Ngor or Ngor Éwam Chöden (, ) is the name of a monastery in the

Ü-Tsang Ü-Tsang is one of the three traditional provinces of Tibet, the others being Amdo in the north-east, and Kham in the east. Ngari (including former Guge kingdom) in the north-west was incorporated into Ü-Tsang. Geographically Ü-Tsang covered ...

province of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

about southwest of

Shigatse Shigatse, officially known as Xigazê (; Nepali: ''सिगात्से''), is a prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Its area of jurisdiction, with an area of , corresponds to the histor ...

and is the

Sakya The ''Sakya'' (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu. Origins Virūpa, 16th century. It depic ...

school's second most important

gompa A Gompa or Gönpa ( "remote place", Sanskrit ''araṇya''), also known as ling (), is a Buddhist ecclesiastical fortification of learning, lineage and sādhanā that may be understood as a conflation of a fortification, a vihara and a universit ...

. It is the main temple of the large Ngor school of

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

, which represents eighty-five percent of the Sakya school.

History

The origins of the Ngor school go back to Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo (also Kunga Zangpo or Kun dga 'bzang po, ) (1382-1444 CE), who was born and educated at Sakya and founded this monastery in 1429. It was renowned for its rich library of Sanskrit texts and magnificent 15th-century Newar-derived paintings. Of its 18 colleges, and Upper and Lower Tsokangs, only one building, the Lamdre Lhakang, has been restored. There were once some 400 monks, but now there are only a few. Below the lhakang there is a row of 60 stupa renovated but missing the magnificent

mandala A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...

paintings they once contained, but which are now preserved in Japan and have been documented and published.

Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrup Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub (born 1497 in Sakya (tribe), Sakya - died 1557) was a Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhist monk, abbot, teacher and writer. He entered Buddhist monasticism, monastic life at the age of 13, when he began his Buddhist studies. ...

, born in

in 1497, was a famous practitioner who became the tenth abbot of Ngor Ewam Choden monastery. The two other main sects of the Sakya school are Sakya proper and

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

. The main Ngor temples are found in the Kham region of Tibet. The Ngorpa school is characterized by an emphasis on

tantra Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the Indian ...

balanced with study and practice. It is known for a mastery of ritual and practice of long retreats including lifelong retreats. The present leader of the Ngor is HE Luding (or Lhuding) Khenpo, who now lives in northern India.Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005), p. 280.

Footnotes

References

* Dorje, Gyurme. (1999). ''Footprint Tibet Handbook: with Bhutan'', 2nd Edition, p. 261. Footprint Travel Guides. , . * Dowman, Das (1988). ''The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide''. Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London & New York. . * Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. ''Tibet''. (2005). 6th Edition. Lonely Planet. . * Tucci, Giuseppe. (1980). ''The Religions of Tibet''. University of California Press. Paperback edition 1988. (cloth); (pbk.) *von Schroeder, Ulrich. 2001. ''Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet''. Vol. One: ''India & Nepal''; Vol. Two: ''Tibet & China''. (Volume One: 655 pages with 766 illustrations; Volume Two: 675 pages with 987 illustrations). Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Publications, Ltd. Ngor pp. 554, 706, 870, 872, 1082, 1124, 1131, 1206, 1208–1216, 1209, 1210, 1212, 1214, 1216; Lam ’bras lha khang («lamdre lhakhang»); Pls. 40, 50C, 106B–C, 170C, 257A, 281D, 330–335; gTsug lag khang («tsuglagkhang»), Fig. XVIII–4; Plates 106D, 255A, 304D–E.

External links

Link to the French Buddhist Ngor temple.For a photo of HE Lhuding Khenpo34 different Mandalas from Ngor Monastery
{{Buddhist monasteries in Tibet 1429 establishments in Asia Religious buildings and structures completed in the 1420s Religious organizations established in the 1420s Buddhist monasteries in Tibet Buddhist temples in Tibet History of Tibet Sakya monasteries and temples 15th-century Buddhist temples