Lingshed Monastery
Encyclopedia
Lingshed Monastery or Lingshed Gompa is a Gelugpa Buddhist
monastery in the Zanskar
region in the state of Ladakh
in Jammu and Kashmir
in northern India
. The Jangchub Tensung Dorje Center was founded in Lingshed by Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche
.
The ceremonial life of Lingshed Monastery and its monks is the subject of Identity, Ritual and State in Tibetan Buddhism (Routledge 2003) by the anthropologist Martin A. Mills.
Lingshed Monastery (or Kumbum, meaning 'A Hundred Thousand Images') was founded as a Geluk School Monastery in the 1440s by Changsems Sherabs Zangpo, disciple of the noted Tibetan preceptor Je Tsongkhapa. Local tradition records how Sherabs Zangpo, having founded Karsha and Phugtal Monasteries to the south, travelled over Hanuma-La Pass to the south of Lingshed, from where he saw an 'auspicious shining light' shining on a rock on the hillside. He built a chorten around that rock, and this became the basis of Kumbum's central shrine, Tashi 'Od Bar ('Auspicious Shining Light' shrine).
In 1779, the Ladakhi king Tsewang Namgyal donated the lands of Lingshed and its surrounding villages (along with the Zanskari monasteries and villages of Karsha, Mune, Phuktal and Rangdum) to Lobsang Gelek Yeshe Dragpa, the 3rd incarnate of the Ngari Rinpoche lineage. In 1783, Ngari Rinpoche founded Rangdum Monastery on the boundary of the Karsha Valley as his ecclesiastical seat, to which Lingshed is subordinate.
. It serves the surrounding villages of Lingshed, Skyumpata, Yulchung, Nyeraks, Dibling and Gongma. The monastery consists of six principal shrines, kitchens, store rooms and - on its uppermost floor - an apartment for Ngari Rinpoche or other visiting high lamas. Below the central temple complex, monastic quarters (shak) fan out in long lines. Lingshed monastery also maintains outlying shrines in each of the villages it serves.
It is marked on an early survey map as 'Linshot' and is four marches south of Khalatse
. There were two sons of La-chen-Bha-gan (c. 1470-1500 CE), the third king of the Second West Tibetan Dynasty. The younger son had the eyes of his elder brother, Lha-chen-Lha-dbaṅ-rnam-rgyal (c. 1500-1532), put out and then he took the throne. "Still, for the continuance of the race, he stationed him, together with his wife at Liṅ-sñed" where his wife bore three sons.
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
monastery in the Zanskar
Zanskar
Zanskar is a subdistrict or tehsil of the Kargil district, which lies in the eastern half of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative centre is Padum...
region in the state of Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
in Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
in northern India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The Jangchub Tensung Dorje Center was founded in Lingshed by Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche
Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche
Kyabje Dagom Rimpoche is a Gelug incarnate lama and a direct disciple of Trijang Dorjechang, tutor to the 14th Dalai Lama, from whom he received most of his heart instructions. Rimpoche has been the holder the Ganden 'Ear-Whispered' Lineage until his parinirvana in 2007.- Biography :Kyabje Dagom...
.
The ceremonial life of Lingshed Monastery and its monks is the subject of Identity, Ritual and State in Tibetan Buddhism (Routledge 2003) by the anthropologist Martin A. Mills.
History
Lingshed Village, at the heart of the Trans-Sengge-La region between Ladakh and Zanskar, has been inhabited for nearly a thousand years. It was originally reputed to be a local hunting area, which is the source of its name. The village has been the site of several Buddhist monasteries: the remnants of a cave monastery and two walls dedicated to the translator Rinchen Zangpo (958–1055). Local tradition in the region also speaks of Kadampa and Drugpa Kagyu monasteries in the valley.Lingshed Monastery (or Kumbum, meaning 'A Hundred Thousand Images') was founded as a Geluk School Monastery in the 1440s by Changsems Sherabs Zangpo, disciple of the noted Tibetan preceptor Je Tsongkhapa. Local tradition records how Sherabs Zangpo, having founded Karsha and Phugtal Monasteries to the south, travelled over Hanuma-La Pass to the south of Lingshed, from where he saw an 'auspicious shining light' shining on a rock on the hillside. He built a chorten around that rock, and this became the basis of Kumbum's central shrine, Tashi 'Od Bar ('Auspicious Shining Light' shrine).
In 1779, the Ladakhi king Tsewang Namgyal donated the lands of Lingshed and its surrounding villages (along with the Zanskari monasteries and villages of Karsha, Mune, Phuktal and Rangdum) to Lobsang Gelek Yeshe Dragpa, the 3rd incarnate of the Ngari Rinpoche lineage. In 1783, Ngari Rinpoche founded Rangdum Monastery on the boundary of the Karsha Valley as his ecclesiastical seat, to which Lingshed is subordinate.
Description
The monastery houses about 60 monks and is on the route between Zanskar and LamayuruLamayuru
Lamayuru or Yuru Gompa is a Tibetan Buddhist Gompa in Kargil District, Western Ladakh, situated on the Srinagar - Kargil - Leh road 15 km east of the Fotu La, at a height of 3,510 m.-History:A. H...
. It serves the surrounding villages of Lingshed, Skyumpata, Yulchung, Nyeraks, Dibling and Gongma. The monastery consists of six principal shrines, kitchens, store rooms and - on its uppermost floor - an apartment for Ngari Rinpoche or other visiting high lamas. Below the central temple complex, monastic quarters (shak) fan out in long lines. Lingshed monastery also maintains outlying shrines in each of the villages it serves.
It is marked on an early survey map as 'Linshot' and is four marches south of Khalatse
Khalatse
Khaltse or Khalsi is a village 337 km from Srinigar on the old main road to Leh, where it crossed the Indus over an iron bridge. The population for the region is about 1,600. Much of its importance is because it is the place where the road from Kashmir debouches into the Indus Valley...
. There were two sons of La-chen-Bha-gan (c. 1470-1500 CE), the third king of the Second West Tibetan Dynasty. The younger son had the eyes of his elder brother, Lha-chen-Lha-dbaṅ-rnam-rgyal (c. 1500-1532), put out and then he took the throne. "Still, for the continuance of the race, he stationed him, together with his wife at Liṅ-sñed" where his wife bore three sons.