Kangsa Village (), poetically known as Darchen, Tarchan or Taqin (, ), is a former
Bhutanese enclave,
currently held by the People's Republic of China and the seat of the
Parga Township,
Purang County,
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of ...
,
China. Thus, it is commonly referred as Parga although there is another smaller settlement formally named
Parga
Parga ( el, Πάργα ) is a town and municipality located in the northwestern part of the regional unit of Preveza in Epirus, northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Kanallaki. Parga lies on the Ionian coast between the ...
after which the Parga Township was named, located on the east of this settlement. It was also previously known as Lhara and still signposted as such. It was previously an important sheep station for nomads and their flocks and had only two permanent buildings; only one of which survived 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 goa ...
and is now used to house Tibetan pilgrims.
[Dorje (2009), p. 412.]
Darchen is situated right in front of the sacred mountain,
Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; ''Kangrinboqê'' or ''Gang Rinpoche''; Tibetan: གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ; ; sa, कैलास, ), is a mountain in the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It has an altitude of ...
. Its altitude is 4,670m (15,321 feet) and it is the starting and ending point point for the
parikrama
Parikrama or Pradakshina is clockwise circumambulation of sacred entities, and the path along which this is performed, as practiced in the Indian religions, Indic religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. In Buddhism, it refers only ...
/
kora of Mount Kailash.
It is only a one-day bus drive (about 330 km) from the town of
Shiquanhe
Shiquanhe (), known in Tibetan as Sênggêkanbab () or Sênggêzangbo, is the main town and administrative seat of Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Shiquanhe is located on the bank of Sênggê Zangbo, the source stream of the I ...
or (Ali) to the northeast, where
Gunsa Airport
Ngari Günsa Airport , also known as Shiquanhe Airport is a dual-use military and civil airport serving the town of Shiquanhe in Ngari Prefecture, between Gar Chongsar and Sogmai, Günsa Township, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. It ...
, opened 1 July 2010, is located, offering flights twice a week to
Lhasa
Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...
and
Chengdu
Chengdu (, ; simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), alternatively romanized as Chengtu, is a sub-provincial city which serves as the capital of the Chinese pro ...
.
[Mayhew and Kohn (2005), p. 209.]["Tibet's fourth civil airport opens."]
/ref> A rough but motorable road extends from Darchen till a few kilometers beyond Diraphuk, below the Drolma La Pass on the Kailash pilgrimage route.
It contains a couple of restaurants and the Ganges guesthouse and restaurant, the Zhusu guesthouse next door, and the Gandise Hotel where Public Security Bureau
A Public Security Bureau (PSB) () of a city or county, or Public Security Department (PSD) () of a province or autonomous region, in the People's Republic of China refers to a government office essentially acting as a police station or a local ...
(PSB) officers are stationed from spring until October, and where pilgrims must get their travel permit stamped, and buy a "ticket" if they wish to circumambulate Mt. Kailash. There are also a few houses, the Swiss-funded Tibetan Medical and Astro Institute and dispensary where doctors are trained in Traditional Tibetan medicine
Traditional Tibetan medicine (), also known as Sowa-Rigpa medicine, is a centuries-old traditional medical system that employs a complex approach to diagnosis, incorporating techniques such as pulse analysis and urinalysis, and utilizes behavior ...
, a number of stores and kiosks, and some camping grounds. Traditionally, pilgrims only eat vegetarian food in the region due to its proximity to the sacred
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...
Lake Manasarovar
Lake Manasarovar (Sanskrit: मानसरोवर), also called Mapam Yutso (;) locally, is a high altitude freshwater lake fed by the Kailash Glaciers near Mount Kailash in Burang County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. The ...
and Mount Kailash.[Kotan Publishing (2004), p. 141.]
History
Darchen was once an enclave of Bhutan, held for almost 300 years and from where Bhutan raised revenue, until the People's Republic of China annexed it in 1959.
/ref>
Nearby monasteries
To the north of Tarqen there's a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery Qögu Gönba (ཆོས་སྐུ་དགོན་པ). Not very far to the south of Tarqen, the Qiu Gönba (, , a.k.a. Jiu Monastery) is a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery at the settlement of Qiu or Jiu (བྱིའུ) or Xungba (གཞུང་པ) village of Parga township, by the Lake Mapam Yumco.
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 Region of western China.
A
*Alamdo
*Alhar
*Arza
*Asog
B
* Baga
*Bagar
* Baidi
*Baima
* Baimai
*Baixoi
*Bamda
*Banag
*Ban ...
References
Bibliography
*Albinia, Alice. (2008) ''Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River''. First American Edition (2010) W. W. Norton & Company, New York. .
*Dorje, Gyurme. (2009) ''Tibet Handbook''. Footprint Handbooks, Bath, England. .
*Kotan Publishing (200) ''Mapping the Tibetan World''. Reprint 2004. .
* Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005) ''Tibet''. 6th Edition. .
* Bubriski, Kevin and Abhimanyu Pandey. (2018)
Kailash Yatra: a Long Walk to Mt Kailash through Humla.
' Penguin Random House, New Delhi. {{ISBN, 978-0670091119
Populated places in Tibet