Chagri Dorjeden Monastery, also called Cheri Monastery, is a

Buddhist monastery Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and g ...

in Bhutan established in 1620 by Ngawang Namgyal, 1st Zhabdrung Rinpoche, the founder of the Bhutanese state. The monastery, which is now a major teaching and retreat center of the Southern Drukpa Lineage of the

Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...

school of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in maj ...

, is located at the northern end of the Thimphu Valley about from the capital. It sits on a hill above the end of the road at Dodeyna and it takes about an hour to walk up the steep hill to reach the monastery from there. According to Bhutanese religious histories, the place was first visited by

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

in the 8th century. In the 13th century it was visited by Phajo Drugom Zhigpo the Tibetan Lama who first established the Drukpa Kagyu tradition in Bhutan. Johnsingh (2005) describes the beauty of the place and the occurrence of goral there. Cheri Goemba 3

Chagri Dorjeden was the first monastery established in Bhutan by Ngawang Namgyal in 1620 when he was 27 years old. The Zhabdrung spent three years in strict retreat at Chagri and resided there for many periods throughout the rest of his life. It was at Chagri in 1623 that he established the first Drukpa monastic order in Bhutan. In 1705, the 7th Druk Desi, Umze Peljor, retired to Chagri Monastery, where he lived until his death in 1707.

References

Sources

* * Ardussi, John (2004);
Formation of the State of Bhutan ('Brug gzhung) in the 17th century and its Tibetan Antecedents
''in'
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Vol 11 2004, Centre for Bhutan Studies, Thimphu. * Dargye, Yonten and Sørensen, P.K. (2001); ''The Biography of Pha 'Brug-sgom Zhig-po called The Current of Compassion.'' Thumphu:
National Library of Bhutan
* * * *Johnsingh, A. J. T. 2005. A paradise in the Himalaya. ''Frontline'', January, 28: 67–72. Drukpa Kagyu monasteries and temples in Bhutan 1620 establishments in Bhutan Tibetan Buddhism in Bhutan 17th-century Buddhist temples {{Buddhism-monastery-stub