Tolung county has for centuries been the stronghold of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism in Central Tibet owing to the presence there of three great monasteries Tserphu, Nenang, and Yangpachen. The present county capital of Tolung Dechen is located at Namka Ngoshi, a rapidly developed town one kilometer beyond the Dongkar intersection.
Some of the famous destinations in Tolung Dechen county are Tserphu monastery, Nenang Monastery, and Yangpachen hot spring.
Tsurphu monastery was founded in 1187 by the first Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa, who hailed from the Trehor region of Kham and was one of the principal followers of Gampopa. The construction marked the site of the 9th-century ruins Changbu Lhakhang, where he had received a vision of the Cakrasamvara mandala.
As the founder of Karma Kagyu school. He was renowned for his ascetic discipline and yogic prowess and is also credited with the inception of the tulku institution, which later came to dominate Tibet’s spiritual and political life during the Middle Ages. It was he who predicted the circumstances of his subsequent rebirth and his successor Karna Pakshi becoming the first formal incarnation to be recognized in Tibet.
Tsurphu monastery is about 14km from the Nakar valley entrance. It is the seat of the Karmapa and one of the two main strongholds of the Karma Kagyu school in Tibet. The temples, palaces, and monastic colleges of Tserphu were severely damaged during the 1960s but rebuilding has progressed steadily since the 1980s, largely through the efforts of Drupon Dechen Rinpoche.
As you drive into the courtyard, to left is the Shipa Tratsang, in the middle is the Karmapa Labrang (residence) and assembly hall also known as the lower citadel of Dharma (Chogar Wogma) and to the right is the Suri Tratsang. The ruins of the Jamyang Lhakhang Chenmo with its massive four meters thick walls are located behind the Assembly Hall, while higher up the slope stands the reconstructed palace of the regents of Tserphu, known as Gyeltseb Podrang Rinpoche, who would preside over Tserphu during the interregnum following the death of one Karmapa and the investiture of the next.
The precipitous cliffs above Tsurphu contain the hermitage known as Drubdra Samtenling and to its left is the hermitage of Pema Khyung Dzong, once frequented by Karma Pakshi and third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje. Higher up is the cave where Karma Pakshi performed a meditative retreat in darkness(muntsam) and several smaller hermitages. There is a pilgrim circuit around Tserphu which take about three hours commencing west of the perimeter wall and encompassing the Tsurphu charnel ground to the north and the aforementioned cliffside hermitages.
Currently, the monastery is fully reconstructed and around one hundred monks are studying at the monastery.
