Himachal Pradesh Kungri Gompa
KungriGompa is known for its specialties because it is the only Gompa which follows Nyingmapa Buddhism in Spiti Valley, which is one of the oldest orders of Buddhism. Besides, it is the second oldest Monastery in this region, which fact makes it unique.
KungriGompa is situated in a place which is 10 km from Attargo, in the Pin Valley and Attargo is a location where Spiti river has to be crossed for entering Pin valley.
History
The Kungrigompa was established in the first half of the 14th century, around 1330 and it is known for the tantric art that has been instrumental for its construction, which art the Tibetan Buddhist leaders were in possession of, and even the recent renovation work carried out did not efface the artistic part of the Monastary.
Architecture
KungriGompais built with three separate rectangular blocks, all the blocks facing the eastern direction, each of them carrying the structure of ancient tantric pattern of construction.
There are large number of silk paintings with the images of various Buddhist deities stuck to the the inner walls, huge statues of some of the Gurus and over 300 volumes of the sacred Tibetan texts, along with Kenjur and Tenjurkept with lot of care and concern, in white muslin.
At KungriGompa, there are a number of buzhens toperform sword dance, who are wandering friars choosing to live in the Mud village on the right side of the Pin river bank.
Festivals
Chaam festival is an important festival celebrated in KungriGompa, as done in most of the places in Himachal Pradesh during 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. Other attractions
Other Attractions
- Tabo Monastery is often called Spiti's pride , also the Ajanta of the Himalayas and it is definitely one of the most important places to visit in the valley.
- Dhankar Monastery which is located 7 km from the village Sichling, which is at the confluence of the Spiti and Pin river, is another important place to visit.
- KyeMonastery is another place where there had been three invasions just after 17th century and an destructive earthquake in 1975 and still the artifacts of Buddhist culture available in their original form. Visitors to the is region should not miss going to this place.
- ThangYugGompa which is located 14 km from Kaza, which belongs to the Sakya-pa sect with a head lama from Tibet is another attraction for tourists.
How to Reach
Attargo is approachable by road in two routes. The first route is used between July to October, starting from Manali and reaching Kaza through Rohtang Pass. The second one commences from Shimla and goes to Kaza via Kinnaur, which route will be available between May to October. One has to travel 214 km distance when going through Manali route, while the distance of the route from Shimla it is 412 km.
To reach Manali or Shimla, a traveler can choose air or rail mode, both these destinations having Airports and Railway Stations.
Most of the people walk the distance from Kaza, then to Attargo to reach KungriGompa.
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