Ngor or Ngor Éwam Chöden (, ) is the name of a monastery in the

Ü-Tsang Ü-Tsang (དབུས་གཙང་། Wylie; dbus gtsang) is one of the three Tibetan regions, the others being Amdo to the northeast and Kham to the east. Geographically Ü-Tsang covers the Yarlung Tsanpo drainage basin, the western dist ...

province of

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 ...

about southwest of

Shigatse Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê () or Rikaze ( zh, s=日喀则, p=Rìkāzé), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histo ...

and is the

Sakya The ''Sakya'' (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu. Origins Virūpa, 16th century. It depict ...

school's second most important

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 ...

. It is the main temple of the large Ngor school of

Vajrayana ''Vajrayāna'' (; 'vajra vehicle'), also known as Mantrayāna ('mantra vehicle'), Guhyamantrayāna ('secret mantra vehicle'), Tantrayāna ('tantra vehicle'), Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, is a Mahāyāna Buddhism, Mahāyāna Buddhis ...

Buddhism 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 ...

, which represents eighty-five percent of the Sakya school.

History

The origins of the Ngor school go back to Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo (also Kunga Zangpo or Kun dga 'bzang po, ) (1382-1444 CE), who was born and educated at Sakya and founded this monastery in 1429. It was renowned for its rich library of Sanskrit texts and magnificent 15th-century

Newar Newar (; , endonym: Newa; , Pracalit script: ), or Nepami, are primarily inhabitants in Kathmandu Valley of Nepal and its surrounding areas, and the creators of its historic heritage and civilisation. Page 15. Newars are a distinct linguisti ...

-derived paintings. Of its 18 colleges, and Upper and Lower Tsokangs, only one building, the Lamdre Lhakang, has been restored. There were once some 400 monks, but now there are only a few. Below the lhakang there is a row of 60 stupa renovated but missing the magnificent

mandala A mandala (, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid ...

paintings they once contained, but which are now preserved in Japan and have been documented and published.

Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrup Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub (born 1497 in Sakya - died 1557) was a Tibetan Buddhist monk, abbot, teacher and writer. He entered monastic life at the age of 13, when he began his Buddhist studies. He received the Sakya Tibetan Buddhism teachings by h ...

, born in

in 1497, was a famous practitioner who became the tenth abbot of Ngor Ewam Choden monastery. The two other main sects of the Sakya school are Sakya proper and

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

. The main Ngor temples are found in the

Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...

region of Tibet. The Ngorpa school is characterized by an emphasis on

tantra Tantra (; ) is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the India, Indian subcontinent beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, first within Shaivism and later in Buddhism. The term ''tantra'', in the Greater India, Indian tr ...

balanced with study and practice. It is known for a mastery of ritual and practice of long retreats including lifelong retreats. The present leader of the Ngor is HE Luding (or Lhuding) Khenpo, who now lives in northern India.Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005), p. 280.

Footnotes

References

* Dorje, Gyurme. (1999). ''Footprint Tibet Handbook: with Bhutan'', 2nd Edition, p. 261. Footprint Travel Guides. , . * Dowman, Das (1988). ''The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide''. Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London & New York. . * Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. ''Tibet''. (2005). 6th Edition. Lonely Planet. . * Tucci, Giuseppe. (1980). ''The Religions of Tibet''. University of California Press. Paperback edition 1988. (cloth); (pbk.) *von Schroeder, Ulrich. 2001. ''Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet''. Vol. One: ''India & Nepal''; Vol. Two: ''Tibet & China''. (Volume One: 655 pages with 766 illustrations; Volume Two: 675 pages with 987 illustrations). Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Publications, Ltd. Ngor pp. 554, 706, 870, 872, 1082, 1124, 1131, 1206, 1208–1216, 1209, 1210, 1212, 1214, 1216; Lam ’bras lha khang («lamdre lhakhang»); Pls. 40, 50C, 106B–C, 170C, 257A, 281D, 330–335; gTsug lag khang («tsuglagkhang»), Fig. XVIII–4; Plates 106D, 255A, 304D–E.

External links

Link to the French Buddhist Ngor temple.For a photo of HE Lhuding Khenpo
{{Buddhist monasteries in Tibet 1429 establishments in Asia Religious buildings and structures completed in the 1420s Religious organizations established in the 1420s Buddhist monasteries in Tibet Buddhist temples in Tibet 15th-century establishments in Tibet Sakya monasteries and temples 15th-century Buddhist temples