Chagri Dorjeden Monastery, also called Cheri Monastery, is a

Buddhist monastery Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

in Bhutan established in 1620 by

Ngawang Namgyal Ngawang Namgyal (later granted the honorific Zhabdrung Rinpoche, approximately "at whose feet one submits") (; alternate spellings include ''Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel''; 1594–1651) and known colloquially as The Bearded Lama, was a Tibetan Buddh ...

, 1st

Zhabdrung Rinpoche Zhabdrung (also Shabdrung; ; "before the feet of ones submit") was a title used when referring to or addressing great lamas in Tibet, particularly those who held a hereditary lineage. In Bhutan the title almost always refers to Ngawang Namgyal (159 ...

, the founder of the Bhutanese state. The monastery, which is now a major teaching and retreat center of the Southern

Drukpa Lineage The Drukpa Kagyu (), or simply Drukpa, sometimes called either Dugpa or " Red Hat sect" in older sources,

of the

Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...

school of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

, is located at the northern end of the

Thimphu Thimphu (; dz, ཐིམ་ཕུག ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's ''dzongkhags'', the Thimphu District. The ancient ...

Valley about from the capital. It sits on a hill above the end of the road at Dodeyna and it takes about an hour to walk up the steep hill to reach the monastery from there. According to Bhutanese religious histories, the place was first visited by

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

in the 8th century. In the 13th century it was visited by

Phajo Drugom Zhigpo Phajo Drugom Shigpo () 184−1251 / 1208−1275was a Tibetan Buddhist particularly important in the early spread of the Drukpa school to Bhutan where he is revered as an emanation of Avalokiteśvara. His descendants played a significant role in t ...

the Tibetan Lama who first established the Drukpa Kagyu tradition in Bhutan. Johnsingh (2005) describes the beauty of the place and the occurrence of

goral The gorals are four species in the genus ''Naemorhedus''. They are small ungulates with a goat-like or antelope-like appearance. Until recently, this genus also contained the serow species (now in genus '' Capricornis''). Etymology The original ...

there.

Chagri Dorjeden was the first monastery established in Bhutan by Ngawang Namgyal in 1620 when he was 27 years old. The Zhabdrung spent three years in strict retreat at Chagri and resided there for many periods throughout the rest of his life. It was at Chagri in 1623 that he established the first Drukpa monastic order in Bhutan. In 1705, the 7th

Druk Desi The Druk Desi ( Dzongkha: འབྲུག་སྡེ་སྲིད་; Wylie:'' 'brug sde-srid''; also called " Deb Raja")The original title is Dzongkha: སྡེ་སྲིད་ཕྱག་མཛོད་; Wylie: ''sde-srid phyag-mdzod''. ...

Umze Peljor Samten Tenzin, better known as Umze Peljor, (died 1707) was the 7th Druk Desi or head of government of Bhutan from 1703 until his death. Inexperienced as a politician and of mild character, Peljor served as little more than a co-ruler to the more p ...

, retired to Chagri Monastery, where he lived until his death in 1707.

References

Sources

* * Ardussi, John (2004);
Formation of the State of Bhutan ('Brug gzhung) in the 17th century and its Tibetan Antecedents
''in'
Journal of Bhutan Studies
Vol 11 2004,

Centre for Bhutan Studies The Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH Research (formerly The Centre for Bhutan Studies) is a research institute located in Thimphu, Bhutan, established in 1999 with the purpose of promoting research and scholarship in Bhutan. The president of the c ...

, Thimphu. * Dargye, Yonten and Sørensen, P.K. (2001); ''The Biography of Pha 'Brug-sgom Zhig-po called The Current of Compassion.'' Thumphu:
National Library of Bhutan
* * * *Johnsingh, A. J. T. 2005. A paradise in the Himalaya. ''Frontline'', January, 28: 67–72. Drukpa Kagyu monasteries and temples in Bhutan 1620 establishments in Bhutan Tibetan Buddhism in Bhutan 17th-century Buddhist temples {{Buddhism-monastery-stub