The Monasteries of Amdo: A Comprehensive Guide to the Monasteries of the Amdo region of Tibet. Volume 1: East and South Amdo

336 Pages·2017·28.176 MB·English

by  Smith Stewart

THE MONASTERIES OF AMDO
Volume 1: East and South Amdo
THE MONASTERIES OF AMDO
A Comprehensive Guide to the Monasteries
of the Amdo region of Tibet
Volume 1: East and South Amdo
Stewart Smith
Front cover pictllre : Cho Jee Ora Tsang, Zam Tang
p. 3 (Top): Doe Ra Koch valley, Tay Wo
p. 3 (Bottom) : Wang Tsang Gon, Le Cher
p. IO I (Top) : row of cha11ens in Zam Tang
p. IO I (Bottom) : Gay Tsay Gon, Sare Tar
p. 175 (Top) : view from Sham Ba Bum Lung Gon Gong Ma, Yong Jing
p. 175 (Bottom): view from Doe Dan Sham Ba Lung, Ji Shi Shan
p. 223 (Top) : view from Sa Doe Gon. Tsa Ko
p. 223 (Bottom): monk at Drub Dza Gon, Zam Tang
Copyright ,Q 2017 by Stewa11 Smith
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any fom, or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying. recording or by information storage and retrieval systems. without pennission in
writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may qllote short excerpts in a review.
Cover design by Stewart Smith
Book design by Stewart Smith
Original cartography by Stewart Smith
Although all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information contained in this book,
the author cannot accept any liability for any consequences arising from the use thereof
ISBN-I 3: 978-1541275317
ISBN-JO: 1541275314
109876543
Table of Contents
Preface Lo Second Edilion viii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments and Photo Credits xi
Introductory Notes xii
Section 1 : Description and Photographs 1
East Amdo
Sang Cher District ( J:!l\lC:."i!')"fc:_ ) 4
Tsou District ( ll1" tl ll"f-C:. ) 18
Cho Nee District ( t"~·fc:_ ) 26
Wa Tsay District ( 'i!"i·fc:_ ) 34
-
( il·i:ffc:. )
Tay Wo District 38
Druk Cher District ( "'~ ll1- i!'J ! c:_ ) 47
Le Cher District ( ~i!'J"!-C:. ) 63
--
Ma Cher District ( li"~i"I!: c:_ ) 67
.,,,
Dzor Gay District ( a.Jll:'\"'\"1l"-) 71
Ozi Tsa Day Ge District ( lJjll"-!"~"'\\f"- ) 83
-
-
May Wa District ( ~"C!"![C:.) 87
Zung Cher District ( ij"'"i!'J"!'-) 91
-
South Amdo
Nga wa Dislnct ( E_"C!"![C:. ) 102
-
"Et::fc:. )
Zam Tang District ( 'IEoJ 116
-
Sare Tar District ( lJjlll"-"E-l"-"![C:. ) 129
Ben Ma District ( 'l'\ ·a.r! c:. -) 137
-
Chig Oril District < ll1~e !J1~·~ nr1c:. ) 145
--
Dar Luch District ( 'i"-"ClllJj"![C:.) 150
Gab Day District ( 'i" 1 "' .C -! 'i il: c:_ ) 157
-
--
Ma Chen District ( ~-i!;~"![l:;) 162
Ma Doe District ( ~-'ll'i"!l:;) 170
East Amdo border areas -
Gar Chay District ( ''r!:i"I!:"-) - 176
Gar Chay City District ( "1-~·.irii:,:1:"- ) 183
(t i'\
Ben Lay Kar District njq o!f'-"f"- ) 186
(~ r,r" )
Dre Gu District - 190
Shar Nam District ( '9'-""\'\ol"{"- ) 194
(u "-~"-r" )
Dung Shang District 197
( l~·s"\·f"-
Ji Shi Shan Districl J 200
( ~"-~"--f"- )
Yong Jing District - 205
Sheng Gun District ( '~9 " 111\ "I!"- ) 210
Lan Drue Region l '1l1\'-i1'"1"~'1! ! 213
May Re District ( i!~i" ~ii!:" ) 217
South Amdo border areas
( i!l'iq<, )
Tsa Ko District - 224
Bar Kham District ( "-1:1'-'r<lo!"l"!l"- ) 230
Section 2 : Maps
243
Map Symbols 245
Map of Amdo 1 : 3800000 246-47
East Amdo
Sang Cher District 1 : 430000 248-49
Tsou District 1 : 430000 250-51
Cho Nee District 1 : 400000 252-53
Wa Tsay District 1 : 400000 254-55
Tay Wo District 1 : 350000 256-57
Druk Cher District 1 : 290000 258-59
(Map A) Druk Cher central area 1 : 90000 260
Le Cher District 1 : 380000 262-63
Ma Cher District 1 : 625000 264-65
Dzor Gay District 1 : 550000 266-67
Dzi Tsa Day Ge District 1 : 360000 268-69
May Wa District 1 : 675000 270-71
Zung Cher District 1 : 465000 272-73
South Amdo
Nga Wa District 1 : 675000 274-75
(Map A) Nga Wa central area 1 : 195000 276
Zam Tang District 1 : 380000 278-79
Sare Tar District 1 : 550000 280-81
Ben Ma District 1 : 375000 282-83
Chig Dril District 1 : 475000 284-85
Dar Luch District 1 : 670000 286-87
Gab Day District 1 : 350000 288-89
Ma Chen District 1 : 700000 290-91
Ma Doe District 1 : 700000 292-93
East Amdo border areas
Gar Chay Dislrict 1 : 240000 294
Gar Chay City District 1 : 80000 295
Ben Lay Kar District 1 : 360000 296
Dre Gu District 1 : 575000 297
Shar Nam District 1 : 450000 298
Dung Shang District 1 : 380000 299
Ji Shi Shan District 1 : 570000 300
Yong Jing District 1 : 340000 301
Sheng Gun District 1 : 290000 302
Lan Drue Region 1 : 1200000 303
May Re District 1 : 330000 304
South Amdo border areas
Tsa Ko District 1 : 340000 306-07
Bar Kham District 1 : 360000 308-09
Appendices
~12
Appendix A : Statistical Data
Appendix B : Field Trips 322
Preface to the Second Edition been the number of small monasleries receiving a huge influx
of rinancial backing from affluenl benefactors to create
When the first edition of lhis book was finally published in monasteries of a far greater size Lhan had previously existed.
2013 it had been my intention to leave it at that, my work
was done. However. now thal I had a book in my hands, whilsl Also interesting to note is that whilSt many monasteries are
it served to highlighl whal I did know about the monasteries increasing in pl'1ysical size this does nol necessarily mean
of Amdo, it also drew attention lo what I did not know; the that they are becoming larger in terms of number of monks
monasteries I had nol visited, the photos I did not have. the Indeed, in some cases lhe number of monks is decreasing
places I had not been to, tt,e things I wanted Lo find ouL. So while the monastery is increasing in physical size.
almost immediately I began to think about these gaps in my
knowledge and in my mind prepare for further trips. Thus in With the bulk of the research for lhe first edilion conducted
2015 and 2016 I was able to make five trii,s lo Amdo prior to 200B this second edition provides a useful insight
spending in Lotal three months on the road in research into some of lhe changes oLillined above.
visiting nearly all the districts of Amdo and the border
regions. Being able to visit most areas in Amdo within a With lhe aid of lhe research conducted in 2015 and 2016
relalively short period of time has been particularly useful revisions have Deen made 1n this edition of lhe book
in enabling me lo gain a snapshot of the region at a point
in time and make comparisons with previous visits. The book is now di\lided into mo parts: Volume 1
1nclLides East and South Amdo and has expanded
Improvements in transportation now mean Iha!. weather coverage of the East Amdo and South Amdo
and road maintenance pemiitting, virtually all monasteries border areas; Volume 2 includes Central. West
and villages in Amdo are accessible by road. Some village and North Amdo.
temples and smaller monasteries. particularly in mountainous
areas such as Druk Cher. still require a walk from the nearest Gaps in the first edition have been filled, new
village_ Most hermilages are shll only accessible by foot monasteries visited and pholographed. errors in
the firsl edilion amended, changes to monastery
In the las! few years the Amdo region hH experienced a details made when appropriate so that with only
dramatic upsurge in Lhe amount of monastic building and one or two uceptions all the monasteries detailed
rebuilding This is particularly noticeable in comparison to in Lhis book have been visited and photographed_
the 1990s and early 2000s when monHleries had lended
to slay the same following the period of reopening and All pholos are now date-marked and hislorical
rebuilding in the early to late 1980s_ In larger monasteries pholos of monasteries are inCILided to compare
this has meant rebuilding or redeveloping prayer halls. with pholos taken more recently.
building new temples. prayer wheel circuits and chortens.
In smaller monasteries and Nuch Kung this has meant More statistical detail and amendments to
completely rebuilding a temple or overhauling an existing introduelory notes including a reappraisal of what
building by replacing lhe roof and fittings Most monasteries, constitutes modern day Amdo.
big and small, now have glassed in frontages and electricity.
With Lhe changes outlined above it is hoped that this two
The last few years has also seen a large increase in the volLJme second edition of the book is a truly comprehensi,.ie
number of newly founded monasteries compared to the guide to the monasteries of lhe Amdo region of Tibet
4
19B0s and 1990s when 'new· monasteries were usLially old
monasteries being rebuilt and reopened. Anolhertrend has June, 2017 Stewart Smilh
,·iii
Preface After a couple of months a friend look me to visit Owb Den
Gar, localed less lhan 20 km to the east of Sang Cher
I firsl arrived in the Amdo region of Tibet in the summer of town. The monastery was in sad state Al one time housing
1991. Other than it was one the three provinces of Tibet and over 20 monks, the monastery buildings lay in ruins Only
confusingly shared lhe same name as a small town on the one small prayer hall had been rebuilt with one caretaker
bus route from Zi Lung lo Lhasa, I knew little about the area monk lo look afler it The contrast with the relative splendour
Unlike Central Tibet, home to Lhasa. the Potala Palace and of nearby La Brang monastery was stark. On leaving. I gave
the great monasteries of Tibet and Kham, famous for its 20 yuan towards tlie monastery upkeep. My small gifl was
swashbuckling warrior inhabitants and forested mountain received with overwhelming gratitude by the monk_ Lacking
landscape, the Amdo region had barely made a mark on my any ouls1de support the local villagers were having great
consciousness. However, as a traveller with time on his difficulty resloring their monastery to its former glory and
hands, this lack of knowledge made Amdo seem somehow clearly every little bit of help counted. This was a situation
more alluring. Maybe I would not immediately follow the well I was to encounter many limes over the next few years. Was
worn trail to u,asa and then on to Nepal bul instead spend there anY1liing else I could do to help apart from making a
some time in the region. small donation? Could I somehow encourage even a few
foreign v1s1Lors like myself to visil some of the smaller. more
My first port of call was the relatively easily accessible town struggling monasteries? As I spent the winter in Sang Cher
of Sang Cher in the north-easl of Amdo_ Liltle did I know al and added to my lisls of monasleries and places in Amdo.
the lime thal ii would become my home for nearly Lhe next I started to dream of 'putting Amdo on the map' by writing
three years. As luck would have it the town was in a stale a book which would detail all the monasteries of Amdo,
of great e1Ccilemen1. as afler a gap of more Lhan 30 years from the biggest. and perhaps more importantly to me, to the
the reincarnation of one of the highest Living Buddhas al smallest In lhe days before self-publishing and the 1nterne1
the local La Brang monastery was being installed in his post I was not at all sure even ir I could persuade someone to
in the next few days. The town was awash with Tibetans from publish sucti a book. but my goal tiad been set.
far and wide dressed up m their finest clothes and eagerly
anticipating the great day. It was a magical time and a week By the spring of 1992 I knew a lot more about Amdo and its
laler when everything had returned Lo normal I was in no monasteries and was ready to start visiting them Over the
hurry 10 leave. nexl two years I made nine major trips around the area. At
thal lime travelling in Amdo was nol easy roads were
Lacking the distraction of television, phones and Lhe internel. generally poor or non-e>cislenl, buses were infrequenl or
my days were filled sitting ,n Oukhar's Amdo restaurant non-existent, maps and c:leta1ls about the area were hard to
drinking tea, eating memos and trying to communicale wilh find, il was difficult lo hire a car and driver for independent
the constanl stream of visitors to the restaurant. I quickly travel wiltioul official monitoring and many areas were off.
realised that the monks in lhe local monastery and lhe l1m1ts to foreigners This meanl that physically visiting many
visiting pilgrims were not just from the local area but came monasteries was impossible. The aim al this stage was to
from all over. I slarted to hear about mysterious monasteries visit as many districts in Amdo as possible and to find out
in exotic-sounding, far-flung places like Go Lok, Druk Cher, as much as possible about the monasteries in each districl.
Zam Tang and Tso Ngan Bo_ Over !he weeks my spoken
Amdo Tibetan improved rapidly and as I learned the Tibetan In 1994, having decided lhat I needed to rejoin the real world,
script I began writing clown place and monastery names in I lefl Amdo to find a job teaching in Hong Kong. During my
a notebook I was intrigued Where were these places? travels I had managed to pick up a few maps of the area
How did you gel to 1hem? What were these monasteries and in Hong Kong I purchased Soviet-era topographical
like? Could I find them? I knew that I wanted to know more. maps of the Amdo region. Using tliese and the notes from
Pref,KI::'
my field trips, I started crealing my own maps of Amdo. By contract in size_ Inevitably dala collected can become oul-of
now I also had a copy of The Political and Religious H,s/ory dale. However, despite the changing nature of the content
of Amdo, Lhe primary historical Tibetan source guide to the of this book, I believe that the overall piclure presented
Amdo area. Using lhis I was able lo slart comparing Lhe represents a useful snapshol of the monasteries in Amdo
monasteries which had existed in tlie nineteentli century at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
wilh lhose, based on my own research, that existed now.
In the pre-internet era when I first started this project. I fell
Apart from a couple of brief visits in 1997 and 199B, I had lo like I was ploughing a fairly lonely furrow. Were there other
wait until 1999to revisit the area, and in the next three years people out there interesled in the same Lopic? I thought Lhat
I was able to make eight major trips. This time I came armed there probably were but did not know who or where Lhey
with my own rudimentary maps and more systematic lists of were. Now m the internet world ol 2013 there are various
the monasteries in each districl. Thus, when visiting a district wide-ranging online projects such as The Tibetan and
I already had a reasonable idea ofwhal was lhere. With more H;malayan Library which are mapping the whole Tibetan
dislricts open to foreigners and now able to hire a car and area, recording Tibetan place names, l1slmg monasleries
driver somewhat more easily, it became possible lo vis ii more and religious and historical sites. Several books, including
monasteries. map them eJCactly and take photographs. Jusl most notably. Gyurme Dorje's T;bet Footprint Handbook,
knowing about a monastery was no longer enough, tile goal Mapping the T,belan World by Yukiyasu Osada and Atsushi
of the project had been expanded to visiling and mapping Kanamaru and The Cultural Monuments of Tibet's Outer
Lhem alL Provinces series by Andreas Gruschke have also paid great
attention to the Amdo region However, to my knowledge, no
By 2001 it had become obvious that the future of lhe projecl internet resource or book has detailed, mapped and
lay with computers and I somewhat reluctantly began the photographed such a large number of lhe monasteries in
process of turning my lovingly-prepared, handwritten notes lhe whole Amdo area. For this reason I hope that this book
into digital form. A furtrler nine field trips followed in 2004, will contribute in some small way lo a greater understanding
2007, 2006 and 2010. As time went by the efforts were of the monasteries in the Amdo region and thereby play a
targeled more on filling in the gaps, trying lo keep up with part m helping to 'put Amdo on the map·.
ctianges and ctiecking and rectiecking inrormation. Around
2007-8 I became aware of Google Earth and lhe help it During my time living and travelling around Amdo I was often
could provide in locating monasteries and places and in asked by locals what I was doing Whyd1d I have a notebook
compiling more accurate maps and I started ~he process of rull of lists of Tibetan monasteries and places? Why was I
digitising my tiand-drawn maps. asking so many questions? Why was I drawing maps of their
local area? Although I could speak Amdo fairly well !his
By 2011, twenty years after first arriving in Amdo, I decided was a difficult question to answer in a few words. One day
that I had to draw my ongoing research to a close. Although a friend replied on my behalf that I was a 'Tsom Ba Wo', a
I had not achieved my target of visiting all the monasteries, writer, and that I was collecting information on monasteries
I had detailed, localed. mapped and photographed over75%. in Amdo for a book. From then on I told everybody that I was
Clearly, trying to document the monasleries in an area suet, a writer and my life became easier. Twenty years of telling
as Amdo is a never-ending task: newly-founded monaslenes this white lie later, I am relieved that, although I would by no
do occasionally appear, old monasteries are occasionally means consider myself to be a writer, at least I now have a
revived. monas1eries do move location and do e)(pand and book aboul ttie monasteries of Amdo to my name.
'