Dzongkhul Monastery or Zongkhul Gompa is located 30 km northwest of

Padum Padum (also known as Padam) is the main town and the administrative centre of the Zanskar tehsil in Kargil district, Ladakh, India. Named after the Buddhist guru Padmasambhava, it was historically one of the two main capitals of the Zanskar Kin ...

in the Stod Valley of

Zanskar Zanskar, Zahar (locally) or Zangskar, is the southwestern region of Kargil district in the Indian union territory of Ladakh. The administrative centre of Zanskar is Padum. Zanskar, together with the rest of Ladakh, was briefly a part of the kin ...

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 ...

, northern India. Like the Sani Monastery, it belongs to the Drukpa 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 ...

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 ...

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.

History

Its foundation is attributed to

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

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

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

from the renowned Vikramshila University in

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. He is said to have meditated in one of the two caves around which the gompa 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'' (; 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 up ...

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 Buddhism, Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. ...

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. Zongkhul Cave Gompa

Festivals

The Zongkhul Huchot festival on the 16th and 17th days of the fourth Tibetan month, i.e. sbrul (Snake) or saga (vaisakha) the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

's birth on

Vesak Vesak (; Sanskrit: '), also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima, Visak Bochea and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhism, Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as in Tibet and Mongolia. It is among the ...

, 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