Gongga Monastery

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Overview

Gongga monastery is located at the west side of Mt Gongga. It is perched on a small bench on an otherwise steep hillside with altitude of 3740 meters above sea level, overlooking the terminus of a large glacier that descends off the west side of Mt Gongga (7556 meters), the highest peak in the east Tibet of Kham.

Brief

Gongga monastery is the sealed shrine of the Kagyu sect’s succession living Buddha, who is known as Tulku Rinpoche. The reincarnation was formally started here by the Kagyu sect. From this origin, systems of reincarnation—including the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama–were adopted by all major sects of Tibetan religion.

This monastery was damaged during the Cultural Revolution in 1960’s of 20th century. It has been rebuilt by local villagers since the late 1990’s of 20th century. Nowadays, this small Kagyu tradition monastery is getting famous for its wonderful location for those, whom make this fairly tough trek in Mt Gongga. This monastery is also a base for those whom plan to start a mountain climbing to the peak of Mt Gongga.

Gongga Monastery Data

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How to get to there

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There are three “Tsemi villages” that are separately named “Upper Tsemi village”, “Middle Tsemi village” and “Lower Tsemi village”; among of which “Middle Tsemi village” and “Lower Tsemi village” are near each other, and also on the trail to the east slope of Mt Gonga and going to Hailuogou Glacier and Luding county.

“Upper Tsemi village” is at the jeepable road leading onto Tsemi La pass which you can have a full view of Mt Gongga

Gongga monastery is still isolated from outer world, and it is not reach by any vehicle, except motorcycle and tractor. In general, there are two routes that leads to this site

By Trekking
–From north: A 4-5 days trek starting from Kangding leads to Gongga monastery
En route walk over one 5,000 meters pass， The total walking distance could be 45 kilometers

—By Vehicle & Hiking
Depart from Kangding, get to Gonggashan county, then switch to local 4WD vehicle to arrive Upper Tsemi village, from which a 2 hours walking ascending to Gongga monastery