Monastries In India

Himachal Pradesh Kardang Monastrey

KardangMonostery is one of the popular Buddhist monasteries located in Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh, situated on the bank of river Bhaga above the Kardang Village.

Lahaul&Spiti, where this monastery is situated, is a big district of Himachal Pradesh, having  its international boundary with Tibet and  it became a district in the year 1960, till which time it was a tehsil area.

This monastery ispositioned  amidst the hillocks giving an appearance of a giant cobra raising so high with its tail on the ground and the hood outspread as if to give a strike.

There are about thirty monks and nuns involved in educational activities in the monastery, while two nuns of British origin have had their initiation here.

History

Kardang Monastery was founded nine centuries ago, which was in ruins for many long years, later renovated by Lama Norbu Rinpoche of Kardang in the year 1912AD. He also turned this Monastery into a valuable educational establishment and training camp.

Large collection of  Buddhist literature are placed in a library established in this Monastery, including the Tangyur and Kangyur scriptures made  in the Sherpa or  Bhotia  language, apart from good collection of fine thankas,  musical instruments of lutes, drums, horns, and weapons of old times. TheGompa also houses colourful frescoes and wonderful murals.

The skull and ashes of Lama Norbu are preserved here, while to the right of the first room where they are kept, there  are statues of Padmasambhava and Tara Devi, with that ofTagdenShakyashree, the guru of Lama Kunga behind.  The library has 103 volumes of the Kangyur, besides 64 tantra books on various subjects. The second room is maintained as the main Prayer Hall, where a eleven-headed statue of Avalokitesvara is kept. Lama Norbu's castoff garments ,with a skull in front, are also placed in a high pedestal here.

A six foot wooden prayer wheel  equipped with a brass bell is installed in the third room.

Architecture

Initially KardangMonstery was in ruins, later in 1912 AD it was renovated, however again in 1998, it was lashed by rains and got destroyed. The present head Lama Paljor reconstructed a  new temple between 1999 and 2009, with on a two floor design, each floor having a single room.

In the ground floor there are very old statues and paintings, which includethe  statues  of Buddha Shakjamuni, Buddha Vajradhara and Buddha Padmasambhavain a row and many other statues kept on the right side of the room, such as that ofMahasidha (siddha) ShakyaShri, Buddha Amitabha, Marpa, Tara, Gampopa, Malarepa and Lama Norbu Rinpoche

There are some statues on the right side of the room, which include  Kunga Rinpoche, Apo Rinpoche, YunjinRinponche, Vajrayogini, Heruka Deity and Buddha Avalokiteshwara.

The ceiling of the ground floor is adorned with a number of tradition painting compositions

Festival

Chaam festival is an important festival celebrated in Kardang Monastery, as done in most of the placesin Himachal Pradeshduring the month of June or July every year. Chaam dance is an important event of this festival in which monks and lamas of this region participate. This is referred as the devil dance, and the participants wear exclusive masks and head gears, which depict Gods and Demons.

The dance sequence is so structured that Buddha’s message is conveyed to he mass in an easily understandable manner.  This dance bears enormous religious tone and unshakable faith of the people is well respected in every movement of the dance. The dance is done in slow movements, with music generated by cymbals, pipes and drums. This dance is popular among Tebetans and are widely known in Himachal Pradesh, particularly in Lahaul and Spiti, and also in Kinnaur , besides few other places around Ladakh.

How to Reach

To reach KardangMonastery one has to go to Lahaul valley, which is possible by commuting by air or train and then on by road.

KulluManali is the place the nearest airport is situated for this place, from where one can go uptoKeylong by road through Rohtang Pass by Bus or Jeep. It is a 115 km journey involving 6 hours travel.

A tourist can reach this place from Sutlej Valley by a beautiful road from Kinnanur, arriving at Shimla by air, train or road.

Reaching this place in Himachal Pradesh by road will always be a pleasure, however, part of the year Rohtang Pass will be closed from Mid November to Mid May, while the Kunzam Pass road will be closed between November and June every year.

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