Dzongsar Monastery, Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Dêgê, China
Dzongsar Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery on a hillside southeast of Dêgê town, with more than twenty temples spread across its sloping terrain. The site also includes study rooms for students of Tibetan medicine, astrology, and language, alongside living quarters for over two hundred resident monks.
The monastery was founded in 746 by a Bönpo Lama and was turned into a Sakya establishment in 1275 after Drogön Chögyal Phagpa returned from China. That shift reshaped the religious direction of the site and has defined it ever since.
The monastery holds texts from eight schools of Tibetan Buddhism, making it one of the few places where so many traditions exist side by side. Visitors can notice this variety in the different rituals and decorations found across the individual temples.
The monastery is southeast of Dêgê and involves walking over uneven, hilly ground between the temples, so sturdy footwear is a good idea. The site sits at high altitude, so visitors should allow time to adjust before moving around the grounds.
The monastery makes incense from herbs gathered in the surrounding highlands, tying the community's livelihood directly to the local landscape. These same plants are also used in the traditional Tibetan medicine courses taught on site, connecting two distinct practices in one place.
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