Tengboche Monastery

Tengboche Monastery (or Thyangboche Monastery), also known as Dawa Choling Gompa, in the Tengboche village in Khumjung in the Khumbu region of eastern Nepal is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Sherpa community. Situated at , the monastery is the largest gompa in the Khumbu region of Nepal. It was built in 1916 by Lama Gulu with strong links to its mother monastery known as the Rongbuk Monastery in Tibet. In 1934, it was destroyed by an earthquake and was subsequently rebuilt. In 1989, it was destroyed for a second time by a fire and then rebuilt with the help of volunteers and international assistance. Tengboche monastery is amidst the Sagarmatha National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site of "outstanding universal value”), draped with a panoramic view of the Himalayan Mountains, including the well-known peaks of Tawache, Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, and Thamserku. Tengboche is the terminus site of the "Sacred Sites Trail Project" of the Sagarmatha National Park that attracts large number of tourists for trekking and mountaineering. It is a circular trail that covers 10 monasteries in a clockwise direction terminating in the Tengboche Monastery. The Khumbu valley, where the monastery is, came under the influence of Buddhism about 350 years back. Ancient scriptures of Tibet refer to this valley along with Rowlang and Khanbalung valleys as sacred places. Lama Sangwa Dorje is referred to as the founder of the oldest monastery in Khumbu at Pangboche as well as many other small hermitages. His divine psychic knowledge and clairvoyant vision had prophesied suitability of establishing a monastery at Tengboche based on a footprint on a rock left by him while meditating. However, the actual establishment of the monastery happened only during Ngawang Tenzin Norbu's time; Norbu was considered Sangwa Dorje's fifth incarnation. He had established a monastery at Rongbuk in Tibet on the northern face of Mount Everest. He blessed Chatang Chotar, known as Lama Gulu, to found the Tengboche monastery at Tengboche village.