Dzongkhul Monastery or Zongkhul Gompa is located in the Stod Valley of

Zanskar Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is a tehsil of Kargil district, in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre is Padum (former Capital of Zanskar). Zanskar, together with the neighboring region of Ladakh, was brief ...

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu a ...

, northern India. Like the

Sani Monastery Sani Monastery (also written Sanee), Sa-ni- ''tshog is located next to the village of Sani where the Stod Valley broadens into the central plain of Zanskar in Ladakh, northern India. It is about 6 km to the northwest of the regional centr ...

, it belongs to the Drukpa 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 majo ...

Dzongkhul has traditionally been home to famous

yogin A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297-299, 331 Th ...

s. It is sited near the foot of a wide valley which leads to the pass known as the Umasi-la which joins Zanskar and

Kishtwar Kishtwar is a town, municipality and administrative headquarter of the Kishtwar District in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The district was carved out of the Doda district in 2007. It is located in the Jammu division. T ...

History

Its foundation is attributed to

Naropa Nāropā ( Prakrit; sa, Nāropāda, Naḍapāda or Abhayakirti) or Abhayakirti was an Indian Buddhist Mahasiddha. He was the disciple of Tilopa and brother, or some sources say partner and pupil, of Niguma. As an Indian Mahasiddha, Naropa ...

(956-1041 CE), who was a celebrated Indian Buddhist yogi, mystic and

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...

from the renowned

Vikramshila University Vikramashila (Sanskrit: विक्रमशिला, IAST: , Bengali:- বিক্রমশিলা, Romanisation:- Bikrômôśilā ) was one of the three most important Buddhist monasteries in India during the Pala Empire, along with ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

. He is said to have meditated in one of the two caves around which the

gompa A Gompa or Gönpa ( "remote place", Sanskrit ''araṇya''), also known as ling (), is a Buddhist ecclesiastical fortification of learning, lineage and sādhanā that may be understood as a conflation of a fortification, a vihara and a universit ...

is built and the monastery is dedicated to him. His footprint can be seen in the rock near the entrance to the lower cave. The gompa contains images and

thanka A ''thangka'', variously spelled as ''thangka'', ''tangka'', ''thanka'', or ''tanka'' (; Tibetan: ཐང་ཀ་; Nepal Bhasa: पौभा), is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, ...

s of famous Drukpa lamas. Zhadpa Dorje, a famous painter and scholar created some of the frescoes on the cave walls almost 300 years ago. Impressions of Naropa's ceremonial dagger and staff are also said to be in the rocks in his meditation cave which attracts many pilgrims. Until about the 1960s, there were some 20 resident monks, but the numbers have subsequently dropped. It also contains a collection of religious artifacts, such as an ivory image of

Samvara ''Samvara'' (''saṃvara'') is one of the '' tattva'' or the fundamental reality of the world as per the Jain philosophy. It means stoppage—the stoppage of the influx of the material karmas into the soul consciousness. The karmic process in ...

, a crystal stupa, and texts containing spiritual songs and biographies. Dzongkhul became a flourishing

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 ...

meditation centre under the Zanskari yogi Ngawang Tsering (1717-1794).

Description

Dzongkhul is in a south-western side valley of the Bardur River. It is built directly on a rock wall with two caves behind. In front are about 10 stone houses which tend to blend in with the surrounding rocks from a distance. About 10 minutes' walk from the gompa is a high viewing spot similar to the one at Hemis Monastery with views from the terrace.

Festivals

The Zongkhul Huchot festival on the 16th and 17th days of the fourth Tibetan month but there are no masked dances.Schettler (1981), p. 145.

Footnotes

References

* Bhasin, Sanjeev Kumar. (2008). ''Amazing land Ladakh: places, people, and culture''. Indus Publishing Company. . * Gutschow, Kim (2004). ''Being a Buddhist Nun: The Struggle for Enlightenment in the Himalayas''. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674012875. * Rizvi, Janet. 1998. ''Ladakh, Crossroads of High Asia''. Oxford University Press. 1st edition 1963. 2nd revised edition 1996. 3rd impression 2001. . * Schettler, Margaret & Rolf (1981). ''Kashmir, Ladakh & Zanskar''. Lonely Planet Publications. South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. .

External links

Zongkul Monastery
{{coord, 33, 33, 00, N, 76, 39, 36, E, source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title Drukpa Kagyu monasteries and temples Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh Religious organizations established in the 11th century Buddhist caves in India Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and temples in India 11th-century establishments in India