Tsurphu Monastery

Tsurphu Monastery
Tsurphu Monastery
Tibetan transcription(s)
Tibetan	མཚུར་ཕུ་དགོན་པ
Wylie transliteration	mtshur phu dgon pa
Pronunciation in IPA	[[tsʰuːpʰu]]
THL	Tsurpu Gömpa
Chinese transcription(s)
Simplified	楚布寺
Pinyin	Chǔbù Sì
Tsurphu Monastery Location within Tibet
Coordinates
Monastery information
Location	Gurum, Doilungdêqên District, Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region
Founded by	Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama
Founded	1159
Date renovated	1980
Type	Tibetan Buddhist
Sect	Kagyu
Lineage	Karma Kagyu

Tsurpu Monastery (Tibetan: མཚུར་ཕུ་དགོན་པ or Tölung Tsurpu (Tibetan: སྟོད་ལུང་མཚུར་ཕུ, "Tsurpa of Tölong") is a gompa which served as the traditional seat of the Karmapa, the head of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It is located in Gurum in Doilungdêqên District, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, 70 kilometres (43 mi) from Lhasa.

The monastery is about 4,300 metres (14,100 ft) above sea level. It was built in the middle of the valley facing south with high mountains surrounding the complex.

Tsurphu is a 300-square-meter (3,200 sq ft) complex with walls up to 4 meters (13 ft) thick. The gompa, the traditional seat of the Karmapa lamas, is about 28 kilometres (17 mi) up the Dowo Lung Valley on the north side of the river. The original walls of the main building were up to 4 meters thick and 300 meters on each side (90,000 square meters or 970,000 square feet). The monks' residences were on the eastern side.

History

Reconstructed Tsurphu Monastery, 1993

Tsurphu was founded by Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama (1110-1193) in 1159, after he visited the site and laid the foundation for an establishment of a seat there by making offerings to the local protectors, the dharmapalas and territorial divinities (Wylie: yul lha). In 1189 he revisited the site and founded his main seat there. The monastery grew to hold 1000 monks.

The complex was totally destroyed in 1966 during the Cultural Revolution. Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa, began to rebuild it in 1980; he died in 1981.

Following the recognition of Ogyen Trinley Dorje (born 1985) as the 17th Karmapa by the Tai Situpa, the Dalai Lama and China's governmental offices, he was enthroned at Tsurphu and resided there until he escaped from Tibet to India in 2000.

Pilgrims

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  Elderly pilgrim, Tsurphu Gompa, 1993

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  Pilgrims, Tsurphu Gompa, 1993

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  Nomad camp above Tsurphu Gompa, 1993. Smoke is from juniper burning for ceremony.

Sources

Dowo Lung Valley, above Tsurphu Gompa

• Dowman, Keith. The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide. 1988. Routledge & Kegan Paul. London. ISBN 0-7102-1370-0

• Martin, Michele. Music in the Sky: The Life, Art & Teachings of the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje. 2003. Snow Lion Publications. Reprint: New Age Books, New Delhi, 2004. ISBN 81-7822-193-4.

External links

• Tsurphu Monastery Website