Khorzhak Monastery

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Khorzhak Monastery
Tibetan name
Tibetan:	འཁོར་ཞགས་དགོན་པ
Wylie transliteration:	’khor zhags dgon pa
pronunciation in IPA:	[kʰoːtɕak kø̃pa]
official transcription (PRC):	Korqag
THDL:	Korchak
other transcriptions:	Korzhak, Khorchag
Chinese name
traditional:	科加寺
simplified:	科加寺
Pinyin:	Kējiā Sì

Khorzhak Monastery is a Buddhist monastery in Korqag town, Burang county, Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

It was previously one of the most important Kagyu monasteries in Western Tibet. It is situated about 15 km downstream from Tsegu Gompa and the now-destroyed Simbiling Monastery near Purang,^[1] the headquarters of Ngari province, just over the border from Nepal in western Tibet in the valley of the Karnali River which is known in Tibet as the Mapchchu Khambab - the 'Peackock Mouth River' or 'River Formed from the Mouth of a Peacock'.

It escaped the worst ravages of the Cultural Revolution as it had connections with the Kagyupa sect and links with Bhutan and has been completely restored since except the famous silver statue of Chenresig or Avalokiteshvara has disappeared. It was modelled in the Pala style indicating it dated from the 8th or 9th century CE. It is reported to have been cut into pieces and taken away in 1967.^[2]

[edit] References

1. ^ Tibet Handbook, p. 352. 1999. Edited by Sarah Thorowgood. Passport Books, Chicago. ISBN 0-8442-2190-2.
2. ^ Allen, Charles. (1999) The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History, pp. 49-53. Little, Brown and Company. Reprint: 2000 Abacus Books, London. ISBN 0-349-111421.