Simbiling Monastery

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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 of Purang, in the Ngari province, which is 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 'Peacock Mouth River' or 'River Formed from the Mouth of a Peacock'.^[1]

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.^[2] 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 a Bon establishment.^[3] Tsegu covers many terraces and may be reached by ladders.^[4]

[edit] References

^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Tibet Handbook, p. 351. (1999). Edited by Sarah Thorowgood. Passport Books, Chicago. ISBN 0-8442-2190-2.