Tholing Monastery

Introduction

Meaning "to fly and never fall", Tholing is famous through Ngari, founded by Yeshi-O, an outstanding king of Guge Kingdom at the beginning of 10th century. Yeshi-O was a devout Buddhist, who ever sent 21 youths to learn Tantric Buddhism in Kashmir. Only Rinchen Zangpo and another survived and returned.

History

Rinchen Zangpo, a greatest Buddhist adepter and translator, started to translate Buddhist sutras and develop Buddhism at Tholing, which was set up by Yeshi-O for that purpose. Later Yeshi-O was defeated and captured in an ambitious aggression he launched in order to plunder enough gold to invite Atisa to his Guge Kingdom to push forward Buddhism. He sacrificed his life to send his ransom to Atisa. After his arrival, the monastery gained higher reputation and once became a religious center in Tibet under the royal patron of the Guge Kingdom. Although it faded after the collapse of the Guge Kingdom, Tholing still maintains an important place in Tibet after 900 years in consideration of its significance in the second transmission of Buddhism into Tibet.

Admission fee: RMB50/p.p

open time :any time