Rongbuk Monastery
Overview
Location
Rongbuk monastery lies by the foot of the Rongbuk Glacier at 5,100 meters above sea level. It is the highest monastery in the world. It is only 200 meters lower than the north side Everest Base Camp of Mount Everest.
History
The Rongbuk Monastery itself was founded in 1902 by a Nyingmapa Lama in an area of meditation huts that had been in use by monks and hermits for over 400 years. Hermitage meditation caves dot the cliff walls all around the monastery complex and up and down the valley. Many walls and stones, carved with sacred syllables and prayers, line the paths.
The founding Rongbuk Lama, also known as the Zatul Rinpoche, was much respected by the Tibetans. Even though the Rongbuk Lama viewed the early climbers as "heretics," he gave them his protection and supplied them with meat and tea while also praying for their conversion. It was the Rongbuk Lama who gave Namgyal Wangdi the name Ngawang Tenzin Norbu, or Tenzing Norgay, as a young child.
In previous times, the Monastery became very active with the teachings at certain times of the year. It was, and is, the destination of special Buddhist pilgrimages where annual ceremonies are held for spectators coming from as far as Nepal and Mongolia. These ceremonies were shared with the satellite monasteries across the Himalaya also founded by the Rongbuk Lama. The ceremonies continue to this day, notably at the Sherpa Monastery at Tengboche.
The Monastery’s vast treasury of books and costumes, which had been taken for safekeeping to Tengboche, was lost in a 1989 fire. Since 1983 renovation works have been carried out and some of the new murals are reportedly excellent. There is a basic guesthouse and small but cosy restaurant.
Feature
At Rongbuk, there is a beautiful, large, round chorten, a reliquary with religious significance embedded in its terraced structure and crown of emblems of the sun and moon, symbolizing the light of Buddha’s teaching. The chorten dramatically marks this last human dwelling place before one heads up the stark valley to Base Camp. In previous times, the Rongbuk Monastery became very active with the teachings at certain times of the year. It was a site of special pilgrimage during the annual ceremonies with masked dancers. Throngs of the faithful would come from far and wide—some from Nepal and Mongolia—and sit on every level of all the many-tiered flat roofs of the monastery to watch the masked dancers in the great open courtyard. Cymbals clanged amid the ceaselessly overlapping thunder of the long Tibetan trumpets played in relay to accompany the monk dancers in their ritual. These ceremonies were shared with the satellite monasteries across the Himalaya also founded by the Rongbuk Lama. The ceremonies survive to this day, notably at the Sherpa monastery at Tengboche.
The construction of Rongbuk Monastery at the foot of the mountain was headed by a lama named Ngawang Tenzin Norbu of the Red Sect of Tibetan Buddhism in 1899 over 100 years ago. Buddhist images of Sakyamuni and Padmasambhava are enshrined in the main hall of the monastery.
Rongbuk Monastery is a base camp for climbing Mount Qomolangma from the northern slope. Looking southward from here, you can see Mount Qomolangma is like a gigantic pyramid, towering in the mountains. On bright days, a lump of milk-white cloud can be seen on top of the mountain, just like a white flag waving above Mount Qomolangma. Called "the highest banner in the world", the cloud is regarded as a marvelous wonder on earth.
Features
The highest monastery in the world A base camp for climbing Mount Qomolangma "The highest banner in the world"
