- Simbiling Monastery
Simbiling Monastery, also known as Shambuling Gonpa and Taklakot Gompa, was located next to the large fort of Tegla Kar (Lying Tiger Fort) on a ridge near
Taklakot , above the town ofPurang , in theNgari province, which is just over the border from Nepal in western Tibet in the valley of theKarnali River , which is known in Tibet as theMapchchu Khambab - the 'Peacock Mouth River' or 'River Formed from the Mouth of a Peacock'. [Snelling, John. (1990). "The Sacred Mountain: The Complete Guide to Tibet's Mount Kailas". 1st edition 1983. Revised and enlarged edition, including: Kailas-Manasarovar Travellers' Guide. Forwards by H.H. the Dalai Lama of Tibet and Christmas Humphreys, pp. 74, photo on p. 238. East-West Publications, London and The Hague. ISBN 0-85692-173-4.]It was set above a ridge of cave dwellings about 15 km to the east of the
Sakya Khorzhak Monastery which has survived and been restored.It had over 100 rooms and was inhabited by several hundred
Gelugpa monks. Both it and the fort were completely flattened by Chinese artillery in 1967. [Allen, Charles. (1999) "The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History", pp. 55-56. Little, Brown and Company. Reprint: 2000 Abacus Books, London. ISBN 0-349-111421.] In 2003, work was begun to rebuild Shambuling Monastery by Trugo Lama, Lobsang Samten, and there are now a few monks there.It was above a temple now belonging to the Gelug sect, called
Tsegu Gompa or the "Nine-Storey Monastery" which was probably originally aBon establishment. [Allen, Charles. (1999) "The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History", p. 55. Little, Brown and Company. Reprint: 2000 Abacus Books, London. ISBN 0-349-111421.] Tsegu covers many terraces and may be reached by ladders. ["Tibet Handbook", p. 351. (1999). Edited by Sarah Thorowgood. Passport Books, Chicago. ISBN 0-8442-2190-2.]References
External links
* [http://www.kailashzone.org/pages/ngari/purang.html Purang: a region joining Tibet, Nepal, and India]
* [http://www.tibetan-village.org.uk/history.html Tsechen Damchos Ling Buddhist Monastery]
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