Ralung Monastery ར་ལུང་དགོན་པ།

Ralung Monastery is the main seat of the Drukpa Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It is located between Nangatse and Gyantse. An 8km detour off the Friendship Highway will take you off the beaten track across a huge sweeping plan of the Ralung Monastery. The monastery has located at an elevation of 4740 meters above sea level. The monks in the monastery are so welcoming and super kind to the Visitors. So if you would like to visit a very remote monastery with kind and welcoming monks, we would like to recommend you to this monastery.

Legend has it that a shepherd of Nyangtod Village ( Located near the highway) notices that, when he gazes at this flock of sheep and goats at the monastery’s location, a white female-Goat always leaves the flocks. So, out of curiosity, he followed that goat and saw it was sprinkling milk on a rock. When he went to rock for a closer look, He saw the syllable “Ah Hung “ self arose on the rock. Later the stone was an offer to Lingchen Repa when he came to the Village. After hearing about the incident, Lingchen built a cave and meditated here on the site. Since then, the place called Ralung ( prophesied by the goat).

In the year 1193, the Gyalwang Drukpa Tsangpa Gare Yeshi Dorje built the monastery called Shedrub Chokhor Ling Monastery at Ralung following the prophecy of his protective deity. Since then, Ralung Monastery became the chief seat of the Dukpa lineage of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

It was from this monastery the religious leader Nawang Namgyel fled Tibet for Bhutan in the year 1616. He reshaped the country identity and named the country of Bhutan as Druk after the Drukpa Kagyu.

The remote monastery of Ralung is one the most important sites for travellers from Bhutan visiting Tibet for a Pilgrimage trip and a very beautiful and off the beaten destination for avid travellers. The monastery is located at 4740 meters above sea level and 8 kilometres off the beaten from the main Friendship Highway between Nagartse and Gyantse. 

The landscape of the monastery is unique. Ask the monks for a detailed explanation of the special features of the landscape surrounding the monastery. Here is what we found from the Drukpa Lineage website. 

“The landscape had unique features: the land appeared like an eight-petaled lotus in bloom, with the surrounding snowy peaks, rocky mountains, hills and meadows bowing in respect and diverting the inflow hundreds of streams, and the sky above appeared like an eight-spoke wheel. The eight auspicious symbols adorned the surrounding: The mountain in front of the monastery appeared in the form of a white conch turning clock-wise; the peak of Rala pass appeared like a precious open parasol; the peak behind Pokya appeared like a brimming vase; the Tsenchu peak appeared like a victory banner hoisted high; the Yangon hill appeared like a pair of golden fish; the ground at Gormo appeared like a golden wheel; the hill in the direction of Penthang appeared like an open lotus stem with the twin streams appearing like two birds facing each other; and Gyamo meadow appeared like an auspicious knot.”

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