Mindrolling Monastery is a small side valley to the south of the road between Dranang and Tsetang. It is a couple of kilometres up the valley to the right and does not come into view until you are directly below the monastery. The monastery is open daily, and there is an admission fee of 30RMB / Person.
Rigzin Terdak Lingpa founded Mindrolling Monastery in 1676. Terdak Lingpa was a renowned teacher who included among his disciples the 5th Dalai Lama.
Another important disciple of his was Lochen Dharmashri, a monk who was master of a wide range of subjects, including medicine, poetry, and painting.
Mindrolling monastery became a centre of learning where officials from the lay government in Lhasa would traditionally be sent to study. It also attracted many monks from the smaller Nyingmapa monasteries in Kham and Amdo, who would be trained in Buddhist philosophy and medicine.
Hermitages and a nunnery built on the hills behind it, and just below it, there used to be a massive 13 story stupa.
This Mindrolling Monastery is one of the six major Nyingmapa traditions monasteries in Tibet. The name in Tibetan means “Place of Perfect Emancipation”.
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Mindrolling Monastery is one of the biggest Nyingmapa monasteries in central Tibet. The monastery is located between Lhasa and Tsetang city.
The unique characteristic of the Mindrolling Monastery is the brownstone walls outside and stands out impressively on the higher reaches of a small valley overlooking the small village below.
A hundred years ago, the Indian scholar Chandra Das remarked that ‘the neatness of the stonework and the finish of all the masonry about the temple were remarkable’. This is still true today and can be observed in your first eyesight.
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