View from roof of Thagthok Gompa showing courtyard and wall paintings

Takthok Monastery (''tib.'' བྲག་ཐོག་ ''Wylie = Brag Thog'', ''pron. Trag Thog,'' "Stone Roof" in english) is 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 ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

in Sakti village 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 ...

, northern

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 ...

, located approximately 46 kilometres east of

Leh Leh () is a city in Indian-administered Ladakh in the Kashmir#Kashmir_dispute, disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:TE ...

. It is the only monastery in Ladakh belonging to the Nying-ma-pa or Red Hat sect. The name is Takthok, literally meaning 'rock-roof' was named because both its roof and walls are made of rock. It belongs to the

Nyingma Nyingma (, ), also referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school was founded by PadmasambhavaClaude Arpi, ''A Glimpse of the History of Tibet'', Dharamsala: Tibet Museum, 2013. ...

tradition 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 ...

and approximately 55 lamas reside there. It is the only Nyingma monastery in Ladakh. The monastery was founded around the mid-16th century during the reign of Tsewang Namgyal I (1575-1595) on a mountainside around a cave in which

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ('Born from a Lotus'), also known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru'), was a legendary tantric Buddhist Vajracharya, Vajra master from Oddiyana. who fully revealed the Vajrayana in Tibet, circa 8th – 9th centuries... He is consi ...

is said to have meditated in the 8th century.

Description

The main temple is very dark and gloomy with a low ceiling of rock completely covered with the residue from centuries of butterlamps having been burned there. The paintings that once adorned the walls are covered with grime and even the floor feels sticky. Further down another cave has been turned into a kitchen which has immense stoves capable of producing enough food for all the pilgrims who arrive for the annual festival (which has been shifted to the summer months to accommodate tourists). The Assembly Hall, or ''du-khangs verandah, has paintings of the Four Lords, while the walls have recent paintings of fierce protector divinities, some of which adorn the verandah entrance. The du-khang also contains statues of

Maitreya Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddhahood, Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: Th ...

and his manifestation Dorje Takposal. A new temple was consecrated by 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 ...

in 1980 just below the main ''gompa'' complex.Rizvi (1996), pp. 235-236. A small cave behind them is believed to be the place where

lived and meditated for three years. The monastery also has the 108 volumes of the '' Kanjur'' of Buddha's teachings.

Gallery

File:Outdoor shrine at Thagthok Gompa.jpg, Outdoor shrine at Thagthok Gompa File:Wall paintings outside Thagthok Gompa.jpg, Wall paintings outside Thagthok Gompa File:Preparing butter lamps at Thag-Thok Gompa. 2010.jpg, Preparing butter lamps at Thakthok Gompa File:View from Thag-Thok Gompa.jpg, Mountain view from Takthok File:Entrance to Guru Rinpoche's cave at Thak Thok.jpg, Entrance to Guru Rinpoche's cave. File:Gate at Takthok.jpg, Gate at Takthok File:Ancient murals at Thagthok.jpg, Ancient murals at Thagthok

Footnotes

References

*Rizvi, Janet (1996). ''Ladakh: Crossroads of High Asia''. 1st edition 1983. 2nd revised edition 1996. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. . {{Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh Nyingma monasteries and temples Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and temples in India

Description

Gallery

See also

Footnotes

References