Tayul Monastery

Tayul Monastery
Religion
Affiliation	Tibetan Buddhism
Sect	Drugpa
Location
Location	Satingri, Lahul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India
Country	India
	Location within India
Geographic coordinates	32°33′42″N77°4′23″E / 32.56167°N 77.07306°E Coordinates: 32°33′42″N77°4′23″E / 32.56167°N 77.07306°E
Architecture
Founder	Serzang Richen

Last updated October 01, 2019

Tayul Monastery or Tayul Gompa is a Buddhist monastery in the Bhaga Valley of Lahul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, northern India. It is located 6 kilometres from Keylong above the village of Satingri.

Buddhism is the world's fourth-largest religion with over 520 million followers, or over 7% of the global population, known as Buddhists. Buddhism encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on original teachings attributed to the Buddha and resulting interpreted philosophies. Buddhism originated in ancient India as a Sramana tradition sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, spreading through much of Asia. Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognised by scholars: Theravada and Mahayana.

Himachal Pradesh is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is bordered by union territory of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west, Haryana on the southwest, Uttarakhand on the southeast, and Tibet on the east. At its southernmost point, it also touches the state of Uttar Pradesh. The state's name was coined by acharya Diwakar Dutt Sharma, one of the state's eminent Sanskrit scholars.

India is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.

History

Tayul gonpa written in Tibetan as Ta - Yul means "chosen place".^[1]

The Drugpa (Dogpa) Lama, Serzang Richen of the Kham region of Tibet established the Tayul Monastery in the 17th century. Legend has it that Serzang, while making the meritorious circumambulation of the holy peak Drilburi, spotted a small glade in the juniper forest above Kyor and Tashikyang villages on the opposite side of the valley and told his fellow pilgrims, "Look, over there, that is a suitable and auspicious place for a gompa".^[1]

The Drukpa Lineage, or simply Drukpa, sometimes called either Dugpa or "Red Hat sect" in older sources, is a branch of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Kagyu school is one of the Sarma or "New Translations" schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

Kham is a historical region of Tibet covering a land area largely divided between present-day Tibet Autonomous Region and Sichuan, with smaller portions located within Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan provinces of China. During the Republic of China's rule over mainland China (1911–1949), most of the region was administratively part of Hsikang. It held the status of "special administrative district" until 1939, when it became an official Chinese province. Its provincial status was nominal and without much cohesion, like most of China's territory during the time of Japanese invasion and civil war. The natives of the Kham region are called Khampas.

Structure

The monastery was then constructed and houses a hundred million mani wheel and would apparently turn by itself on special Buddhist occasions. According to the lamas of Tayul, this wheel last turned on its own in 1986.

Tayul has 12 foot statue of Padmasambhava and his two materialisations, Sighmukha and Vijravarashi and is well decorated with elaborate murals.^[2] The library contains the Buddhist scriptures, the Kangyur.

Padmasambhava, also known as Guru Rinpoche, was an 8th-century Buddhist master from the Indian subcontinent. Although there was a historical Padmasambhava, little is known of him apart from helping the construction of the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet at Samye, at the behest of Trisong Detsen, and shortly thereafter leaving Tibet due to court intrigues.

The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, comprising the Kangyur or Kanjur and the Tengyur or Tanjur (Tengyur).

It was renovated avbout 100 years after establishment by a Ladakhi Tulku, Tashi Tanphel of Tagna Monastery who renovated it and extended the building.^[1] He also decorated the walls with murals.

Footnotes

1 2 3 "Lahaul and Spiti Tourism:Monasteries". District Lahaul & Spiti. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2009.
↑ Indian Horizons

Related Research Articles

Lahaul and Spiti district District of Himachal Pradesh in India

The Lahaul and Spiti district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh consists of the two formerly separate districts of Lahaul and Spiti. The present administrative centre is Keylong in Lahaul. Before the two districts were merged, Kardang was the capital of Lahaul, and Dhankar the capital of Spiti. The district was formed in 1960, and is the fourth least populous district in India.

Pin Valley National Park is a National park of India located within the Lahaul and Spiti district, in the state of Himachal Pradesh, in far Northern India.

Dhankar Gompa is a village and also a Gompa, a Buddhist temple in the district of Lahaul and Spiti in India. It is situated at an elevation of 3,894 metres in the Spiti Valley above Dhankar Village, between the towns of Kaza and Tabo. The complex is built on a 1000-foot (300-metre) high spur overlooking the confluence of the Spiti and Pin Rivers - one of the world's most spectacular settings for a gompa. Dhang or dang means cliff, and kar or khar means fort. Hence Dhangkar means fort on a cliff.

Spiti Valley is a cold desert mountain valley located high in the Himalayas in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tibet and India.

Thikse Gompa or Thikse Monastery is a gompa affiliated with the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It is located on top of a hill in Thiksey approximately 19 kilometres (12 mi) east of Leh in Ladakh, India. It is noted for its resemblance to the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet and is the largest gompa in central Ladakh, notably containing a separate set of buildings for female renunciates that has been the source of significant recent building and reorganisation.

Kardang is a village in the Lahaul region of Himachal Pradesh, India. It is 5 km away from Keylong. It was once the capital of Lahaul and has the biggest monastery of the area, situated on the left bank of the river Bhaga. The Drukpa Kagyu Kardang Monastery was founded about 900 years ago and was renovated by Lama Norbu in 1912. Gozzangwa Monastery is also nearby.

Kye Gompa is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located on top of a hill at an altitude of 4,166 metres (13,668 ft) above sea level, close to the Spiti River, in the Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh, Lahaul and Spiti district, India.

The town of Kaza or Kaze is the subdivisional headquarters of the remote Spiti Valley in the western Himalayas in the Lahaul and Spiti district of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Spiti is a high altitude or cold desert having close similarities to the neighbouring Tibet and Ladakh regions in terms of terrain, climate and the Buddhist culture. Kaza, situated along the Spiti River at an elevation of 3,650 metres (11,980 ft) above mean sea level, is the largest township and commercial center of the Spiti valley.

Karsha Monastery or Karsha Gompa is a Buddhist monastery in the Padum Valley of the Zanskar region of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in northern India. The Doda River flows past the monastery from its source at the Drang Drung glacier of the Pensi La. It was founded by the translator, Phagspa Shesrab. The monastery, also known by the name "Karsha Chamspaling’, was founded by Phagspa Shesrab, under the Gelugpa Order or the Yellow Hat Order.

Tabo Monastery is located in the Tabo village of Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, northern India. It was founded in 996 CE in the Tibetan year of the Fire Ape by the Tibetan Buddhist lotsawa (translator) Rinchen Zangpo, on behalf of the king of western Himalayan Kingdom of Guge, Yeshe-Ö. Tabo is noted for being the oldest continuously operating Buddhist enclave in both India and the Himalayas. A large number of frescoes displayed on its walls depict tales from the Buddhist pantheon. There are many priceless collections of thankas, manuscripts, well-preserved statues, frescos and extensive murals which cover almost every wall. The monastery is in need of refurbishing as the wooden structures are aging and the thanka scroll paintings are fading. After the earthquake of 1975, the monastery was rebuilt, and in 1983 a new Du-kang or Assembly Hall was constructed. It is here that the 14th Dalai Lama held the Kalachakra ceremonies in 1983 and 1996. The monastery is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as a national historic treasure of India.

The Tangyud Monastery or Sa-skya-gong-mig Gompa at the village of Komic, two km southeast of Hikkim in the Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh, India, is built like a fortified castle on the edge of a deep canyon, with massive slanted mud walls and battlements with vertical red ochre and white vertical stripes which make them look much taller than they really are. It is one of the highest altitude gompas (monasteries) in India, at an altitude of 4,520 metres (14,830 ft), on the edge of a deep canyon and overlooking the town of Kaza, Spiti 4 km to the west. It is located on the periphery of the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary.

Kardang Monastery or Gompa is a famous Drukpa Lineage monastery, and is the most important monastery the Lahaul valley, India. The associated village of Kardang was once the capital of Lahaul.

Gandhola Monastery is about 18 kilometres (11 mi) before Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district, Himachal Pradesh, India on the road from Manali, Himachal Pradesh. It is located on a hill above Tupchiling Village at the sacred junction of the Chandra and Bhaga rivers, which together form the Chandrabhaga or Chenab River. The village is at 3,160 m (10,370 ft) and is famous for its 7-storey tower fort.

Lhalung Monastery, Lhalun Monastery or Lalung Monastery, was one of the earliest monasteries founded in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India, by the great Tibetan Buddhist lotswa (translator) Rinchen Zangpo, the king of western Himalayan Kingdom of Guge during the late 10th century CE. The altitude of the neighbouring village of Lhalun is 3,658 metres.

Gemur Monastery is a Buddhist monastery, 600 to 700 yards above the village of Gemur, Lahaul Spiti district, Himachal Pradesh, northern India. It is located 18 kilometres from keylong in 'bhaga valley'Lahaul. The monastery is around 700 years old.

Shashur or Sashur Monastery is a Buddhist monastery of the Drugpa sect in Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, northern India. It is located 137 kilometres from Manali. Sha-shur means "blue pines" in the local dialect, as patches of blue pine can be seen around the monastery.

Kungri Monastery is a Buddhist monastery of the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism in the Pin Valley in Lahul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, northern India.

Buddhism in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh has been a long recorded practice. The spread of Buddhism in the region has occurred intermediately throughout its history. Starting in the 3rd century BCE, Buddhism was propagated by the Maurya Empire under the reign of Ashoka. The region would remain an important center for Buddhism under the Kushan Empire and a it's vassals. Over the centuries the following of Buddhism has greatly fluctuated. Yet by experiencing revivals and migrations, Buddhism continued to be rooted in the region, particularly in the Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur valleys.

Dhankar Village is a large high village which used to be the capital of the Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh, India. It is at an altitude of 3,894 metres above sea level, between the towns of Tabo and Kaza, Himachal Pradesh. Above the village sits the local monastery - the Dhankar Gompa.Total number of houses are 68.

Dankhar the old capital of Spiti is a large village built on a spur or bluff which stands out into the main valley and ends in a precipice. It rises 300 m above the river. It stands above Sichling on the left bank of the Spiti river which is wide here. There may perhaps once have been a fort here, but no trace of it was seen except for what seemed to be a large house on the top of the hill. Dankhar was capital of Spiti for many years till needs of the modern day saw the capital shifted to Kaja Kaza. Situated on the ridge it would have been very easy to defend this place. I was told stories about how the lamas sat in the monastery or the upper houses throwing stones at invaders. Life was very simple before the days of bullets! The whole place is very picturesque. As I approached it, I could see its corridors cut in the rock face leading to various chambers which are either used as store rooms for the villagers or as rest-houses for the travellers. There are seven tiers of houses built along the slope.. .. Now it is connected by a rough, motorable road and is 27 km from Kaja. Towards the west of it is the Pin Valley.

Tinno is a village in Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. It is around 14 km from Keylong, which is district headquarters. The village is along Manali-Leh Highway on left bank of Bhaga river, which originates from Suraj Taal lake. It has a total of 29 families residing in the village. The Tinno village has a population of 125, of which 59 are males while 66 are females as per Population Census 2011. In 2011, the literacy rate of Tinno village was 82.35%. In Tinno male literacy stands at 87.72% while female literacy rate was 77.42%. As per constitution of India and Panchyati Raaj Act, Tinno village is administrated by a Sarpanch who is elected representative of village.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[las-1] 1 2 3 "Lahaul and Spiti Tourism:Monasteries". District Lahaul & Spiti. Archived from the original on 7 April 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2009.

[2] Indian Horizons