Shekar Dzong, Shekar Monastery and Shekar (village) in 1921

Shelkar or Shekar, (

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

: , "white crystal") also called New Tingri, is the administrative centre for

Tingri County Tingri County or ''Dhringgri County'' (; ), is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xigazê in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The county comprises the upper valley of the Bum-chu or Arun River, with the valley ...

Shigatse Prefecture 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 ...

in southern

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a Provinces of China, province-level Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China in Southwest China. I ...

Location

The town lies 7 km off the Friendship Highway between

Lhatse The new town of Lhatse or Lhatse Xian, also known as Quxar (, Quxia (), or Chusar, is a small town of a few thousand people in the Tibet Autonomous Region in the valley of the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Lhatse County, southwest of Shigatse and just ...

and Tingri, at an altitude of about 4,300 metres (approx. 14,107 feet), at the southern foot of 5,260 m high Gyatso La. It is approximately 60 km north-west of

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...

and just over 50 km from the Nepali border in the

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Landmarks

Shelkar is famous for the

Shelkar Chode Monastery Shelkar or Shekar, ( Tibetan: , "white crystal") also called New Tingri, is the administrative centre for Tingri County, Shigatse Prefecture in southern Tibet Autonomous Region. Location The town lies 7 km off the Friendship Highway be ...

, a

Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous ...

monastery which was completely destroyed but is being restored. Despite being founded in 1266 by a

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 ...

lama, it has been a

Gelugpa 240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous")Kay, David N. (2007). ''Tibetan and Zen Buddhism in Britain: Transplantati ...

monastery since the 17th century, and formerly had some 400 monks. Although, destroyed by the

Red Guard Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

s during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, the assembly hall has been rebuilt, and there is an active branch monastery in

Boudhanath Bouddha ( ne, बौद्धनाथ; ; , ), also known as Boudhanath, Khasti Chaitya and Khāsa Chaitya is a stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal.Snellgrove, David. ''Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and Their Tibetan Successors'', 2 vols., p. 36 ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. Shelkar-Kloster-02-Portal-2014-gje.jpg, Shelkar-Kloster-10-Klosterplan-2014-gje.jpg, Shelkar-Kloster-14-Dukhang-2014-gje.jpg, Shelkar-Kloster-32-Lhakhang-Schreine-Butterlichter-2014-gje.jpg, Shelkar-Kloster-24-Lhakhang-2014-gje.jpg, Shelkar-Kloster-40-Schutzgottheit-2014-gje.jpg, The old Shekar Dorje

dzong Dzong architecture is used for dzongs, a distinctive type of fortified monastery ( dz, རྫོང, , ) architecture found mainly in Bhutan and Tibet. The architecture is massive in style with towering exterior walls surrounding a complex of cou ...

, or fort, is above the new town and used to enclose Shekar Chode. The ruins of the old Dzong are located on the hill behind the monastery.

Gateway to Everest

The early British expeditions to

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

and

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

all stopped at Shelkar Dzong on their way from

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

to the northern side of Everest.Anderson, Ke
"George Mallory to Sherpa Tenzing - Conquering Mighty Everest"
accessed 23 August 2010

Footnotes

References

* * *

External links

* Photograph of Shekar Dzong in 1924 a
The Bentley Beetham Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelkar Populated places in Shigatse Township-level divisions of Tibet Buddhist monasteries in Tibet Buddhist temples in Tibet 1266 establishments in Asia Tingri County