Karsha Monastery, Ladakh, India

Gelug Tradition, 11th century, about 150 monks.

Karsha Monastery or Karsha Gompa is a Buddhist monastery in the Padum Valley of the Zanskar region of the union territory of Ladakh in northern India. It is also known by the name "Karsha Chamspaling.”

Karsha Monastery, Ladakh, India. Photo: Saurabh Sabikhi

Location

The Doda River flows past the monastery from its source at the Drang Drung glacier of the Pensi La (4,400 m).

History

Karsha is the largest and wealthiest monastery in Zanskar. Padmasambhava is associated with the earliest foundations of the building while Lotsawa Pakpa Sherab is credited as founder in the eleventh century, under the Gelugpa Order or the Yellow Hat Order.

Murals suggest a connection to structures built during the period of Rinchen Zangpo.¹ Sherab Zangpo² is credited as rebuilding Karsha, presumably in the fifteenth century.

The oldest remaining structure, an Avalokiteshvara temple, Chuk-shik-jal, contains wall paintings which seem to associate it with the era of Rinchen Zangpo.

Mon people are the dominant population in the village in the Zanskar valley and said to belong to an Aryan race linked to Kaniskha’s period as their features do not match with that of the local tribes or with the Mongolians.

They have been Buddhist in the region from the time of the Kushan dynasty, established by Emperor Kanishka, and are credited with building 30 monasteries, chortens and temples, including the Kursha Monastery in the main Zanskar valley.

Some of the other monasteries built by them are the: Teta, Muni, Phugtal, Pune, Burdal, Togrimo, Padum, Pipting, Tondhe, Zangla, Linshot and Sumda.

Features

The monastery has numerous chapels along with rooms for more than 150 monks, two assembly halls, eight temples and a library. The library is known to be the largest in the region of Zanskar.

Karsha Monatesry collection of texts. Photo: Petr Stanek.

Ancient murals can be seen on the walls of the Thabrang or room of God and religion. These murals history dates back to the 15th century. The other end of the monastery houses a Chomo Gompa or nunnery known as the Dorje Dzong.

A stupa in the precincts of the Kursha monastery houses the mummified body of Rinchen Zangpo and sealed in a wooden box with silver lining.

During the Indo-Pakistan war, the silver sheet covering of the chorten was ransacked, which resulted in exposure of the wooden framework of the reliquary. It was later refurbished and painted.

Festivals

The most important festival, known as the Karsha Gustor, is held with masked cham dances on the 26th to the 29th day of the 11th Tibetan month, which is usually in January.

During the festival, sacred dances are performed mostly to drive off the evil spirits and celebrate the birthday of Tsongkhapa, the illustrious founder of Gelugpa order.

Travel and Visiting

The nearest airport to Karsha monastery is Leh, 450 Km away. Flights from Delhi to Leh are less than two hours, then It takes about ten hours by car to reach the monastery. Zanskar valley is closed from November to May due to heavy snow conditions.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kursha_Monastery
• https://www.nativeplanet.com/kargil/attractions/karsha-monastery
• https://treasuryoflives.org

Footnotes

1. Lochen Rinchen Zangpo (958–1055)་, also known as Mahaguru, was a principal lotsawa or translator of Sanskrit Buddhist texts into Tibetan during the second diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet (or the New Translation School or New Mantra School period). He was a student of the famous Indian master, Atiśa. His associates included (Locheng) Legpai Sherab. Zangpo's disciple Guge Kyithangpa Yeshepal wrote Zangpo's biography. He is said to have built over one hundred monasteries in Western Tibet, including the famous Tabo Monastery in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, Poo in Kinnaur and Rinchenling monastery in Nepal.

Rinchen Zangpo had been sent as a young man by King Yeshe-Ö, the ruler of Zanskar, Guge, Spiti and Kinnaur, with other young scholars to Kashmir and other Buddhist centres to study and bring back Buddhist teachings to Western Tibet. He was possibly the single most important person for the 'Second Propagation of Buddhism' in Tibet. Some sources conflate him with his patron Yeshe-Ö as king of the western Himalayan Kingdom of Guge.

Among his translations are the Viśeṣastavaṭikā by Prajñāvarman, which he undertook together with Janārdhana.

2. Jangsem Sherab Zangpo, also known as Jangsem Sherab Sangpo, (1395-1457) was a Tibetan Buddhist monk and teacher, and one of the six contemporary disciples of Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of one of the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism, the Gelug school. He is credited with establishing the famed Thikse Monastery and the remotely located Phugtal Monastery in Ladakh, in the North Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.