Yangpachen Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist

Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...

 monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 in Yangpachen

Yangpachen

Yangbajain is a town approximately north-west of Lhasa, halfway to Damxung in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The town lies just south of the Nyainqêntanglha Mountains, in an upland lush green valley surrounded by the tents of nomads with grazing yak and sheep populating the hillside...

 (Tibetan: yangs pa can; Thub btsan yangs pa can), in the Lhasa Prefecture

Lhasa Prefecture

The Lhasa Prefecture is a prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. The principal centre is the city of Lhasa, also the capital of the region and cultural centre of Tibet.-Administration:...

 of Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

. It is historically the seat of the Shamarpa

Shamarpa

Shamarpa of the Red Crown"), also known as Shamar Rinpoche or more formally Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche is a lineage holder of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and the mind manifestation of Amitabha Buddha, He is traditionally associated with Yangpachen monastery near Lhasa.The first...

s of Karma Kagyü

Karma Kagyu

Karma Kagyu , or Kamtsang Kagyu, is probably the largest and certainly the most widely practiced lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mongolia, India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and current...

. It is about 85 km southeast of Lhasa "on the northern side of the Lhorong

Lhorong County

Lhorong County, is a county of the Chamdo Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region...

 Chu valley above the Lhasa-Shigatse highway."

History

It was founded around 1504 by the 4th Shamarpa

Shamarpa

Shamarpa of the Red Crown"), also known as Shamar Rinpoche or more formally Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche is a lineage holder of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and the mind manifestation of Amitabha Buddha, He is traditionally associated with Yangpachen monastery near Lhasa.The first...

 who on finding the site proclaimed, "There shall be a monastery built on the left side of the Yangpachen as the support for Kagyu

Kagyu

The Kagyu, Kagyupa, or Kagyud school, also known as the "Oral Lineage" or Whispered Transmission school, is today regarded as one of six main schools of Himalayan or Tibetan Buddhism, the other five being the Nyingma, Sakya, Jonang, Bon and Gelug...

 teachings and symbol of everlasting victory".

"Yangpachen Gompa was founded by Murab Jampa Tujepel in 1490 under the auspices of the fourth Sharmapa and financed by the Prince of Rinpung. It was the residence of the Sharmapas for only 300 years.... When the Gorkhali

Gorkhali

Gorkhali was a Nepali language weekly newspaper published from Varanasi, India. It began its publication in 1919. Devi Prasad Sapkota was the editor of the newspaper....

s under Pritvi Narayan Shah, king of the newly unified Kingdom of Nepal, invaded Tibet in 1792 to be defeated by a Chinese army, the tenth Sharmapa was accused of traitorous support of the Nepalis. Yangpachen was confiscated by the Gelukpas, the Sharmapa's hat was buried and recognition of future incarnations was prohibited. In Nepal the present thirteenth Sharmapa has resumed his full status amongst the Karma Kagyupas."

The monastery was attacked around 1980 during the Cultural Revolution

Cultural Revolution

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...

 by the Chinese forces and totally destroyed, but is now being rebuilt.

"The principal lhakang contains some new images; the Pelkor Gomkang contains an original image of Chakdrukpa (Mahakala

Mahakala

Mahākāla is a Dharmapala in Vajrayana Buddhism, and a deity in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, particularly in the Vajrayana school. He is known as Daheitian in Chinese and Daikokuten in Japanese...

) that resisted attempts to destroy it; but the image of Chakdrukpa in the Sinon Gomkang has vanished, along with the glory of Yangpachen."

The associated Dorje Ling (rDo rje gling) Ani Gompa or nunnery is about a day's walk from Yangpachen Monastery and two days' walk north of Tsurphu. It is at the bottom of the eastern face of a long ridge with magnificent views of the high Nyenchen Tanglha

Nyenchen Tanglha

Nyenchen Tanglha or Nyainqêntanglha is a mountain range lying approximately 300 kilometer north-west of Lhasa in central Tibet.The range's highest peak, Mount Nyainqêntanglha, stands at 7,162 metres in Damxung County; the nearest town to this peak is Yangbajain.The mountain range has more than...

range to the north. By 1986 the lhakang and domestic quarters had been rebuilt after the depredations of the Cultural Revolution, and about 30 anis (nuns) were again in residence.