Dzogchen Monastery

The Dzogchen monastery is located near Manigango town and is situated on a ridge, protruding from a hidden valley. Leaving the G317 national highway and drive across the stream, leading down to the hamlet. The roads cut across a low defile to enter the wonderful hidden valley of Rudam Kyitram where the Dzogchen monastery is located.

The Dzogchen monastery is recognized as the major pilgrimage site of Buddha attributes in Kham Region and as one of the largest monasteries of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism in Derge County.

The monastery was founded in 1684 on the advice of the 5^th Dalai Lama, by the Buddhist master 1^st Dzogchen Pema Rigzin. It was subsequently maintained by his students, including Shechen Rabjam Tempei Gyaltsen and his successive incarnations.

Later, the 2^nd Dzogchen Gyurme Tenchok is known to have inspired the king of Derge to construct the famous printing house Derge Parkhang. The 3^rd Dzogchen Ngedon built 13 hermitages, colleges, and mantra wheels on the campus. Once it had the greatest Nyingmapa colleges in Tibet during the tenure of 4^th and 5^th Dzogchen Rinpoche and established over 200 branches across Tibet. The mother monastery itself had a population of over a thousand monks.

In the early 19^th century, a college was constructed below the monastery by Gyelse Shenpen Thaye at a site consecrated by the ancient Nyingma lineage holder Shrisimha. The college (Shedra) was known thereafter as Shrisimha college. It became renowned for the study of philosophy and Vajrayana until the mid-20^th century. It attracted some of the greatest literati of East Tibet (Kham region), such as Patrul Rinpoche, Mipham Rinpoche, and Khenpo Shega.

Currently, a few hundred monks are studying at the monastery. There are so many temples and stupas across the valley. One of the most visible stupas is the Jarong stupa which resembles the Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal. The valley is divided into three portions, right from the entrance gate of the monastery, there are the monastery’s school, the monastery chapel, and the monk’s quarter. Further on the left, there is a huge squared red building which is a monastic college, and opposite that, there is a monk’s quarter. At the center of the valley, there is a huge stupa and a statue of Guru Padmasambhava in a standing position. Heading up into the valley, there is the residence of the present Dzogchen Pema Kusang behind the main chapel of the Dzogchen monastery.

The ancient hermitage caves and retreat centers are located inside a valley covered with forest. Hiking across the woods, you will witness a series of burial stones marking the graves of past monastic preceptors. Higher up the slope on the same side of the valley are firstly the cave; hermitage of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje known as Tseringma cave because he is said to have met the deity Tseringma here face to face, and secondly that of Patrul Rinpoche.

Continuing hiking up into the valley reached an elevated area, there are some well-constructed and active hermitages. On the hillside to the left, high up and across the rushing river is the hermitage known as Shinje Drupuk (Yamantaka cave) where the master Dodrub Jigme Trinley stayed here. Directly opposite the cave site of the valley is the rock into which the deity Palden Dup vanished after appearing in a vision to Dodrub Jigme Trinley.

Below this cave is another, where Patrul Rinpoche first taught his celebrated text, Words of My Perfect Teacher (Kunzang Lamei Shelung). It contains the meditation box of Patrul Rinpoche and naturally produced the impression of Yamantaka which appeared while Dodrub Rinpoche was engaged in practice there. Lower down the valley is a cave of Mipham Rinpoche containing original but damaged clay relief images of the 25 disciples of Padmasambhava.