| Trode Khangsar | |
|---|---|
| Tibetan name | |
| Tibetan: | སྤྲོ་བདེ་ཁང་གསར |
| Wylie transliteration: | spro bde khang gsar |
| other transcriptions: | Trode Khangsar |
Trode Khangsar (Tibetan: སྤྲོ་བདེ་ཁང་གསར, Wylie: spro bde khang gsar) is a temple (Tibetan: བཙན་ཁང, Wylie: btsan khang) located in Lhasa that is over 300 years old [1]. The temple is dedicated to the protector Dorje Shugden and has been traditionally managed by the Gelug monastery Riwo Chöling, which is located in the Yarlung valley.[2]
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Dorje Shugden is regarded, by many, as a Protector Deity reincarnated from the lama Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen (1619-1656),[3] a contemporary of the Fifth Dalai Lama. After Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen was killed[4] the Fifth Dalai Lama tried to subjugate him as a spirit through various rituals which, according to one account, were not successful.[5]
Regarding the establishment of Trode Khangsar, the only work describing the origin is a travel guide written by a native Tibetan. There, it is stated as the Fifth Dalai Lama offered as a holy abode (gnas) to Dorje Shugden.[6]
Trinley Kalsang says: "Trode Khangsar (spro bde khang gsar) in the heart of Lhasa illustrates how the protector deity Dorje Shugden was officially established in Tibet. In the 17th century Trode Khangsar was designated as a “protector house” (btsan khang) for the deity Dorje Shugden by the Fifth Dalai Lama." [7].
The Fifth Dalai Lama's regent, Desi Sangye Gyatso, expanded the role of this temple by entrusting it to the Gelug monastery Riwo Choling.[8]
In addition to being a shrine, Trode Khangsar housed monks from Riwo Choling and an oracle for invoking Dorje Shugden. It has been restored and reclaimed by Riwo Choling since the Cultural Revolution.[9]
A survey of Tibetan wood printing blocks in monasteries, conducted while Tagdrag (stag brag) Rinpoche was regent of Tibet (1941-1950),[10] lists Trode Khangsar having wood blocks for printing an extensive Dorje Shugden fulfilling ritual (chos skyong shugs ldan gyi bskang chog rgyas pa) which was authored by Ganden Jangtse Serkong Dorje Change (1856-1918), an earlier lineage holder of Kalachakra. Serkong Dorje Chang "served as dbu bla of the Bhutanese ruler o rgyan dbang phyug."[11]
A print of these woodblocks was published later in which Serkong Dorje Chang states he included parts of rituals written by Morchen Dorje Chang of the Sakya order and Dre'u Lhas, the recognized fourth reincarnation of Drukpa Kunleg, of the Drukpa Kagyu order.[12]