Himachal Pradesh Dhankar Monastery
Dhankar Monastery is built at the highest point in the Spiti mountains and formed the capital of Spiti Valley at around 17th century. Located on a cliff, it is a great scenic visual for the tourists as well as the locals, who marvel at the perfect setting of the monastery on the tip of the cliff, with the beautiful Spiti river flowing down the cliff. The monastery is situated between the towns of Tabo and Kaza. Spiti and the Pin rivers, confluence in the point, where this monastery is built. Literarily also, the term Dhankar means fort on a cliff. Even though the monastery was built in the 17th century, the history of this cliff goes back to the 12th century. The monastery is dedicated to the Gelugpa sect of Buddhism.
History
Historically, the Spiti valley region and the cliff on which the Dhankar monastery is built has mentions since the 12th century, although the monastery itself was built during the 17th century AD. It is believed that the rulers of Spiti Valley had their influence on this monastery and even ruled from this location. The Nonos, who were the rulers, allowed cultivation around the monastery. They looked after the safety of the fort monastery and their justice system was quite harsh, finally before the British invasion took away their kingdom. Lha-od seems to be the founder and renovator of the monastery in 1121 AD, who belonged to the Gelupga sect of Buddhism. It is believed by the monks that the monastery dates back prior to the establishment of Tabo Monastery in the neighbourhood Spiti Valley. The monastery is believed to have been plundered many times during the Dogra war.
Architecture
Dhankar Monastery is built on a spur of elevation of 1000 ft, down which there is the meeting point of Pin and Spiti rivers. It was built as a fort monastery, like those of the Key Monastery and Tangyud Monastery. In the area below the cliff which has the Gompa, there is a new building of the Dhankar Monastery, where about 155 monks live. Inside the monastery, there is a museum, which was selected by Worlds Monuments Fund to preserve it as it is considered to be endangered Gompas in the world. The cliff and rocky landscapes are a fearsome sight, although the inside of the gompa contains a statue of Vairochana or Dhayan Buddha. This statue consists of four images sitting back to each other, decorated with various thangkas. About 2.5 kms from the monastery, there is the Dhankar Lake, which is a place to be visited by the tourists, and its speciality is that it is surrounded by glacier mountains. Tabo Monastery is about 25 kms from the Dhankar and Pin Valley National Park is nearby, where one can find the rare Ibex and the Snow leopard. This monastery of Dhankar is the second highest after the Ki Monastery, distanced from the modern civilisation.
Reaching There
Dhankar Monastery, even though is situated on a cliff, it is reached by a road on which motor can be driven. Small vehicles especially are possible to be driven to the monastery. It is approachable from the main Kaza – Samdu road, after travelling for about 24 kms from Kaza. From the branch point, it is about 8 kms to Dhankar.
Dhankar Monastery is about 115 kms from Manali, which takes about 6 hours by road by bus. One can also travel in bus from Shimla, passing through Kinnaur to Kaza. This route is accessible from May till October, but is about 412 kms long. From Kaza, which is the gateway to reach Dhankar Monastery, it is about 25 kms.
Bhuntar Airport is the nearest to Manali. From there, prepaid taxis are available, or else regular buses travel from the airport to Kaza.
Jogindernagar is the railway station nearest to Kaza, which is a narrow gauge line, while Shimla and Chandigarh are the stations with broad gauge railway lines.
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