Gongkar Chö Monastery
| Gongkar Chö Monastery Gonkar Dorjé Monastery |
|
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 29°17′52″N 90°59′4″E / 29.29778°N 90.98444°ECoordinates: 29°17′52″N 90°59′4″E / 29.29778°N 90.98444°E |
| Monastery information | |
| Location | Gonggar County, Lhoka Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region |
| Founded by | Dorje Chang Kunga Namgyal (1432–1496). |
| Date renovated | March 2003 |
| Type | Tibetan Buddhist |
| Sect | Zung branch |
| Lineage | Sakya |
| Head Lama | Gongkar Dorje Dhenpa Rinpoche |
| Number of monks | 30 |
| Architecture | Tibetan |
The Gongkar Chö Monastery or Gongkar Dorjé Monastery (Wylie: gong dkar chos sde, gong dkar rdo rje gdan) is located in Gonggar County, Lhoka Province, Tibet Autonomous Region near Gonggar Dzong and Lhasa Gonggar Airport.
The monastery, which was built in 1464, belongs to the Zung branch of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. It is 400 metres (1,300 ft) south of the Lhasa road. The principal founder of the Dzongpa Tradition was Dorje Chang Kunga Namgyal (1432–1496). The main monastery of the Dzongpa is Gongkar Chode just south-west of Lhasa on the south side of the Tsangpo River.
In the 16th century, the monastery was beautified with wall paintings of the Khyenri school of Tibetan paintings done by the well-known artist of the times, Jamyang Khyentse Wangchuk (b.1524).
The Gongkar Dorjden or the Gongkar Monastery is located on a hill top cliff in the Gongkar valley on the southern side of the Tsangpo River, on the Lhasa Gonggar Airport road to the south of the main road, 75 kilometres (47 mi) from Lhasa.
The history of the monastery is traced to the first visit of Jowo-je Palden Atisha, (980–1054 CE), Buddhist teacher from the Pala Empire. During his first visit, Atisha had stopped close to the location of the monastery, prostrated in the direction of the monastery and prophesised that one day a monastery would be built at this location, which would become famous. He had marked the location with a mound of white pebbles in the form of a Mandala (this mound got destroyed during the Cultural Revolution). The Dzong was under the stewardship of Dorje-denpa Kun-ga Namgyal also known as Dorje Chang Kunga Namgyal (1432–1496), who was a well-known Guru who had received training in the Sutra, Tantra and Tantric rituals from masters of all traditions. He was the holder of the Dzongpa tradition of the Sakyapa school of Tibetan Buddhism. When he was sitting on the roof of his house in the Gongkar Dzong, while reciting the religious scripture, the Vajradhatu, a leaf of the scripture was flown away by wind and it fell at a location where the present Gongkar Choede Monastery is located.
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