Once Tsedang was one of the largest cities in Tibet and currently, it is the capital of the Lhoka district of Tibet Autonomous Region, exercising direct control over the affairs of 13 major counties. It is considered to be the cradle of Tibetan civilization, also known as Yarlung Valley, in that the Zodang Gongpori caves above the town are said to be the place where the Tibetan race originated.
The Yarlung valley consists of the three sacred places (Ne-sum) Yumbhu Lhakang, Sheldrak Caves and Tradruk monastery, the three sacred receptacles (Tan-sum); Takchen Bumpa, Gongtang Bumpa, and Tsechu Bumpa are particularly important. Further south in the Yarlung valley kinship and agriculture was first introduced.
It is the first palace of the Yarlung dynasty of Tibet. Mount Lhababri on the west side of the valley is regarded as the place where the first Tibetan King of the Yarlung Dynasty, Nyatri Tsenpo arrived from the heavens, or from India to rule among men.
Yumbhu Lhakhang palace was the first fortress for the king and his descendant introduced agriculture into the valley at a place called Zortang, which was identified as a plot of and at Lharu below Yumbhu Lhakhang.
The palace appears to have been refurbished by Lhatotori Nyentsen the 28th King of Tibet. Legend says, in 433 CE Buddhist texts including the Karandavyuhasutra are said to have miraculously fallen upon the palace roof, heralding the first appearance of Buddhism in Tibet. But the text was not understood but venerated until the 33rd King Songtsen Gampo embraced Buddhism, five reigns later.
Lhatotori Nyentse ‘s tomb is located within the ridge above Yambhu Lhakhang. Extension to the palace was added in subsequent centuries, The two lower chapels by Songtsen Gampo and the gold roof by the fifth Dalai Lama.
There are three important caves in the Pema Tsekri range, which dominate the west entrance to the Yarlung valley. The east-facing cave Sheldrak Drubpuk is the first of Padmasambhava’s meditation caves in Tibet, from where the indigenous hostile forces and demons were bound under an oath of allegiance to Buddhism.
The north-facing cave of Tsogyal Sangpuk or the secret meditation cave of Yeshi Tsogyal is identified by a distant prayer flag to the south of the main cave. The west-facing cave Pema Shelpuk is the celebrated terma site where Orgyen Lingpa revealed the seminal text titled life and liberation of Padmasambhava also known as Pema Kathang in Tibetan.
Sheldrak caves are about 10-15km from Tsedang and hiking around the caves take 5-6 hour.
Tradruk temple is the earliest of Tibet’s great geomantic temples apart from the Jokhang Temple but some sources even claim it to predate the latter. It was constructed by King Songtsen Gampo on the left shoulder of the supine ogress, symbolizing the rigors of Tibetan terrain. The name Tradruk is said to be derived from a falcon (Tra in Tibetan) emanated by the power of Songtsen Gampo’s meditations, which overwhelmed a local dragon (druk in Tibetan) divinity to facilitate the temple’s construction.
Later the temple was renovated by King Trisong Detsen and the fifth Dalai Lama in 1351. The seventh Dalai Lama added the golden roofs on the temple. It had 21 temples. The physical appearance is similar to the Jokhang temple in Lhasa but the Tradruk temple is smaller.
Tradruk temple is located in Tsedang city, it is on the left side of the main road to Yumbhu Lhakhang.