Tsurphu Monastery

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Tibetan Buddhist gompa in Lhasa, Tibet, China

title: "Tsurphu Monastery" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["buddhist-monasteries-in-lhasa-(prefecture-level-city)", "buddhist-temples-in-tibet", "karma-kagyu-monasteries-and-temples", "1159-establishments-in-asia", "religious-organizations-established-in-the-1150s", "doilungdêqên-district"] description: "Tibetan Buddhist gompa in Lhasa, Tibet, China" topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsurphu_Monastery" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Tibetan Buddhist gompa in Lhasa, Tibet, China ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Tibetan Buddhist monastery"]

FieldValue
nameTsurphu Monastery
imageTibet - Tsurpu Monastery 1.jpg
captionTsurphu Monastery
tམཚུར་ཕུ་དགོན་པ
wmtshur phu dgon pa
ipa
thdlTsurphu Gömpa
s楚布寺
pChǔbù Sì
religious_affiliationTibetan Buddhism
map_typeChina Tibet
coordinates
map_captionLocation within Tibet Autonomous Region
location_countryChina
locationGurum, Doilungdêqên District, Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region
founded_byDüsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama
founded
sectKagyu
::

|name =Tsurphu Monastery |image =Tibet - Tsurpu Monastery 1.jpg |image size = |alt = |caption = Tsurphu Monastery |t=མཚུར་ཕུ་དགོན་པ |w=mtshur phu dgon pa |to = |ipa= |z= |thdl=Tsurphu Gömpa |e= |tc= |s=楚布寺 |p=Chǔbù Sì | religious_affiliation = Tibetan Buddhism |map_type = China Tibet |coordinates = |map_caption = Location within Tibet Autonomous Region

|location_country = China |location= Gurum, Doilungdêqên District, Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region |founded_by =Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama |founded = |sect = Kagyu |dedicated_to = |head_lama = |architecture = |festivals= |footnotes = Tsurphu Monastery () or Tölung Tsurphu (, "Tsurphu of Tölong") is a gompa which serves as the traditional seat of the Karmapa, the head of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It is located in Gurum in Doilungdêqên District, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, 70 km from Lhasa.

The monastery is about 4300 m above sea level. It was built in the middle of the valley facing south with high mountains surrounding the complex.

Tsurphu is a 300 m2 complex with walls up to 4 m thick. The gompa, the traditional seat of the Karmapa lamas, is about 28 km up the Dowo Lung Valley on the north side of the river. The original walls of the main building were up to 4 meters thick and 300 meters on each side (90000 m2). The monks' residences were on the eastern side.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Tsurphu_Gompa_-_reconstructed.JPG" caption="Reconstructed Tsurphu Monastery, 1993"] ::

Tsurphu was founded by Düsum Khyenpa, 1st Karmapa Lama (1110-1193) in 1159, after he visited the site and laid the foundation for an establishment of a seat there by making offerings to the local protectors, the dharmapalas and territorial divinities (). In 1189 he revisited the site and founded his main seat there. The monastery grew to hold 1000 monks.

The complex was totally destroyed in 1966 during the Cultural Revolution. Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa, began to rebuild it in 1980; he died in 1981.

Following the recognition of Ogyen Trinley Dorje (born 1985) as the 17th Karmapa by the Tai Situpa, the Dalai Lama and China's governmental offices, he was enthroned at Tsurphu and resided there until he escaped from Tibet to India in 2000.

Branch monastery

A Yelpa Kagyu monastery, Jang Tana, in Nangchen, Kham, is considered a branch monastery of Tsurpu. It was founded by Yelpa Yeshe Tsek in 1068.

Variant names

Variant names for the monastery include: Tsurphu, 楚布寺, mtshur mdo bo lung dgon, 祖普寺, Okmin Tsurpu, 'og min mtshur phu.

Pilgrims

Image:Elderly Pilgrim, Tsurphu 1993.JPG|Elderly pilgrim, Tsurphu Gompa, 1993 Image:Pilgrims, Tsurphu 1993.JPG|Pilgrims, Tsurphu Gompa, 1993 File:Nomad camp above Tsurphu Gompa 2.JPG|Nomad camp above Tsurphu Gompa, 1993. Smoke is from juniper burning for ceremony.

Sources

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Dowo_Lung_Valley,_Tsurphu_1993.JPG" caption="Dowo Lung Valley, above Tsurphu Gompa"] ::

  • {{Cite web | last = Berzin | first = Alexander | title = A Brief History of Tsurpu Monastery | access-date = 2016-07-15 | url = http://studybuddhism.com/web/en/archives/study/history_buddhism/buddhism_tibet/kagyu/brief_history_tsurpu_monastery.html

  • Dowman, Keith. The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide. 1988. Routledge & Kegan Paul. London.

  • Martin, Michele. Music in the Sky: The Life, Art & Teachings of the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje. 2003. Snow Lion Publications. Reprint: New Age Books, New Delhi, 2004. .

References

References

  1. "Jang Tana". The Treasury of Lives.
  2. "Tsurpu Monastery". The Treasury of Lives.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

buddhist-monasteries-in-lhasa-(prefecture-level-city)buddhist-temples-in-tibetkarma-kagyu-monasteries-and-temples1159-establishments-in-asiareligious-organizations-established-in-the-1150sdoilungdêqên-district