Chokpori
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Chagpori, or ''Chakpori'', ''Chokpori'', ''Chagpo Ri'' (, literally "Iron Mountain") is a spirit-mountain of
Vajrapani (Sanskrit; Pali: Vajirapāṇi, 'holder of the thunderbolt', lit. meaning, "Vajra in ishand") is one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism. The personification of Indra, the King of the Devas in the Hindu order, he is t ...
in
Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...
,
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
. It is south of
Potala Potala Palace ( Tibetan: པོ་ཏ་ལ་ཕོ་བྲང​​ Chinese: 布达拉宫) is the name of a museum in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China, built in the ''dzong''-style. It was previously a palace of t ...
and is considered to be one of the four holy mountains of central Tibet. The Chagpori College of Medicine was built there in 1696, then destroyed by Chinese forces in 1959 and replaced by an antenna. Chagpori College of Medicine was rebuilt in Darjeeling, India in 1992.Chagpori Tibetan Medical Institute, "About CTMI", ctmi.org Chagpori was the site of the monastic medical college of the same name founded there by Sangye Gyatso in 1696. This medical college, which incorporated a recently restored temple made by
Thang Tong Gyalpo Thangtong Gyalpo () (1385 CE–1464 CE or 1361 CE–1485 CE), is also known as Chakzampa, the "Iron Bridge Maker" (), Tsöndrü Zangpo "Excellent Persistence" (), and the King of the Empty Plain.Sarah Harding. Niguma, Lady of Illusion. Sn ...
, was supplied with revenue generating lands and with a constant stream of students by a "monk tax". It remained an important medical and astrological institution in Tibet and
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
up until 1959 and the Lhasa uprising.Meyer, Fernand. (2003). "The Golden Century of Tibetan Medicine" in ''Lhasa in the Seventeenth Century: Capital of the Dalai Lamas'', p. 111. Brill, Boston. . Peter Aufschnaiter was photographed by
Heinrich Harrer Heinrich Harrer (; 6 July 1912 – 7 January 2006) was an Austrian mountaineer, explorer, writer, sportsman, geographer, and briefly SS sergeant. He was a member of the four-man climbing team that made the first ascent of the North Face of the ...
on top of the College of Medicine and Astrological Institute, the Men-Tsee-Khang using a
theodolite A theodolite () is a precision optical instrument for measuring angles between designated visible points in the horizontal and vertical planes. The traditional use has been for land surveying, but it is also used extensively for building and ...
for surveying the city of Lhasa. Aufschnaiter wrote, "Since 23 December 1947 I have been staying in Lhasa for some months to make a town plan, and have now been appointed to the government service by a decree of the Regent." During the March 1959 Lhasa uprising, the medical school first built by the
5th Dalai Lama The 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was recognized as the 5th Dalai Lama, and he became the first Dalai Lama to hold both Tibet's political and spiritual leadership roles. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fif ...
, then re-established in by the 13th Dalai Lama in 1916Vinod C Dixit, "Tibetan medicine: Healing the ancient way", ''The Himalayan'', 24 May 2022 as the Men-Tsee-Khang together with a temple housing statutes of Tsepame in
coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...
, of Tujechempo in
mother of pearl Nacre ( , ), also known as mother-of-pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is ...
, and of Green Tara (Drolma) in
turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone for millennia due to its hue. The robi ...
were demolished by the
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...
artillery, as the Tibetans had one cannon up there.Dowman, Keith. (1988). ''The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide'', p. 49. Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London. . Jianglin Li's book ''Tibet in Agony: Lhasa 1959'' says,The monk Jampa Phuntsok of the Namgyal Monastery recalled,


Chagpori College of Medicine

Originally commissioned by the
5th Dalai Lama The 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was recognized as the 5th Dalai Lama, and he became the first Dalai Lama to hold both Tibet's political and spiritual leadership roles. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fif ...
and built by his Kalon Sangye Gyatso in 1696, the Chagpori College taught Tibetan medical practices from the ''Four Tantras'' and other collected international systems as compiled at
Samye Monastery Samye Monastery (, ), full name Samye Migyur Lhundrub Tsula Khang (Wylie: ''Bsam yas mi ’gyur lhun grub gtsug lag khang'') and Shrine of Unchanging Spontaneous Presence, is the first Tibetan Buddhist and Nyingma monastery built in Tibet, during ...
in the 8th century. The ''Four Tantras'' treatise was re-edited in the 12th century, and used continually at Chagpori College of Medicine, and at the Men-Tsee-Khang which added the Astrological Institute in 1916 to the medical college, until the bombardment by China's invasion forces in 1959. In 1992, a surviving doctor trained in the traditional Tibetan medical system, Venerable Dr. Trogawa Rinpoche, was able to establish the Chagpori Tibetan Medical Institute in Darjeeling, India, in commemoration of Chagpori, Tibet. The building program included the college, a pharmacy, and clinics, with a hostel to house its students. The CTMI has opened with the blessings of the
14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...
, and is a recognized medical college through the Council of Tibetan Medicine in Dharmsala. At least eighty ''amchi'' (doctors) have since graduated, and around 15 students in 2020 were actively studying.


Chagpori today

It is now crowned by radio antennas.Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. ''Tibet''. 6th Edition (2005), p. 103. Lonely Planet. . A road has been constructed through the spur that used to connect Chagpori with the Marpori ('Red Hill') on which the Potala is built. At this spur connecting these two hills was the famous
chorten In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and ''śarīra''—the remains of Bhikkhu, Buddhist monks or Bhikkhuni, nuns. It is used as a place of ...
Pargo Kaling, a spired reliquary with an arch that served as the town's western gate and was demolished in 1967 and rebuilt in 1995. Some rebuilding has since taken place a number of old rock carvings have survived through damage. Some of them are thought to have been carved during the reign of king
Songtsen Gampo Songtsen Gampo (Classical , pronounced ) (; (601–683 CE, reign 614-648) was the 33rd Tibetan king of the Yarlung dynasty and the founder of the Tibetan Empire. The first of three Dharma Kings of Tibet, he formally introduced Buddhism to Tib ...
(605 or 617? - 649 CE) and painted by Nepalese artists. Some buildings have been rebuilt near the base of the hill and there is now again a small temple with prayer wheels. Tradition has it that the three main hills of Lhasa represent the "Three Protectors of Tibet." Chagpori is the soul-mountain (''bla-ri'') of
Vajrapani (Sanskrit; Pali: Vajirapāṇi, 'holder of the thunderbolt', lit. meaning, "Vajra in ishand") is one of the earliest-appearing bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism. The personification of Indra, the King of the Devas in the Hindu order, he is t ...
, Pongwari that of
Manjushri Manjushri () is a ''bodhisattva'' who represents '' prajñā'' (transcendent wisdom) of the Buddhas in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The name "Mañjuśrī" is a combination of Sanskrit word " mañju" and an honorific " śrī"; it can be literally transla ...
, and Marpori, the hill on which the Potala stands, represents Chenresig or Avalokiteshvara.Stein, R. A. (1972). ''Tibetan Civilization'', p. 228. Translated by J. E. Stapleton Driver. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. (cloth); (paper).


External Links


Chagpori Tibetan Medical Institute


Footnotes

{{coord, 29.6522043, N, 91.1094743, E, source:frwiki_region:CN_scale:100000, format=dms, display=title Mountains of Lhasa