Dhankar Gompa (also Dankhar, Drangkhar or Dhangkar Gompa; ''Brang-mkhar'' or ''Grang-mkhar'') is a village and also a

Gompa A Gompa or Gönpa or Gumba ("Five Breathtaking Gumbas Around Kathmandu", ''OMG Nepal'', https://omgnepal.com/five-breathtaking-gumbas-around-kathmandu/ "remote place", Sanskrit ''araṇya''), also known as ling (, "island"), is a sacred Buddhist ...

, a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

temple in the district of Lahaul and Spiti in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is situated at an elevation of 3,894 metres (12,774 feet) in the Spiti Valley above Dhankar Village, between the towns of

Kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

and Tabo. The complex is built on a 1000-foot (300-metre) high spur overlooking the confluence of the

Spiti Spiti (pronounced as piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located 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 Tib ...

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''. Dhankar, like Key Monastery and Tangyud Monastery in Spiti, and

Thiksey Thiksey is a village and the headquarters of its eponymous block in Leh district, Ladakh, India. It is located in the Leh tehsil. The Thikse Monastery Thiksey Monastery or Thiksey Gompa (also transliterated from Ladakhi as Thikse, Thiksay ...

, Likir and Rangdum monasteries in

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

, was built as a fort monastery on the Central Tibetan pattern. It was reported to have had 90 monks in 1855.

Overview

Below the Gompa lies the small village of Shichilling which contains the new Dhankar Monastery, home to about 150 monks belonging to the

Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous' ...

school of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...

. Beyond the surrounding harsh, lunar landscape, notable sights at Dhankar Gompa include a statue of

Vairocana Vairocana (from Sanskrit: Vi+rocana, "from the sun" or "belonging to the sun", "Solar", or "Shining"), also known as Mahāvairocana (Great Vairocana), is a major Buddha from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Vairocana is often interpreted, in text ...

consisting of four figures seated back-to-back, in addition to various crumbling

thangka A ''thangka'' (; Tibetan: ཐང་ཀ་; Nepal Bhasa: पौभा) is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala. Thangkas are traditionally kept unframed and rolled ...

s. There is a small museum in the gompa. In 2006,

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training ...

selected Dhankar gompa as one of the 100 most endangered sites in the world. A nonprofit group, Dhangkar Initiative, is attempting to organize its conservation. Dhankar is approachable by a motorable road, good for small vehicles only, that branches off for Dhankar from the main

-Samdu road at a point around 24 km from Kaza. The branch road is 8 km in length up to Dhankar.

History

Dhankar was the traditional capital of the Spiti Valley Kingdom during the 17th century and has some features dating back to the 12th century. It was the seat of the early rulers of Spiti, the Nonos, who had the right to cultivate the government lands nearby and were required to keep the fort in repair. They also dispensed justice to the people and were noted for their harsh penalties until the British replaced them.Kapidia (1999), pp. 76-79. The monastery is also referred to as Lhaöpé Gönpa (): A new Teaching Temple was inaugurated by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama on 12 July 2009.

Footnotes

References

*Francke, A. H. (1914, 1926). ''Antiquities of Indian Tibet''. Two Volumes. Calcutta. 1972 reprint: S. Chand, New Delhi. *Handa, O. C. (1987). ''Buddhist Monasteries in Himachal Pradesh''. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi. . *Kapadia, Harish. (1999)
''Spiti: Adventures in the Trans-Himalaya''
2nd Edition. Indus Publishing Company, New Delhi. .

Gallery

File:View down Spiti River Valley from roof of Dhankar Gompa.jpg, View down

Spiti Valley Spiti (pronounced as piti in Bhoti language) is a high-altitude region of the Himalayas, located 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 Tib ...

from roof of Dhankar Gompa File:Small shrine honouring HH the 14th Dalai Lama. Dhankar Gompa.jpg, Small shrine honouring the 14th

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

. Dhankar Gompa. File:Dhankhar Monastery Guest House Sign. 2010.jpg, Dhankhar Monastery Guest House Sign. 2010 File:Meditation cave, Dhankhar Gompa. Lahaul and Spiti, India. 2004.jpg, Meditation cave, Dhankhar Gompa. Lahaul and Spiti, India. 2004 File:Sculptures, Dhankar Gompa.jpg, Sculptures, Dhankar Gompa File:Dhankar village & Gompa.jpg, Dhankar village & Gompa File:Confluence Of Spiti And Pin river and pin valley from Old Dhankar Monastery.jpg, Confluence Of Spiti And Pin river and pin valley from Old Dhankar Monastery File:Dhankar gompa, Spiti.jpg, Dhankar gompa, Spiti File:Dhankar Gompa.jpg, Dhankar Gompa {{DEFAULTSORT:Dhankar Gompa Gelug monasteries and temples Buddhist monasteries in Himachal Pradesh Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and temples in India Buddhism in Lahaul and Spiti district Buildings and structures in Lahaul and Spiti district