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About Rizong Monastery |
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Rizong (or Rhizong) gompa, Gelugpa or Yellow Hat Buddhist
monastery is also called the Yuma Changchubling in Ladakh,
India. It is located at the top of a rocky side valley on the
north side of the Indus, to the west of Alchi on the way to
Lamayuru. It was built in 1831 by Lama Tsultim Nima under the
Gelukpaorder, at Ri-rdzong. There are 40 monks in the
monastery. The monastery is also called “the heaven for
meditation” and is noted for its extremely strict standards
and rules.The nunnery, located about 2 km from the monastery, is called
the “Jelichun Nunnery” or Chulichan (Chomoling), where, at
present, 20 nuns reside.
The Nunnery Comprise of about 20 nuns, and is under the
control of the governing body of Rizong Monastery only. The
nun, known as Chomos, worship at the temples of the monastery
itself. They also perform a number of chores for the monastery
like spinning wool, milking, extracting oil for the temple
lamps, etc
The Rizong Gompa of Ladakh was founded by the great Lama
Tsultim Nima in the year 1831. It belongs to the Gelukpa
Order, and is located at a distance of approximately 73 km
from the Leh town. The monastery serves as the residence of
approximately 40 monks. However, they have to follow some very
strict rules. The prisoners of the monastery are not allowed
to have anything, except for religious books and robes. Rizong
Monastery of Leh Ladakh consists of various shrines inside its
complex.
It is also believed that long ago Guru Padmasambhava meditated
in the caves around Rizong years before the monasteries were
constructed. It is also inferred that in the small caves in
the vicinity, Lamas used to meditate for years in isolation
from the rest of the villages. They subsisted on one meal a
day, which was provided to them by local people through a 1
foot (0.30 m) square window opening in the cave.
The gompa also has a rich collection of the painting blocks of
Lama Tsultim Nima's biography as well as a number of objects
made and books composed by the first Sras Rinpoche. Serving as
the incumbents of the Rizdong Monastery, are the successive
recreations of Lama Tsultim Nima and his son, Sras Rinpoche. A
nunnery, known as Chulichan (Chomoling) is situated near the
monastery, at a distance of approximately 2 km. |
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Foundation |
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In the 18th century, Lama Tsultim Nima who meditated at the
Dzong-lung mountains decided to establish a hermitage (before he
built the present large monastery) here, as a monastery for
monks to meditate and learn the teachings of Buddha. Supported
by many monks, initially many mud huts were built where they
recited gso-shyong. He laid down very strict rules of celibacy
called the “Vinaya Rules” to be followed by each monk who
meditated here. In brief, rules set are the following.
• Monks are not allowed to leave the monastery, except in the
case of sickness
• No comforts of bedding are allowed to sleep at night
• Monks are not to touch anything handled by women (including
their own or others sisters)
• Before sun rise or after sunset, Monks can not leave their
cell, except to bring water
• Not even a needle worth of possessions are allowed to be owned
by the monks
• Fire cannot be lit in their rooms
• Any kind of donation received by a monk from his home shall be
shared with other monks in the hermitage
• The boundary of the hermitage was marked by three types of
fences and no women was allowed to sleep even in the outer most
boundary of the hermitage
• Any rumour about offences that the monks committed would
result in their rustication from the monastery
Within the ambit of the above rules, the monks of the monastery
would at times become quite sentimental about even inadvertently
treading on an insect or even cutting a blade of grass. Over the
years, the hermitage became a place of worship and pilgrimage to
all Buddhists from Ladakh. It is reported that the king of
Ladakh gave rich donations to convert the Hermitage into a
retreat centre and the queen of Ladakh even visited this place
on a pilgrimage. At this stage, as the number of monks in the
hermitage increased, Lama Tsultim Nima decided to construct a
much larger monastery due to the then location of the hermitage
being insufficient to build one large monastery.
Lama Tsultim Nima selected a site to construct a large
monastery, away from the villages, at a place known as Ri-rdzong,
since the place had adequate water supply and fuel availability.
He launched on a donation campaign to build the monastery for
which the villagers also provided voluntary labour during
construction. The Monastery was constructed in 1831 along with
many shrines within it. Basically, the monastery has three large
chambers. In two of these chambers idols of Buddha have been set
apart. The third chamber houses a stupa.
The hermitage has the distinct reputation of upholding "the
Vinaya rules in strict sense of the term", so much so that the
lamas of this monastery do not indulge in performances of mask
dances or with undue rites and rituals.
The monastery has the distinction of having two incarnate lamas
namely, Lama Tsultim Nima and his son Sras Rinpoche, the former
is the head of the monastery who generally lives in Manali and
the latter is the Abbot of 'rgyud-smad Dratsang'. The Abbott
will be elevated to the rank of Dga-ldan Khirpa, the chief of
all Tibetan scholastics, after completing a term of two years.
During the absence of the these two incarnate Lamas at the
Monastery, the duties are well allocated to others; the senior
most monk (Inas batan) looks after the monastic schedules while
his second in command would attend to the house keeping chores
such as food and providing other facilities to the monks. In the
monastery, which has full control of all its economic
activities, there are three groups of people. The first group is
of the Lamas (monks), the second of Chomos and the third group
is of ordinary folks; the duties of each group and their
interrelationships are well defined. |
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Structure and
Layout |
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The following are the details of the structures and idols of
deities deified in the monastery's various chambers.
1)Relic shrine
A relic shrine, known as Sku–Gdung in local language, that
enshrines the old relics of the founder of the monastery is at
the centre. It is enclosed by various frescoes of Dharma-raja
and other deities.
2)Assembly hall
The assembly hall, with the statue of Shakymuni Buddha in the
middle, is flanked to its right by idols of Tse-dpag-med,
rje-Rin po-che, and Sras Rin Poche Esha Rab-rgyes and Lord
Yamakantaka and other deities. To the left of the main deity,
idols of Lord Avalokiteshvara and Mahakala are defied. The main
hall also has thankhas or wall paintings of Dlama-mchod-pa and
Lam-rims.
Scriptures of Bka-gyurand and bstan-gyur are arranged on the
sides. The central throne is reserved for the founder with the
side seats (thrones) earmarked for Sras Rinpoche and mKhan-po of
the monastery. Printing blocks of the biography of Lama Tsulim
Nima, many objects made then and the books composed by the first
Sras Rinpoche are housed here.
3)Sacred chamber
In the sacred Chamber on the west, the statues of Mahakala (protectress
deity of the monastery), statue of the founder of the monastery,
statue of the second incarnate, Gnas-Bstan Tsual–Khrims Dorji
and a Stupa are situated. Each row in this chamber has the idols
of the two head lamas.
4)Thin-Chen shrine
In the Thin-Chen shrine, frescoes of Shakyamuni Buddha’s life
history are depicted; the idols deified are the Golden Chengchub
stupa,Rjo-wo-Rin-Po-cho, silver Chengchub stupa, Arya
Avalokiteshwara, a sitting image of Maitreya Buddha, and a set
of bka-gyhr.
5)Other structures
The chamber on the east has statues of rje-tzone-khapa,
mkhas-drub-rje and rgyal-tsabrje. Their writings, in thirty
volumes, are also kept there.
The Mandala shrine is the roof over the assembly hall meant for
Mandala of Lord Yamakantaka and btra-shis-gyhi-skyong. The four
directions of the mandala display religious statues. |
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