Sekhar Gutok, Buddhist temple in Lhozhag County, China

Sekhar Gutok is a Tibetan Buddhist temple in Se Township, Lhozhag County. Its nine-storey tower, the Sekhar Gutok, has basements and storerooms on the first two floors, original construction on floors three to seven, and floors eight and nine rebuilt in 1985. The Dukang assembly hall stands west of the tower, with a two-pillar corridor, a thirty-pillar sutra hall, and a four-pillar Buddha hall.

In the 11th century, the translator Marpa funded the construction of the nine-storey Sekhar Gutok tower, which his disciple Milarepa built as a test of devotion. In the first half of the 16th century, the Kagyu scholar Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa enlarged the monastery to its present form. In 1944, after the Kashag's final restoration, it converted to the Gelug school. The government funded a major renovation in the early 21st century.

The name Sekhar Gutok means "nine-storey prince's castle". The nine floors are each dedicated to different deities: Maitreya on the first, Tsongkhapa on the second, Padmasambhava on the third, the three protectors on the fourth, Marpa on the fifth, and the five Buddhas on the eighth. Pilgrims circle the seventh-floor balcony holding an iron chain said to have been stretched by Milarepa; three circuits are believed to prevent rebirth in lower realms.

The site is accessible via local roads from nearby settlements, though the terrain can be uneven in places. Plan time to climb through the multiple levels and bring sturdy shoes for comfortable walking.

The tower's name, Sekhar Gutok, means "nine-storey prince's castle". Marpa had Milarepa build it as a test of entry and purification, and Milarepa also raised the twelve-pillar Gawa Chunyi hall beneath it. The third to seventh storeys are original; the eighth and ninth were rebuilt in 1985.