Himachal Pradesh Shashur Monastery
SashurMonastery also referred as ShashurMonostery is one of the Buddhist monasteries belonging to the Drugpa sect located in Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. This Monastery is situated 37 kilometres from Manali.
Lahaul&Spiti, where this monastery is situated, is a big district of Himachal Pradesh, with its international boundary with Tibet and It became a district in the year 1960, till which time it was a tehsil area.
The term Sha-shur implies blue pines if one translates it to local dialects, obviously named after the patches of blue pine found around the monastery.
History
This monastery has its origin in 17th century constructed by Lama Deva Gyatsho of Zanskar, who was from NawangNamgyal’s kingdom and this Lama who visited this place , found the already existing smllerGompa which he improved to the present size of ShashurGompa.
Deva Gyatsho continued to stay at the monastery location till his death and when he was laid in the funeral pyre, people around mentioned that his heart did not burn and was encripted in a black image of Gyatsho.
This monastery also houses a statue of Namgyal , who was a popular king, following Buddhism.
Architecture
The unique feature of this Monastery is the largeThangka paintings and some of them are even over fifteen feet height, wall paintings here depicting all of the 84 siddhas of Buddhism.
Lama DewaGyatsho who organised the renovation work of the monastery gave the construction its present look, making the monastery it unique features that belong to the Red Hat Sect or the Tibetan Buddhist’s Gelukpa order . There is a beautiful main wall, with Sacred inscriptions of Gautam Buddha’s words of wisdom, to see which part one has to climb up the rough terrain.
The brilliant architecture of Shashur Monastery is appreciated not only domestic tourists, but also by International tourists, with its dim chambers possessing priceless Thangka paintings and beautiful wall murals.
Festival
Chaam festival is an important festival celebrated here 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.
How to Reach
To reach Sashur Monastery 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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