional seat of successive Panchen Lamas, the second highest ranking tulku lineage in the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The "Tashi" or Panchen Lama had temporal power over three small districts, though not over the town of Shigatse itself, which was administered by a dzongpön (prefect) appointed from Lhasa. [5]
The monastery is located on a hill in the center of Shigatse. Pilgrims circumambulate the monastery on the lingkhor (sacred path) outside the walls.
The full name in Tibetan of the monastery means "all fortune and happiness gathered here" or "heap of glory". Captain Samuel Turner, a British officer with the East India Company who visited the monastery in the late 18th century, described it in the following terms:
If the magnificence of the place was to be increased by any external cause, none could more superbly have adorned its numerous gilded canopies and turrets than the sun rising in full splendour directly opposite. It presented a view wonderfully beautiful and brilliant; the effect was little short of magic, and it made an impression which no time will ever efface from my mind. [6]
Although two-thirds of the buildings were destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, they were mainly the residences for the 4,000 monks. [7] [8] In 1966 the Red Guards led a crowd to break statues, burn scriptures, and open the stupas containing the relics of the 5th to 9th Panchen Lamas, and throw them in the river. Some of those remains were saved by locals, and in 1985, Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama, began the construction of a new stupa to house them and honour his predecessors. It was finally consecrated on 22 January 1989, just six days before he died aged fifty-one at Tashi Lhunpo. "It was as if he was saying now he could rest." [9]
The monastery was founded in 1447 CE by Gedun Drub, the disciple of the famous Buddhist philosopher Je Tsongkhapa and later named the First Dalai Lama. [10] The construction was financed by donations from local nobles. [11]
Later Lobsang Chökyi Gyalsten — the Fourth Panchen Lama and the first Panchen Lama to be recognized as such by the rulers of Mongolia — made major expansions to the monastery. [12] Since then, all Panchen Lamas have resided at Tashi Lhunpo, and have managed to expand it gradually.
The 11th Panchen Lama Choekyi Gyalpo, recognized by the Chinese government through the Golden Urn, was enthroned under Chinese supervision at the monastery in November/December 1995. [13]
The tallest and largest bronze Jampa Buddha statue in the world is in Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. [14] Jampa Buddha in Tibetan Buddhism is the Maitreya Buddha in Chinese Buddhism, which in charge of the future. This Buddha statue is 26.2 meters high. Squatting on the 3.5-meter-high lotus seat, he overlooks the entire monastery. The Buddha statue is decorated with more than 1,400 precious ornaments such as pearls, diamonds and corals. According to records, the Buddha statue was cast by 110 craftsmen in four years.
One of its branch monasteries was the famous Drongtse Monastery, 14 km north of Tsechen. [15]
In 1972, the another monastery was built in Bylakuppe, India, by the Tibetan population in exile. [16]
The 1st Dalai Lama, Gedun Drupa was a student of Je Tsongkhapa, and became his first Khenpo (Abbott) at Ganden Monastery. He also founded Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigaste. He was posthumously awarded the spiritual title of Dalai Lama.
The Panchen Lama is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high lamas, he is in charge of seeking out the next Dalai Lama. Panchen is a portmanteau of Pandita and Chenpo, meaning "great scholar".
Samzhubzê District is a district in the Tibet Autonomous Region of the China, and the administrative center of the prefecture-level city of Shigatse. Prior to 2014 it was known as the county-level city of Shigatse. It was the ancient capital of Ü-Tsang province and is the second largest city in Tibet with an estimated population of 117,000 in 2013. Samzhubzê is located at the confluence of the Yarlung Tsangpo River and the Nyang River, about 250 km (160 mi) southwest of Lhasa and 90 km (56 mi) northwest of Gyantse, at an altitude of 3,840 metres (12,600 ft).
Chökyi Gyalpo, also referred to by his secular name Gyaincain Norbu or Gyaltsen Norbu, is considered the 11th Panchen Lama by the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC). He is also the vice president of the Buddhist Association of China. Gyalpo is considered by critics to be a proxy of the Chinese government.
Thubten Choekyi Nyima (1883–1937), often referred to as Choekyi Nyima, was the ninth Panchen Lama of Tibet.
Lobsang Trinley Lhündrub Chökyi Gyaltsen was the tenth Panchen Lama, officially the 10th Panchen Erdeni, of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. According to Tibetan Buddhism, Panchen Lamas are living emanations of the buddha Amitabha. He was often referred to simply as Choekyi Gyaltsen.
Gyantse, officially Gyangzê Town, is a town located in Gyantse County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It was historically considered the third largest and most prominent town in the Tibet region, but there are now at least ten larger Tibetan cities.
Lobsang Yeshe (1663–1737) was the fifth Panchen Lama of Tibet.
The Palcho Monastery or Pelkor Chode Monastery or Shekar Gyantse is the main monastery in the Nyangchu river valley in Gyantse, Gyantse County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. The monastery precinct is a complex of structures which, apart from the Tsuklakhang Monastery, also includes its Kumbum, believed to be the largest such structure in Tibet, that is most notable for its 108 chapels in its several floors and the old Dzong or fort.
The 11th Panchen Lama controversy centers on the 29 year-long enforced disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and on the recognition of the 11th Kunsik Panchen Lama. The Panchen Lama is considered the second most important spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama. Following the death of the 10th Panchen Lama, the 14th Dalai Lama recognized Gedhun Choekyi Nyima in 1995. Three days later, the People's Republic of China (PRC) abducted the Panchen Lama and his family. Months later, the PRC chose Gyaincain Norbu as its proxy Panchen Lama. During the traditional search process led by Chadrel Rinpoche, he indicated to the Dalai Lama that all signs pointed to Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, while the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas recognize each other's incarnations. The PRC had established its own search committee, which included Chatral Rinpoche and other monks, and wanted to use a lottery system referred to as the Golden Urn. Neither Gedhun Choekyi Nyima nor his family have been seen since the abduction. Chatral Rinpoche was also arrested by Chinese authorities the day of the abduction.
Lobsang Palden Yeshe (1738–1780) was the sixth Panchen Lama of Tashilhunpo Monastery in Tibet. He was the elder stepbrother of the 10th Shamarpa, Mipam Chödrup Gyamtso (1742–1793).
This is a list of topics related to Tibet.
Kumbum Monastery, also called Ta'er Temple, is a Tibetan gompa in Lusar, Huangzhong County, Xining, Qinghai, China. It was founded in 1583 in a narrow valley close to the village of Lusar in the historical Tibetan region of Amdo. Its superior monastery is Drepung Monastery, immediately to the west of Lhasa. It is ranked in importance as second only to Lhasa.
Drongtse Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery was formerly one of the most important Gelug monasteries in Tsang, Tibet. There was also a chorten there.
The Samding Dorje Phagmo is the highest female incarnation in Tibet and the third highest-ranking person in the hierarchy after the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. She was listed among the highest-ranking reincarnations at the time of the 5th Dalai Lama, recognized by the Tibetan government and acknowledged by the emperors of Qing China. In her first incarnation, as Chökyi Drönma, she was the student and consort of the famous polymath Thang Tong Gyalpo, who first identified her as an emanation of Vajravārāhī, and the consort of Bodong Panchen. The seat of the Samding Dorje Phagmo is at Samding Monastery, in Tibet.
The Yarlung Valley is formed by Yarlung Chu, a tributary of the Tsangpo River in the Shannan Prefecture in the Tibet region of China. It refers especially to the district where Yarlung Chu joins with the Chongye River, and broadens out into a large plain about 2 km wide, before it flows into the Tsangpo River. It is situated in Nedong District of the Shannan Prefecture and includes the capital of the prefecture, Tsetang, one of Tibet's largest cities, 183 km southeast of Lhasa.
Taklung Monastery, Taklung stag-lung, Taklung Yarthang Monastery, Pel Taklug Tang or Taklung or Taglung Gompa is a Kagyu Buddhist monastery about 120 km north of Lhasa.
The Shigatse Dzong, also known as Samdruptse Dzong, is located in Shigatse, Tibet, China. It is spelt Rikaze Dzong.
Changkya Rölpé Dorjé (1717-1786) was a principal Tibetan Buddhist teacher in the Qing court, a close associate of the Qianlong Emperor of China, and an important intermediary between the imperial court and Inner Asia. He also oversaw the translation of the Tibetan Buddhist canon into Classical Mongolian and Manchu. He also was involved in the compilation of a quadrilingual set and supervised the translation from Chinese into Manchurian, Mongolian and Tibetan of the entire Śūraṅgama Sūtra completed in 1763; the Tibetan translation is currently preserved in a supplement to the Narthang Kangyur.
Chadrel Rinpoche was born in 1939 in Shigatse, Tibet. He was also known formally as Jadrel Jampa Thinley Rinpoche, and was a Gelug school Rinpoche of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1954, he joined the Tashilhunpo Monastery at the age of 15, and was forced to work in a labor camp during the Cultural Revolution in Tibet. He was a close student of Choekyi Gyaltsen, the 10th Panchen Lama. Later Chadrel Rinpoche became the head Khenpo of the Tashilhunpo Monastery. In 1989, Chadrel Rinpoche was appointed to lead the Chinese efforts to locate the reincarnated 11th Panchen Lama. In February 1995 while in Beijing, he refused plans to substitute the reincarnate Gedhun Choekyi Nyima with another boy. As a result, he was arrested after Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was formally recognized, then he was continually imprisoned and held under house arrest until his reported suspicious death from poisoning in 2011. He was also a Member of the 7th and 8th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).