Buddhist Monasteries in Himachal Pradesh
In Himachal Pradesh, natural beauty abounds and where legends seem to merge with verifiable history, there lies a necklace of Buddhist Monasteries, Gompas etched across its lands scape. And no measure of money can value this treasure, for its significance is something beyond compare. Some Gompas go back to the time when Buddhism was a shadowless sapling in the region. The seed for its rise in the area had been sown in the 7th century AD when the Tibetan King Songsten Gompa was influenced by two of his wives - Wen Cheng from China and Bkrikuti Devi from Nepal. A century later, King Trison Detsen embraced the way of Buddha. From India came masters like Santarakshita and the famous teacher and tantric Padmasambhava.
The 9th century witnessed a break in the spread of Buddhism, but the 10th and 11th centuries witnessed a grand revival and it was an age of great teachers - Atisha, Marpa, Milarepa and Rinchensangpo. With the passage of time, Buddhism became the major religion of Tibet, Ladakh, Lahaul and Spiti and its influence also lay in other neighbouring areas like Kinnaur. The Gompas apart from their religious influence also became the founts of power and the repositories of the regions art and manuscripts. More than 1000 years old, Tabo in Spiti is one of the area's most revered monastery.
There are monasteries which are barely a few decades old and come into being after 1959, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama left Tibet along with several followers and came to reside in India. And as surely as chant of the prayers accompanied with rhythmic drum beats interspersed with the roll of cymbals and calls of long horns ring out of their hallowed halls, the Gompas stand blessing the land and welcoming every pilgrim and traveller.
Also read:
Monasteries in Kinnaur
Monasteries in Spiti
Monasteries in Lahaul
Monasteries in Rewalsar
Monasteries in Kangra
