Thrangu Monastery

Thrangu (or Trangu) Monastery is located about 7 km south of Jyekundo in the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province, China, or the traditional Tibetan cultural region of Kham.

For the Canadian monastery, see Thrangu Monastery (Richmond, British Columbia).
Thrangu Monastery
Tibetan transcription(s)
Tibetan: གཡེར་པ
Chinese transcription(s)
Traditional: 創古寺
Simplified: 创古寺
Pinyin: Chuànggǔ Sì
Religion
AffiliationTibetan Buddhism
SectKargyu
LeadershipThrangu Rinpoche
Location
LocationYushu Prefecture, Qinghai, China
CountryChina
Thrangu Monastery is located in Qinghai
Thrangu Monastery
Location within Qinghai province
Geographic coordinates32°57′30″N 97°01′0″E
Architecture
Founderthe Seventh Karmapa

Description

Prior to the huge earthquake on 16 April 2010 (see next section), the monastery, which was magnificently located on grasslands backed by a huge wall of granite,[1] consisted of two buildings about 70 metres apart, known as the upper and lower monasteries. The monastery was approached from the road past a row of eight stupas.

The "lower monastery" had a renovated assembly hall with 80 pillars, gilded images of the 'Buddhas of the Three Times', and murals showing the previous 16 Karmapa Lamas. There were also images of Milarepa, a four-armed Avalokiteshvara, Padmasambhava and Shakyamuni seated on a throne.

The "upper monastery", completely destroyed in the 2010 earthquake, had been restored in 1998, and had an image of Shakyamuni Buddha, flanked by the 'Thousand Buddhas' and an image of Vajradhara. The fine Repkong-style murals depicted the 'Twelve Deeds of Shakyamuni'. The outlying buildings were used by people from the neighbouring village to store grain.[2]

About 10 km northwest up a side road one comes to the rock inscriptions in both Tibetan and Chinese at Bida, some of which are claimed to have been naturally produced, linking the region with the Chinese Princess Wencheng who is said to have stayed here for one month on her way to marry king Songtsen Gampo, circa 640 CE, in Lhasa. There is a large engraved image of Princess Wencheng on a cliff behind the monastery. The Tibetan name for the site is Nampar Nangdze Lhakang.[3] There is a temple here which was previously under the care of the Drigung Kagyu school but, more recently had been looked after by the monks from Thrangu.[4]

2010 Yushu earthquake
Ruins of Thrangu Monastery [2012]

Thrangu Monastery and the surrounding areas, including nearby Jyekundo or Gyêgu town, the regional capital, were severely damaged in the 2010 Yushu earthquake. Many monks and thousands of laypeople died. A report filed on 16 April 2010 stated:

"Khenpo drove to Thrangu monastery yesterday, after I spoke to him on the phone, because he heard that the damage was so severe there. He said that there were a lot of people digging in the ruins there but the monastery is in very bad shape. None of the monks’ housing there is still standing. The Mahakala shrine building collapsed. The main lhakang [Assembly Hall] is still standing but is heavily damaged and will have to be rebuilt. He asked people there how many monks had died and was told that no one knows yet. One monk told him sixty to seventy monks had died and another told him at least thirty. There are also two villages very close to Thrangu monastery and he said that they are completely destroyed without a single house still standing so a lot of people must have died there as well. He said that Aten Rinpoche has two cousins who were killed at Thrangu monastery."[5]

The earthquake struck on April 14, 2010, and registered a magnitude of 6.9Mw[6][7] (USGS, EMSC) or 7.1Ms[8][9] (CEA, CENC). It originated in Yushu, Qinghai, China, at 7:49 am local time.[10][11] According to the Xinhua News Agency, 2,698 people have been confirmed dead, 270 missing, and 12,135 injured of which 1,434 are severely injured.[12] The epicenter was located in Rima village (日玛村/日麻村), Upper Laxiu township (上拉秀乡) of Yushu County,[13][14] in remote and rugged terrain, near the border of Tibet Autonomous Region. The epicenter is about 30 km from Jyekundo or Gyêgu town, the seat of Yushu County,[15] and about 240 km from Qamdo.[6] The epicenter was in a sparsely populated area on the Tibetan plateau that is regularly hit by earthquakes.[16]

Yushu New Thrangu Gompa

For the monastery's reconstruction a new site a few kilometres further south was chosen. Its location near Mahavairocana Temple, also known by the name "Wencheng Temple", which Thrangu's monks traditionally take care of, is at the entrance of the small gorge to the main valley. The reconstruction work was financially supported by the Chinese government. The new monastery was completed in mid-August 2015.

New Thrangu Monastery opens in Canada

Thrangu Monastery, Canada's first traditional Tibetan Buddhist monastery, was officially opened in Richmond, British Columbia, on 25 July 2010 by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, the worldwide leader of Thrangu Monasteries.[17]

The Assembly Hall of the new monastery contains a four-metre tall gold-plated statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, "filled with precious offerings including scriptures, scrolls and sacred stones and pebbles from 108 different countries, including China(including Hong Kong and Tibet), India, Sri Lanka and Canada. The shrine hall can comfortably accommodate up to 500 people."[18]

Footnotes
  1. Mayhew and Kohn (2005), p. 243.
  2. Dorje (2009), p. 616.
  3. Kotan Publishing (2009), p. 217.
  4. Dorje (2009), p. 617.
  5. "Earthquake in Tibet". Archived from the original on 2010-04-18. Retrieved 2010-07-25.
  6. "Magnitude 6.9 – SOUTHERN QINGHAI, CHINA". earthquake.usgs.gov. 2010-04-14. Archived from the original on 2010-04-17. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  7. "EMSC – European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre". Emsc-csem.org. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  8. About 400 dead, 10,000 injured in 7.1-magnitude quake in China's Qinghai, xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  9. China Earthquake Network Center Archived 2010-04-21 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Magnitude 6.9 – SOUTHERN QINGHAI, CHINA 2010". USGS. April 14, 2010. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  11. "兰州军区和武警部队官兵投入青海玉树抗震救灾 Xinhua.net 14 April 2010". News.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  12. "China to mourn quake dead, public entertainment to be suspended". Xinhuanet. Xinhua News Agency. 2010-04-20. Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  13. "BBC 中文网 – 兩岸三地 – 青海玉樹地震已造成至少400多人死亡". Bbc.co.uk. 14 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-14.
  14. "815 郵政編碼(郵遞區號)查詢 – 郵編庫(繁體)" (in Chinese). Postcode.jamesqi.com. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2010-04-14.
  15. "青海玉树地震造成人员伤亡 州府结古镇民房倒塌严重_新闻中心_洛阳网". News.lyd.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  16. Michael Bristow (14 April 2010). "China earthquake kills hundreds in Qinghai". BBC World.
  17. "1,036 Buddhas oversee worship at new monastery. It is Canada's first traditional Buddhist monastery.
  18. ["Canada's first traditional Tibetan Buddhist monastery opens". Archived from the original on 2010-07-27. Retrieved 2010-07-24. "Canada’s first traditional Tibetan Buddhist monastery opens." By Andrea Woo, Vancouver Sun July 23, 2010.

References
  • Dorje, Gyurme (2009). Footprint Tibet Handbook. Footprint Books. ISBN 978-1-906098-32-2.
  • Kotan Publishing (2000). Mapping the Tibetan World. Kotan Publishing, 2004 reprint. ISBN 0-9701716-0-9.
  • Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005). Tibet (6th edition). Lonely Planet publications. ISBN 1-74059-523-8.
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