Urgelling Monastery: Oasis of Peace
(By Tsem Rinpoche)
Dear friends around the world,
I always encourage my blog followers to visit as many holy places as possible. It is a great blessing to go on a pilgrimage to holy and sacred places, for instance to the monasteries. These holy places were built with the kindness and generosity of sponsors and students, thus it is a blessing and honor to visit them.
I hope you enjoy the article and pictures as this is for educational purposes only.
Tsem Rinpoche
Urgelling Monastery: Oasis of Peace
Posted on June 28, 2014 | By Sange & Erika
Located on the outskirts of Tawang town, Urgelling Monastery was built around AD 1487. Almost two centuries later Tsangyang Gyatso, H.H. the 6th Dalai Lama, was born here in 1683. Miraculous deeds were attributed to him, one of which is recounted on a plaque outside the temple. It reads, “Legend has it that at the time of leaving for Tibet, Tsangyang Gyatso planted his walking stick and prophesied that he would once again visit Tawang when all three trunks that would grow out of it had attained equal heights. Truly it happened, but unfortunately one of the trunks broke in 1959 due to strong wind, an ominous sign. Soon afterward the people of Tawang saw H.H. the Dalai Lama coming once again, this time as the great fourteenth on his way to India in exile.”
Water poured in the right hand passes to one’s mouth and over the crown of one’s head.
Before entering the temple for worship, pilgrims can visit a purification fountain in a small enclave where water and a ladle are kept ready, shown here with the auspicious white right-coiled conch in the background.
A place of serene contemplation
To the right of the main entrance there is a narrow hall where eight prayer wheels are housed. Here pilgrims can burn incense and perform a candle lighting ceremony in which conical terracotta lamps are used. The atmosphere inside is very calm and almost uplifting as opposed to being sombre.
Prayer wheels and lamps
Just off the monastery’s main courtyard, perched on the spur of a forested hillside, is an ornately painted awning which houses a large golden Dharma wheel. With the help of a small railing, it can be sent turning in a clockwise direction and circumambulated under recitation of the sacred mantra, “Om Mani Padme Hum”.
The opulent Golden Wheel of Buddhadharma at Urgelling Monastery near Tawang.
Source: https://chaloarunachal.com/2014/06/28/urgelling-monastery-oasis-of-peace/
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Urgelling Monastery is a Buddhist monastery in Arunachal Pradesh, India is of great historic importance and of spiritual significance. A small monastery but still holds its charm due to its ancient value. Old and scenic construction and peaceful place for one to visit. It is a great blessing to go on a pilgrimage to this monastery. The monastery was built in 1487 AD and is the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama. Its one of the oldest monastery and most peaceful places worth visiting . The tranquil ambience of this place with serene surroundings will take visitors by surprise. The towering hills, breath-taking landscapes, narrow roads, with mesmerizing natural surroundings. This small monastery have attracted thousands pilgrims yearly.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Urgelling Monastery is a small Buddhist monastery in Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India, a recognized region of the Indian subcontinent. Wow….this place is the birth place of Tsangyang Gyatso, the Sixth Dalai Lama. It was established in the 15th century with amazing story behind the monastery such as the walking sticks of the Sixth Dalai Lama. The monastery is indeed of great historic importance, for the people of Buddhist faith. A beautiful and scared place to go for pilgrimage . Looking at the beautiful pictures tells us all.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Hello mates, nice post and pleasant urging commented at this place, I am genuinely enjoying by
these.
I enjoy, result in I found exactly what I used to be
looking for. You have ended my 4 day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a
nice day. Bye
Very nice to know and view this monastery. May many sentient beings be blessed coming to this monastery.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing another beautiful pilgrimage site to visit. This Urgelling Monastery looks very simple and peaceful. Really makes me feel like going there for pilgrimage and do meditation to recharge myself. _/\_
It is very nice and auspicious for Buddhists to visit monastery, temples and sacred places to obtain blessings, look within themselves and be inspired to gain higher realizations. The brick-built Urgelling Monastery remind us that Buddha Dharma is preserved and spread through the kindness and generosity of kind sponsors who part ways with their fortune for the benefit of others. The same goes to the generous and kind sponsors who made Kechara Forest Retreat possible. I hope we will garner the support and generosity of more sponsors for Kechara Forest Retreat phase 2. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article.
谢谢仁波切的分享。
Urgelling Monastery 的照片看起来真的是非常漂亮， 也可以感受到寺院周围的平静和安宁。
这间寺院也是和几位达赖喇嘛有着特别的因缘。 第六世达赖喇嘛就是在这里诞生， 也预言会再次回到这里。 第十四世达赖喇嘛也正如预言般在1959年离开西藏的时候经过此寺院。
上师詹杜固仁波切非常鼓励我们到一些佛教圣地朝圣。 Urgelling Monastery 也是属于圣地之一。
谢谢
Nice but holy!
Urgelling Monastery survive to this day through more than 500 years of history. Blessed by the presence of the 6th Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso and the great 14th Dalai Lama. Today is is an Oasis of Peace situated on the outskirts of Tawang town at the border of India and South Tibet.
It certainly look peaceful, tug away from the hustle of the cities. Certainly a place of peace and tranquility.
Urgelling Monastery is really a holy site for pilgrimage. H.H 6th Dalai Lama was born here.Pilgrimage to Urgelling monastery might trigger our imprints to make us more consistency in dharma practice.
I wish I can visit this place in future.
Thanks Guru for sharing.
Jason
Thank you Rinpoche for the sharing on the holy site of Urgelling Monastery.We are very fortunate to have a glance of such an historical site from the comfort our home.But in time to come we should make an effort to make a pilgrimage there.
A holy place is holy place. if a pilgrimage is bigger doesn’t mean that it is holier. it is the energy and who and what is at the holy site. Just as a higher throne does not denote that other lamas are less. A smaller site does not mean others are holier. a holy site is a holy site and can give blessing and trigger imprints to open.
Thank for the description of this monastery and the brief history behind it.
Very interesting read this is. What a low profile, small monastery with so much significance and blessings! The existence of this quaint little monastery, the events that took place, the trees and His Holiness visiting it when He is the 14th Dalai Lama all goes to show who He really is… who is in fact a living Buddha, Chenrezig/Avalokiteshvara without a doubt. It cannot be the previous Dalai Lamas are Chenrezig and this one the 14th is not, it just would not make any sense.
So even though holy beings actions are contradictory, we should still not lose faith and have some respect, even i we disagree with the current actions and cannot seem to comprehend. I admit it is rather confusing and it really shakes our faith in holy beings. But luckily we have a Guru to help guide us to have or keep a good mind/behaviour as the truth will eventually be exposed.
Definitely if I have the good fortune or merit to make a pilgrimage trip to Tibet, this should one of the many holy pilgrimage sites. I also am very intrigued and interested in the purification fountain in a small enclave before entering the monastery. I am sure it is healing.
Thank you for such an interesting small post.
Amazing that all high attained lamas prove to us that is a reincarnation or next life. In this article H.H the 6th Dalai Lama planted his walking stick and prophesied he would one visit Tawang again and this time is the great HH the 14th Dalai Lama. He also proves his power of controlling their next rebirth by practising the Dharma fully.
With the description in the article, Urgelling Monastery definitely is another holy place we can visit so to get blessings and for the realization of our spiritual grow. I personally very interested in “purification fountain”, hope we can also have one at Kechara Forest Retreat.
Wow…another beautiful pilgrimage site to visit. Urgelling Monastery on the outskirts of Tawang town,Tibet is a must visit for all Buddhists.
Visiting Urgelling Monastery will definitely a great blessing as its has a rich history behind it. A beautiful pilgrimage place to visit which i do hope i could go one day.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article as well as those beautiful pictures.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing the background, description and pictures of Urgelling Monastery, which is located at the outskirts of Tawang town in Tibet. Pilgrimage is a journey to holy sites where these places were resided by Buddha or other enlightened beings and hence, the spiritual energies which were left at the holy sites, are good for us to receive as blessings during our pilgrimage tour. The blessings received from the holy sites can help us to open up our past merits collected to support our current spiritual practice and at the same time, to plant more spiritual seeds into our mind stream as fuel and building a strong foundation in Dharma practice for many future lifetimes ahead.
May more and more pilgrimage tours will be organized by Buddhist organizations to benefit many people who have yet to participate in any pilgrimage.
This monastery might seems to be small but it has a very good feeling about it. We should often make pilgrimage to holy places like Urgelling Monastery. The journey itself to the holy sites is the most important practice. This is an opportunity to spend a significant amount of time concentrating on self purification. Pilgrims are supposed to practice the Buddhist values of Right Speech, Right Action and Right Thought as they journey.
Tibet’s incredible! This blog post reminds me of my wish to visit it one day soon. There’s just so many places I wanna go and this is definitely one to make my bucket list if I do make it to this area of Tibet though. What a neat little gompa. I wish there was a picture of the actual altar though and if there’s any rare statues like perhaps a statue of the 6th Dalai Lama holding a thousand-spoked Dharma wheel.
I have never actually seen a statue or thangka of Gyalwa Tsangyang Gyatso. I wonder if they would depict him as a monk, mahasiddha or a lay lama. In life, he was lay as he returned his vows and was famous for patronising bars, girls and writing scores of love songs. Nonetheless, this would be quite a noteworthy pitstop on a pilgrimage circuit.
Here’s a couple of statues of the 6th and a painting. Also here’s a blog with more photos inside the temple.
https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2015/11/22/urgelling-gompa-and-the-sixth-dalai-lama/
Oh wow thank you for finding and these images Choong! Now we know how the 6th Dalai Lama looks like 🙂 You’re really good in researching! Thanks again!
This oasis of peace was restored and enlarged in the year 1699 by Desi Sangye Gyatso, the attendant, regent and by some accounts, son of the 5th Dalai Lama who murdered Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen.
He later governed Tibet and hid the fact that the 5th Dalai Lama had had been dead for sixteen years and became the regent of the 6th Dalai Lama.
The glory days of the monastery ended in 1706 when the 6th Dalai Lama was deposed by Lajang Khan who subsequently destroyed the monastery in 1714. Sad history.
Wow! What an incredible story and history filled monastery this is. Eventhough it is not as large and high profiled as other pilgrimage sites such as Boudha, it sure is a powerful pilgrimage place for Buddhists, and a great blessing for those who live near by.
Rinpoche have always mentioned to us on the importance of going on pilgrimage, and the attitude we should have while visiting these holy places. Don’t visit these places with the attitude of “Oh it’s a holiday!” or “Oh what a good getaway” etc. If we did that, then our visit to these holy sites would be so much less impact.
Visiting holy places is so important. Rinpoche have recently shared with us in a talk on how holy items can bless us and open up imprints in us. I believe the same happens when we visit holy places such as these… after all, these places have also been visited by many great masters throughout the centuries, who went there to make sincere spiritual aspirations, meditated and taught the Dharma to thousands of students… every inch of a holy place is saturated with spiritual energy.
Visiting a pilgrimage site is a must for all Buddhists, at least once in this life time. We can even visit the same pilgrimage site on a yearly basis. Some people may think visiting once is enough and they hunt for other pilgrimage areas to visit. To me, I think while visiting many holy places is great, but is the motivation really spiritual, or it’s just another holiday? It’s something we should contemplate about.
Urgelling Monastery, located on the outskirts of Tawang town, and built around AD 1487, is steeped in history and spirituality. It is the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama. The legend of the prophecy of this sixth Dalai Lama,Tsangyang Gyatso, planting his walking stick and prophesying that he would once again visit Tawang ,when all three trunks that would grow out of it had attained equal heights, is powerful with a sad twist to it. The three tree trunks did grow out of this walking stick. However, the fact that one of the trunks was broken by a storm, was an ominous sign. Later the prophecy would be fulfilled, but with a twist. The 14th Dalai Lama did visit Tawang but he was enroute to India in his escape from the Chinese invasion of Tibet into exile.
The peace and quiet of this Monastery is its enduring attraction. The large golden Dharma wheel is a unique feature. It can be sent turning by a small railing in a clockwise direction and circumambulated under recitation of the sacred mantra, “Om Mani Padme Hum”. Other interesting features are a purification fountain , the eight prayer wheels , and the conical terracotta lamps.
A lovely pilgrimage place –so peaceful and calm.