Tengboche Monastery – Nepal
Tengboche Monastery with Kongde Shar, Konge Lho, Kongde Nup, Tengkangpoche, Panalotapa, Bigphero Go Shar 1997
(By Tsem Rinpoche)
At 3,867 metres amidst the Sagarmatha National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site of “outstanding universal value”) on the Himalayan Mountains of Eastern Nepal, Tengboche Monastery, also known as Thyanboche Monastery or Dawa Choling Gompa, has a spectacular view of the Himalayan peaks of Tawache, Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, Ama Dablam and Thamserku.
Tengboche Monastery trekking map (click to enlarge)
Tengboche Monastery in the Khumbu district on the Nepal-Tibet border sits on a hill at the confluence of the Dudh Kosi and the Imja Khola rivers. To reach Khumbu, it is three days of hard trekking from Lukla, where the nearest airport with connection flights with Kathmandu is. Trekking at an altitude of 3,250 metres across the Dhudh Kosi river and climbing up to the Tengboche Monastery at 3,870 metres, it’s advised to trek at an easy pace to acclimatise to the conditions of high altitude. Tengboche monastery is well-placed as the mid-station of the trail to the base camp of Mount Everest and is the final destination of the organised Sacred Sites Trail Project of Sagarmatha National Park, a circular trekking trail covering ten monasteries in a clockwise direction, attracting many worldwide tourists.
Tengboche Monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist gompa of the Sherpa community, built in 1916 by Lama Gulu, in Tengboche village of Khumjung, in the Khumbu region. Sherpas, meaning Easterners, are migrants from Tibet six hundred years ago and are now the main inhabitants in the Khumbu region. Tengboche Monastery was rebuilt twice, once in 1934 after it was destroyed by an earthquake and then again in 1989 when it was ravished by a fire. The rebuilding was by local and international volunteers.
Tengboche Monastery with Kongde and Khumbila in 2000
History
Historically, Khumbu valley was influenced by Buddhism when Lama Sangwa Dorje founded the oldest monastery at Pangboche and many small hermitages 350 years ago. Khumbu valley, with Rowlang and Khanbalung valleys, were known as sacred places in ancient Tibetan scriptures. Lama Sangwa Dorje, in his clairvoyance and enlightened wisdom, indicated the suitability of a monastery at that location by leaving his footprint on a rock during his meditation.
Lama Sangwa Dorje’s rock footprint at entrance to Dokhang, the main prayer hall of Tengboche Monastery (click to enlarge)
It was only during Ngawang Tenzin Norbu’s time, the 5th incarnation of Sangwa Dorje, who gave blessings for Chatang Chotar, or otherwise known as Lama Gulu, to establish the Tengboche Monastery in Tengboche Village. In 1916, Tengboche Monastery, funded mainly by the three wealthy locals of the Khumbu Sherpa community, became the first monastery practicing celibacy under the Nyingmapa lineage of Vajrayana Buddhism. Sherun Sherpas also joined hands in building this monastery. Through Lama Gulu, Tengboche Monastery has a very strong connection with its mother monastery, Rongbuk Monastery of Tibet, built by Ngawang Tenzin Norbu.
Umze Gelden, with the monks, the local community, a skilled carpenter from Lhasa and the strong support of Ngawang Tenzin Norbu, rebuilt Tengboche Monastery when it was destroyed during the 1934 earthquake and Lama Gulu’s subsequent passing. Kappa Kalden, a renowned artist, painted exclusive murals on Tengboche Monastery and with the increased visits from tourists, especially trekkers and mountaineers, this monastery became well-known.
Tengboche Monastery’s entrance – painting of Vajrasattva in Yabyum (click to enlarge)
Alas, on January 19, 1989, an electrical short circuit caused a disastrous fire, destroying most of anything precious of Tengboche Monastery; the exclusive murals, statues, old scriptures, wood carvings and even the holy stone with Lama Sangwa Dorje’s left footprint was fractured. A few trekkers helped to salvage some books and paintings. This second rebuild was taken on by Nawang Tenzing Jangpo, considered the incarnation of Lama Gulu. His established relations with the many trekkers and mountaineers helped garner fundings for the restoration of the monastery. The murals of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas were painted by Tibetan Tarke-la.
Tengboche Monastery’s entrance – painting of Hayagriva in Yabyum (click to enlarge)
Tengboche Monastery’s entrance – painting of Padmasambhava (click to enlarge)
Tengboche Monastery – painting of wrathful deities and Buddha (click to enlarge)
Tengboche Monastery’s entrance – painting of Vajrakila in Yabyum (click to enlarge)
The monks, Sherpa community, the famous Sir Edmund Hilary, the Himalayan Trust of the American Himalayan Heritage Foundation, and many international sponsors supported the successful reconstruction and reestablishment of Tengboche Monastery. Sir Edmund Hilary on the 1953 British expedition, was the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, a local of Tengboche Village. This achievement brought worldwide attention of mountaineers and Tengboche Monastery, on route to the base camp of Everest for expeditions via the Khumbu icefall and west ridge, garnered great attention as mountaineers would stop at the monastery to seek blessings with offerings of candles for a safe return from their expeditions.
Everest climbers receive blessings from Ngawang Tenzing Jangpo. From left: Ginette Harrison, Sir David Hempleman-Adams, David Callaway, Scott McIvor, Lee Nobmann, Brian
One of the first mountaineers to visit Tengboche Monastery and leader of the 1953 Everest expedition, John Hunt, described Tengboche in The Ascent of Everest:
“Thyangboche must be one of the most beautiful places in the world. The height is well over 12,000 feet. The Monastery buildings stand upon a knoll at the end of a big spur, which is flung out across the direct axis of the Imja river. Surrounded by satellite dwellings, all quaintly constructed and oddly mediaeval in appearance, it provides a grandstand beyond comparison for the finest mountain scenery that I have ever seen, whether in the Himalaya or elsewhere.”
Source: Wikipedia.org
Known as the gateway to Mount Everest, the rebuilt Tengboche Monastery was formally consecrated in 1993. It was only in September 2008 that the restoration was completed for the religious room of Guru Rinpoche in the monastery. The Greater Himalayas Foundation, an American-based foundation, sponsored the reconstruction of the monastery’s entrance gate.
The entrance gate of Tengboche Monastery
The main stone building of the Tengboche Monastery houses a large Buddha Shakyamuni statue with Manjushri and Maitreya beside him, in its Dokhang or prayer hall. The Buddha Shakyamuni statue extends to two floors of the monastery and encompasses the shrine room or Ser sang lha khang, on the first floor. Also, an important part of the prayer hall are the scriptures of the Kangyur, the original teachings of the Buddha translated into Tibetan. Besides its impressive structure, Tengboche Monastery has large storerooms and courtyard to accommodate the religious rites and activities of the monks. The monastery also has a camping area in its front and lodges for rental.
Tengboche is surrounded by a scattering of village temples, chortens and other religious shrines with some predating back to 1880. There are mani walls, where slabs of stone with inscriptions of sacred texts and holy prayers or mantra, usually the mantra of the Buddha of Compassion, Chenrezig,“Om Mani Padme Hum”, are stacked to form walls and some dates to 1915. Five coloured prayer flags, inscribed with holy mantras, denoting the five Buddhist elements of earth, wind, fire, water, and consciousness, are strung at high peaks where the winds blow, carrying the prayers to the heavens.
Chortens (stupas) in Tengboche Village
Although there are 60 monks residing in Tengboche Monastery, reflecting its favourable financial situation, the number of young boys joining the monastery are dropping as they prefer to work in the trekking or mountaineering tourists industry.
Mani Rimdu Festival
Held annually for nineteen days during the tenth lunar month of the Tibetan calendar, Mani Rimdu is the most important festival of the Sherpa people and a tradition from the mother monastery, the Rongbuk Monastery. Autumn is the season when tourists will flock to visit Khumbu region for the trek to Everest Base Camp and visit Tengboche Monastery to witness the Mani Rimdu festival. The meaning of “Mani Rimdu” is that ‘Mani’ means “part of the chant of Chenrezig” and ‘Rilbu’ or ‘Rimdu’ means the small red pills that will be blessed during the festival. The red pills are blessed repeatedly in meditation and special ritual ceremonies, which will then be distributed to all those who attended the festival.
Tengboche Monastery 1997 Mani Rimdu Festivel rehearsal – head Lamas look on from above
The festival begins with an elaborate depiction of an intricate mandala, hand-drawn using coloured sand extracted from a specified location in the hills. The mandala which takes 4 days to draw, is the central piece in the Mani Rimdu Festival and will be on display for 10 days during the festival. Throughout the festival, there will be a program of 16 dances with some comical interludes, and when all the devotees and visitors had has left, the monks will perform a fire rite to dispel all obstacles and negative energies. With prayers, the elaborate sand mandala will then be formally removed to benefit all sentient beings. To mark the end of the festivities, the general public will be blessed by the monastery’s resident teacher, Tengboche Rinpoche, after which the ‘Mask Dances’ or “Cham Dances” are performed by the monks. The Cham Dances are to usher in the protective deities in the dance of defeating the demons and initiating Buddhism to Tibet. These protective deities are the manifestations of the legendary saint, Guru Rinpoche, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism.
Mani Rimdu Festival
Tengboche Monastery and its Mani Rimdu festival attract tourists of 15,000 annually and during peak season, the monastery receives up to 600 visitors every week. Tengboche Monastery experiences July as the warmest month, at the average temperature of 10 degree Celsius and January as the coldest month, falling into -2.2 degree Celsius. The months of spring heralds in the flowering rhododendrons, covering the hills of Tengboche. Not surprisingly, Tengboche Monastery is one of the major attractions of Nepal, especially amongst trekkers and mountaineers, seeking to conquer some parts of the Himalayas.
Sources:
- Wikipedia,13/11/2018 Tengboche Monastery. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengboche_Monastery (accessed: 3/1/2019)
- Nepal Sanctuary Treks, Tengboche Monastery, Most Beautiful Monastery in Khumbu Region. Available at: https://www.nepalsanctuarytreks.com/tengboche-monastery-khumbu-region/ (accessed: 3/1/2019)
- Nepal Trekking Pass Pvt. Ltd., (16/12/2012) Gokyo Lake and Tengboche Monastery Trekking Map. Available at: http://www.nepaltrekkingpass.com/tengboche-monastery-map.php (accessed: 3/1/2019)
- Nepal Sanctuary Treks, Mani Rimdu Festival. https://www.nepalsanctuarytreks.com/tengboche-monastery-khumbu-region/ (accessed: 3/1/2019)
- Hicks, Steve – originally posted to Flickr as Tengboche, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9536497 (accessed: 3/1/2019)
- Gompa, Tsering (28/8/2017) Everest climbers receive Tengboche monastery blessings from Ngawang Tenzing Jangpo. Ginette Harrison, Sir David Hempleman-Adams, David Callaway, Scott McIvor, Lee Nobmann, Brian Blessed. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Everestblessings.jpg (accessed: 3/1/2019)
- Nepal Trekking Pass Pvt. Ltd., (16/12/2012) Gokyo Lake and Tengboche Monastery Trekking Map. Available at: http://www.nepaltrekkingpass.com/tengboche-monastery-map.php (accessed: 3/1/2019)
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Tengboche Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, also known as Dawa Choling Gompa, is one of the most famous monasteries of Nepal. It could most probably because of its location , on a hill at the confluence of the Dudh Kosi and the Imja Khola rivers. Beautiful sight and peaceful monastery tucked into the mountains at base of Mount Ama Dablam where pilgrims, mountaineers and travellers receive blessing. The monastery is the leading Buddhist centre in the Khumbu region with a residing Rinpoche who blesses pilgrims, mountaineers and travellers passing through. Tengboche lies on the very popular trek route to the Everest region and is the most common night halt after Namche. This beautiful has attracted thousands of tourist and mountaineers seeking to conquer some parts of the Himalayas. Looking at those beautiful pictures tells us more of the monastery. Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing and explaining about what this monastery and the beautiful cultural festival.
Tengboche monastery survive until now as a leading Buddhist center of spirituality and pilgrims in the Himalayan area, half way to Everest Base Camp trek, the monastery has become a house name to trekkers and climbers to Everest Base Camp.
With the colourful Mani Rimdu festival, which is a culmination of Buddhist celebrations with religious gathering, songs have attracted tourist as well to Tengboche Monastery every October.Thank you for sharing this article.
An amazing place that is beautiful and spiritual at the same time. Nepal is fortunate to have such a place within its borders may it inspire many more people to engage in spirituality.
There is a thousand-year-old monastery with a similar name, Solnak Tangpoche, located in central Tibet, with an amazingly rich heritage.
I would love to know more about this monastery and about all the stories of highly attained lamas who had visited, lived, taught and did meditations there.
https://treasuryoflives.org/institution/Tangpoche
Very interesting to know the history of Tengboche Monastery by Lama Gulu. Tengboche is popular for the sunset view of Mountain Everest. The area is surrounded by ancient mani stones and prayer flags. The monastery has preserved well the traditions of Mani Rimbu Festival which falls on October to Novemeber. It is the largest monasteries in Everest region located at an altitude of 3,867 metres (12,687 ft), was rebuilt twice due to earthquake on 1934 and burnt down on 1989. Many thanks to the local people and international volunteers who rebuilt the buildings, Tengboche monastery survive until nowadays. As a leading Buddhist centre of spirituality and pilgrims in the Himalayan area, half way to Everest Base Camp trek, the monastery has become a house name to trekkers and climbers to Everest Base Camp. Combine that with the history , rich culture, and unspoilt traditions of the indigenous Himalayan mountain people has attracted thousands of visitors yearly. Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for sharing this interesting article and beautiful pictures. ???
Sherpas and mountain climbers will stop by Tengboche Monastery to get blessings from the monks before climbing Mount Everest. This is such a holy and historical place at the high altitude of the Himalaya.
Tengboche Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Sherpa community in the Khumbu valley of eastern Nepal. Wow….It is the largest monasteries in Everest region located at an altitude of 3,867 metres (12,687 ft), As a leading Buddhist centre of spirituality and pilgrims in the Himalayan area, half way to Everest Base Camp trek, the monastery has become a house name to trekkers and climbers to Everest Base Camp. Combine that with the history , rich culture, and unspoilt traditions of the indigenous Himalayan mountain people has attracted thousands of visitors yearly there. With the colourful Mani Rimdu festival, which is a culmination of Buddhist celebrations with religious gathering, songs have attracted tourist as well to Tengboche Monastery every October. I do wish to visit this beautiful monastery with a rich history someday. Beautiful pictures shared and interesting read.
Thank you Rinpoche for this wonderful sharing.
I am glad to know the legend story of Tengboche Monastery by Guru Rinpoche. I knew well of Nepal because of Mount Everest and the spiritual practice of many religion. Today I I came to know that, this was the first and oldest building build by the Tibetan Buddhist for spiritual practice. This was the place where the original teaching of the Buddha took place.
The Tongboche Monastery at Khumbu was establish in 1916 by Lama Gulu, with the blessing of Sangwa Dorje. The building has beauty statue and wonderful painting and drawing which attract many tourist. As it build large with many rooms it also provide rooms for rental. I glad to know that many came forward to rebuild and reconstruct the building with funds when it was destroyed by earthquake and fire.
Exciting to know an annual festival is celebrated grandly and more tourist participate in the celebration especially trekkers. More tourist pay special visit here during the last day just get the blessing from Tengboche Rinpoche .The fascinating story of Tengboche Monastery is remarkable in my mind too.
Tengboche monastery was established by Lama Gulu in 1916. It is the leading Buddhist centre in the Khumbu. This largest monastery of the region, perched at a ridge top of 3,870m, was rebuilt twice due to earthquake on 1934 and burnt down on 1989. Many thanks to the local people and international volunteers who rebuilt the buildings, Tengboche monastery survive until nowadays.
Tengboche is popular for the sunset view of Mountain Everest. The area is surrounded by ancient mani stones and prayer flags. The monastery has preserved well the traditions of Mani Rimbu Festival which falls on October to Novemeber. This period is happen also the best trekking season in Nepal. Many trekkers and tourists flock in for this wonderful and sacred celebration.
Tourism activities are growing from time to time. It is good that more people get to know about this beautiful tradition of Tibetan Buddhism that can brings spirituality into ones’ life. On the other hand, the demand of accommodations and other facilities to cope up with increase in tourism will lead to more deforesting that might endanger habitats and species of this National Park. It is something important to look into preserving the nature, spirituality and economically.