Himachal Pradesh Tayul Gompa
TayulGompa is siuated at a location 6 km away from Keylong, which is considered as the oldest monastery of the Lahaul and Spiti valley. The importance of this Gompa lies in the form of a 5 ft tall statue of Guru Padmasambhava, and also the valuable treasure of 101 volumes of Kangyur books.
Lahaul and Spiti are two mountain tracks, the valley amidst which is formed into a settlement called Lahaul&Spiti, now a district in Himachal Pradesh, closer to the Tibetan border. This area was one of the Himalayan waziries or Cantons of Kullu valley, which was earlier a part of Punjab District.
The name TayulGompa depicts the term ‘chosen place’ and it belongs to the Dugpa sect monastery type.
History
It was in the 17th Century, one Dugpa Lama who belonged to the SerzangRinchen of Tibet’s Khan region established this Monastery.
As the legends convey, Dugpa Lama Serzang came to this location about that time, to pay his meritorious circumambulation to the Holy peak Drilburi, when his attention was drawn to a small glade above Kyor and Tashikyang villages, in the midst of Juniper forest. As he noticed that spot, he announced to his colleague lamas that they have found a suitable place to establish a Monastery. Thereupon the TayulGompa construction began
After about 100 years of this basic construction of Tayul Monastery, LadakhiTulkuTashiTanphel from Tagna monastery visited this place and renovated the old building, decorating it with murals in the walls and installing stucco images of the Gurus in large dimensions, besides leaving the Narthang edition of the Kangyur literature here, which he brought from Tibet.
Description
Tayulmonastery has with it a hundred million Prayer wheels called ‘mani wheels’ which are helpful for devotees to attain calmness and serenity in mind while doing prayers, which sometimes turn by themselves, although the devotee turns it on and again while offering prayers. It is said that these mani wheels turned by themselves last in 1986 once, which they consider an auspicious occasion.
Tayul Monastery also houses the thankas which give impressive details of the life of Lord Buddha and also the 5 mtr tall statue of Guru Padmasambhava which are unique features of this monastery.
Other attractions nearby
In Lahaul&Spiti valley, there are few other monasteries, which are equally impressive and interesting to visit. They are,
- KardangMonastery , which is located at the top a hill across the river Bhaga and the monastery had been constructed in 12th century , where one can see colourful frescoes and murals, while a huge prayer drum which amazes visitors. This monastery is located in 5 km distance from Keylong.
- Ghemur Monastery is another Gompa situated in a tiny village of Ghemur, which is in 18 km distance from Keylong. In earlier times thakurs of Gushal had lived in this village and devil dance during festival times is a specialty of this Gompa.
- Shashur Monastery is another Buddhist Gompa here lying amidst blue pines and this was founded by DewaTyatsho, the king of Bhutan, DewaTyatsho who sent his missionery in the 17th century to form this monastery.
How to Reach
To reach Tayul Monastery one has to go to Lahaul valley, which is possible by commuting by air or train and then on by road.
KulluManali is the place the nearest airport is situated for this place, from where one can go uptoKeylong by road through Rohtang Pass by Bus or Jeep. It is a 115 km journey involving 6 hours travel.
A tourist can reach this place from Sutlej Valley by a beautiful road from Kinnanur, arriving at Shimla by air, train or road.
Reaching this place in Himachal Pradesh by road will always be a pleasure, however, part of the year Rohtang Pass will be closed from Mid November to Mid May, while the Kunzam Pass road will be closed between November and June every year.
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