Ngawa or Aba town ( Burmese: ငါဝမြို့, Standard Tibetan: Ngawa) is the seat of Ngawa (Aba) County, within the Ngawa (Aba) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in northwestern

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, China. It is located on the

Tibetan plateau The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the ...

at an elevation of . The city is about from Jigdril, 254 km from Barkham ( Ma'erkang) and from Mewa ( Hongyuan). Ngawa (Aba) County has 70,000 inhabitants, about 8,000 of them

Tibetan Buddhist 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 ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s, and others are Tibetan Buddhist

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s. The city has about 20,000 people. There are 37

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

and

nunneries A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

in the area, two of the largest in Aba City itself. There are mainly grasslands and forested valleys in the south.

Culture

Aba County is mainly inhabited by Tibetans. The major festivals are:Aba County – the sacred land
/ref> *Great Prayer Festival: January 8 to January 15 according to the Tibetan calendar *Six-Four Festival: June 11 to June 17 according to the Tibetan calendar *Zachong Festival: September 15 to September 17 according to the lunar calendar *Horse Race Festival: Middle of July according to the lunar calendar

Monasteries and Nunneries

* Kirti Gompa, (sometimes referred to as Gerdeng Monastery), properly known as Kirti Kalari Gon Tashi Lhundrub, is 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 on the northwestern edge of the town. It was founded in 1472 by Rongpa Chenakpa, a disciple of

Tsongkhapa Tsongkhapa ('','' meaning: "the man from Tsongkha" or "the Man from Onion Valley", c. 1357–1419) was an influential Tibetan Buddhist monk, philosopher and tantric yogi, whose activities led to the formation of the Gelug school of Tibetan Budd ...

, and now houses about 2,500 monks. * Nangzhik Gompa and Topgyel are both

Bon ''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in t ...

monasteries are just northeast of the town. There are between 800 and 1000 affiliated monks.Dorje (2009), p. 780. * Setenling Gompa is a Buddhist monastery of the

Jonangpa The Jonang () is one of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Its origins in Tibet can be traced to early 12th century master Yumo Mikyo Dorje, but became much wider known with the help of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, a monk originally trained in the S ...

tradition about a kilometre from the eastern end of the town. It was founded by Namnang Dorje in the 13th-14th centuries, and reconstituted in the late 19th century by Dro-ge Yonten Gyatso. There are about 800 or 1000 affiliated monks. * Mani Nunnery * Dragkar Nunnery

"There are many monasteries scattered around the town, and they are all worth visiting."Kotan Publishing (2000), p. 226.

Transport

Aba County is well connected to many provincial towns and cities. Aba is the biggest transport hub within the prefecture. There are long haul buses heading for Aba from Chengdu City, Mianyang City, Songpan County, Ma'er Kang County, Jinchuan County, Wenchuan County, Hongyuan County, Heishui County and Xiangtang County daily.

Attractions

Jiuzhaigou Valley Jiuzhaigou (; ) is a nature reserve and national park located in the north of Sichuan Province in southwestern China. A long valley running north to south, Jiuzhaigou was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1992 and a World Biospher ...

- National Park *Huanglong Valley - scenic spot very close by *Wolong Nature Reserve - China's largest natural habitat for giant pandas *Miyaluo - scenic spot *Shrine honoring Rapten Tinley.

Footnotes

References

* Dorje, Gyurme (2009). ''Footprint Tibet Handbook''. Footprint Books. . * Kotan Publishing (2000). ''Mapping the Tibetan World''. Kotan Publishing, 2004 reprint. . * Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005). ''Tibet'' (6th edition). Lonely Planet publications. .

External links

Jiuzhai Valley National Park (Jiuzhaigou)
{{authority control Towns in Sichuan Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture