Thikse Monastery

In the early 15th century, Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug School—often called "the Yellow Hats"—sent six of his disciples to remote regions of Tibet to spread the teachings of the new school. Tsongkhapa gave one of his disciples, Jangsem Sherap Zangpo (Wylie: shes rab bzang po), a small statue of Amitayus (the saṃbhogakāya form of Amitābha), containing bone powder and a drop of Tsongkhapa's own blood. Tsongkhapa directed him to meet the King of Ladakh with a message seeking his help in the propagation of Buddhism.^[6][7]

The King, who was then staying in the Nubra Valley near Shey, loved the gift of the statue. After this meeting, the King directed his minister to help Sherab Zangpo to establish a monastery of the Gelug order in Ladakh. As a result, in 1433, Zangpo founded a small village monastery called Lhakhang Serpo "Yellow Temple" in Stagmo, north of the Indus. In spite of his efforts, the lamas who embraced the Gelug order were initially few, although some of his disciples became eminent figures over the years.^[6][7][8][9]

In the mid 15th century, Palden Zangpo continued the monastic work started by his teacher, Sherab Zangpo. He decided to build a larger monastery here that was dictated by an unusual event that occurred while choosing a site. Legends narrate that Tsongkhapa had predicted that his doctrine would prosper on the right bank of the Indus River. This prediction came true when the Thiksey Monastery was established. This was followed by others such as Spituk Monastery and Likir Monastery, which are also situated on the right bank of the Indus.^[2]

According to legend, Sherab Zangpo and Palden Zangpo were performing sacred rituals near the Yellow Temple. The torma offerings were then taken to a rock outcrop to be thrown down to the valley. As they were about to throw the torma into the valley, two crows appeared and carried away the ceremonial plate with the offering of torma. They then placed the torma at a location on the other side of the hill. When Palden Zangpo and his disciples began looking for the torma, they reached Thiksey, where they found that the crow had placed the torma on a stone in perfect order and in an undisturbed condition. Palden took this finding as a divine directive to build the monastery there.^[2][10]

Left: View of the monastery from across the valley.
Right: Panoramic view of the valley from Thikse monastery

The new Thiksey monastery was located a few kilometres away from Stagmo, on a sacred hill above a village of the same name. The monastery is believed to have been built on the site of an earlier Kadam establishment or as a daughter house of the small chapel of Stakmo about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to the north.^[10][11] Rinchen Zangpo is also known to have built a temple named Lakhang Nyerma at Thiksey dedicated to the protector Dorje Chenmo. Today, all that can be seen are some ruins.

Thiksey grew in prominence in Ladakh, second only to Hemis Monastery, administering ten other monasteries in the region, such as Diskit, Spituk, Likir and Stok. The monastery came to own or control 1,327 acres (537 ha) of land and some 25 villages became attached to the monastery.^{[citation needed]} In around 1770, the lama of Hanle Monastery dictated that his elder son should inherit the throne of Ladakh while other princes should be lamas at Thikse and Spituk. As a result, princes such as Jigsmet Namgyal served as lamas at Thikse.^[12]

Quick Facts Nyerma Nunnery, Religion ...

Nyerma Nunnery
Religion
Affiliation	Tibetan Buddhism
Sect	Gelug
Leadership	Padma Dechen[22][23]
Location
Location	Nyerma, Ladakh, India
Location within Kashmir region
Geographic coordinates	34.03906°N 77.68427°E / 34.03906; 77.68427

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The nunnery or the school for the community of nuns is located within the precincts of the monastery and is managed by the monastery administration. In Ladakh, nunneries were held in a grossly inferior status and Buddhist nuns in particular lived in appalling conditions.^[24] In the 1990s, awareness was raised on the status of the nuns in Ladakh, and Thiksey received a degree of international attention and support.^[24] In 1995, the Sakyadhita Conference of Buddhist Women was held in Leh, leading to the establishment of the Ladakh Nuns Association in 1996. This was important in raising the status of the nuns in Ladakh, to ensure a shift in their functional role of "servitude and to one of true spiritual practice".^[24] The Chief Lama, Thiksey Rinpoche of Thiksey Monastery was also important in these positive developments in the betterment of nuns. The monastery donated the land for a new nunnery at Nyerma, near Thiksey, at the same place where the very first monastic seat was established by Rinchen Zangpo, the Tibetan translator, in the tenth century. The nunnery is now under the patronage of Thiksey Monastery.^[24]

Today the nunnery houses 26 nuns, ranging from the ages of 43 to 87.^[24] The nuns themselves had taken steps to assert their position in the society by changing their traditional name of ‘ani’ (literal meaning "aunt" – a derogatory connotation of a servant) to "cho-mos", the "female religious practitioners".^[24] They even adopted the testament of Mahaprajapati on this issue, expressed by Buddha's aunt and nun as their anthem.^[24] Under the influence of the 14th Dalai Lama's words, Thiksey Rinpoche Nawang Jamyang Chamba Stanzin and Tsultrim Tharchin, a geshe became nuns’ activists at Thiksey.^[24] The Dutch Foundation for Ladakhi Nuns (DFLN), a charitable organisation also operates in Nyerma, providing monetary and individual services to support the Buddhist nuns of Ladakh.^[25]

As of 2020, the abbess of Nyerma Nunnery was Padma Dechen.^[26][27]

The annual festival held in the monastery precincts is known as the Gustor ritual, which is held from the 17th to 19th day of the ninth month of the Tibetan calendar (October–November). Sacred dances such as the mask dance or Cham dance are performed as a part of this ritual.^[21][28] Another special feature is the trade fair held at the base of the monastery, in which villagers from all over Ladakh assemble to barter and trade items and socialize. Sand mandalas are made for smaller festivals.^[21] The morning prayers at 07:00, with synchronized chanting of sūtras at this monastery, attract many worshippers to the services.^[2][21]

• List of buddhist monasteries in Ladakh
• Geography of Ladakh
• Tourism in Ladakh