Ralung Monastery (), located in the Tsang region of western

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 ...

south of Karo Pass, is the traditional seat of the

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

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 ...

. It was founded in 1180 by

Tsangpa Gyare The great ascetic Drogon Tsangpa Gyare (1161–1211) was the main disciple of Lingchen Repa Pema Dorje and the founder of the Drukpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism the main or central branch of which was, until the 17th Century, transmitted by his ...

, 1st

Gyalwang Drukpa The Gyalwang Drukpa () is the honorific title of the head of the Drukpa Lineage, one of the independent Sarma (new) schools of Vajrayana Buddhism. This lineage of reincarnated masters started from Tsangpa Gyare, the first Gyalwang Drukpa and fou ...

, a disciple of Lingje Répa () who founded the Drukpa Lineage.Dowman, Keith. 1988. ''The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide'', pp. 268–269. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and New York. .

Location

Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-10-13-27, Tibetexpedition, Landschaftsaufnahme, Ralung

Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-10-13-36, Tibetexpedition, Pferdestall in Ralung

The monastery is located in present-day

Gyantse County Gyantse County officially Gyangzê County (; ) is a county of Xigazê in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Its main settlement is Gyantse Town known for its monasteries. Town and townships 1 town and 18 townships: * Gyangzê (Gyantse) Town (, ) * ...

several kilometers south of the road connecting Nakartse and

Lungmar Lungmar is a village and township in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. See also *List of towns and villages in Tibet This is an alphabetical list of all populated places, including cities, towns and villages, in the Tibet Autonomous Regio ...

, immediately north of the

Gasa district Gasa District or Gasa Dzongkhag ( Dzongkha: མགར་ས་རྫོང་ཁག་; Wylie: ''Mgar-sa rdzong-khag'') is one of the 20 dzongkhags (districts) comprising Bhutan. The capital of Gasa District is Gasa Dzong near Gasa. It is loc ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

. In previous times, trade could be conducted across the

Yak La The domestic yak (''Bos grunniens''), also known as the Tartary ox, grunting ox or hairy cattle, is a species of long-haired domesticated cattle found throughout the Himalayan region of the Indian subcontinent, the Tibetan Plateau, Kachin Sta ...

pass across the high

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, extending the influence of Ralung to the south. The monastery is surrounded by the towering peaks and glacier fields of Gyetong Soksum (6,244m), Jangzang Lhamo (6,324m) and Nojin Gangzang (7,191m). From the beginning the location was recognized as especially auspicious:

History

The founder of Bhutan, the first

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 (15 ...

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 Budd ...

, was the 18th abbot of Ralung Monastery. In 1616, he fled Tibet when his recognition as the reincarnation of renowned scholar

Kunkhyen Pema Karpo Kunkhyen Pema Karpo () (1527–1592 CE) was the fourth Gyalwang Drukpa, head of the Drukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the most famous and learned of all the Gyalwang Drukpas. During his lifetime, he was known as the grand lama among ...

was challenged by the governor of

Tsang province Tsang may refer to: * Ü-Tsang (), a traditional region of Tibet * Tsang (surname) * Zang (surname) (), romanized Tsang in Wade–Giles * Zeng Zeng (, ) is a Chinese family name. In Cantonese, it is Tsang; In Wade-Giles, such as those in Taiwan, ...

. Ngawang Namgyal unified the warring valleys of Bhutan, fending off attacks from Tibet, forming a national identity and establishing a

dual system of government The Dual System of Government is the traditional diarchal political system of Tibetan peoples whereby the Desi (temporal ruler) coexists with the spiritual authority of the realm, usually unified under a third single ruler. The actual distribut ...

that continues to this day in modified form as the Royal Government of

Palden Drukpa lineage

Chart of the hereditary Palden Drukpa lineage () of Ralung from the founder,

, to the last hereditary throne holder, Ngawang Namgyal. Successive throne holders are numbered with their names in bold text.

Footnotes

References

* Dorje, Gyurme; (1999). ''Footprint Tibet Handbook with Bhutan'' (2nd Ed.) Footprint Handbooks. . p. 253.

External links

Ralung Monastery

rwa lung
TBRC G44
Ralung
{{Coord, 28.8347, N, 90.0997, E, source:wikidata, display=title Buddhist monasteries in Tibet Buddhist temples in Tibet Drukpa Kagyu monasteries and temples 1180 establishments in Asia Religious organizations established in the 1180s