Ngor Monastery in Samzhubzê District, Shigatse

Chinese Name: 俄尔寺
English Name: Ngor Monastery
Location: Located in Samzhubzê District, Shigatse
Admission Fee: Free
Opening Hours: All the day

About Ngor Monastery
Ngor or Ngor Éwam Chöden is the name of a monastery in the Ü-Tsang province of Tibet about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of Xigazê and is the Sakya school’s second most important gompa. It is the main temple of the large Ngor school of Vajrayana Buddhism, which represents eighty-five percent of the Sakya school.

About Ngor school
The origins of the Ngor school go back to Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo (also Kunga Zangpo or Kun dga ‘bzang po) (1382-1444 CE), who was born and educated at Sakya and founded this monastery in 1429. It was renowned for its rich library of Sanskrit texts and magnificent 15th-century Newar-derived paintings. Of its 18 colleges, and Upper and Lower Tsokangs, only one building, the Lamdre Lhakang, has been restored. There were once some 400 monks, but now there are only a few.

Below the lhakang there is a row of 60 stupa renovated but missing the magnificent mandala paintings they once contained, but which, fortunately, are now preserved in Japan and have been documented and published. Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrup, born in Sakya in 1497, was a famous practitioner who became the tenth abbot of Ngor Ewam Choden monastery. The two other main sects of the Sakya school are Sakya proper and Tsar. The main Ngor temples are found in the Kham region of Tibet.

The Ngorpa school is characterized by an emphasis on tantra balanced with study and practice. It is known for a mastery of ritual and practice of long retreats including lifelong retreats. The present leader of the Ngor is HE Luding (or Lhuding) Khenpo, who now lives in northern India.

Attraction Transportation:
We can take a shuttle bus from Shigatse to Samzhubzê District, then transfer a local mini bus to Ngor Monastery.
Attraction Travel Tips:
· pay attention to respect the local customs in Ngor Monastery.
· 1-2 hours travel.
· best season to travel: all the year round.