Tengboche Monastery

Tengboche-Monastry

Where is Tengboche Monastery

Tengboche Monastery is the biggest monastery of the Everest region which is located in the Tengboche village of the Khumbu region of eastern Nepal. It is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Sherpa community and lies at 3,867metres (12,687ft) above sea level.

Tengboche Monastery is situated on the top of the hill which offers you the beautiful views of Mt. Everest (8,848m), Lhotse (8,516m), the lower western peak of Ama Dablam (6,170m), Nuptse (7,861m) and Thamserku (6,608m). It is also known as a circular trail that covers ten monasteries in the clockwise direction terminating in Tengboche Monastery.

Weather in Tengboche?

The weather in Tengboche is warm and temperate. There is less rainfall in winter than in summer. The average temperature in Tengboche is 4.6 degrees Celsius. Also, July is the warmest month of the year having 10.1 degrees Celsius in average temperature. The lowest average temperature falls in January which is -2.2degree Celsius.

History of Tengboche Monastery

According to the history, the influence of Buddhism came at Khumbu valley about 350years back. At that time, Tengboche Monastery was the first monastery under the Nyingmapa lineage of Vajrayana Buddhism. This Vajrayana Buddhism does not discriminate devotees while teaching about Buddhism.

It is said that Lama Sangwa Dorje was the founder of the oldest monastery in Khumbu at Pangboche with other small hermitages. Similarly, it is also believed that his divine spiritual knowledge and clairvoyant vision made sure about establishing a monastery at Tengboche; based on the footprint on a rock by him.

Busshist

However, the Tengboche Monastery wasn’t established till the time of Ngawang Tenzin Norbu. Likewise, he is believed to be a Lama Sangwa Dorje’s fifth incarnation. Later, Norbu established the monastery at Tibet Rongbuk on the northern face of Mt. Everest and to establish the monastery he blessed Lama Goku. 

Finally, Monastery was built in the present location by Lama Guku in 1916 with strong link to its mother monastery known as the Rongbuk Monastery in Tibet. This monastery was destroyed by an earthquake in 1934 and was later rebuilt.

Again, this monastery was destroyed by fire in 1989. The monastery’s precious old scriptures, murals, statues, and wood craving were destroyed. However, it was built again with the help of international assistance and volunteers.

The culture at Tengboche

Tengboche-Monastry

Sherpas are the inhabitant of the entire Khumbu area. They are the followers of Buddhism and takes care of Tengboche Monastery. During the fall of the autumn season, Tengboche Monastery celebrates its important festival called “Mani Rimdu”. This festival is celebrated on the tenth lunar month as per the Tibetian calendar. Mani Rimdu means “part of the chant of Chenrezig”, also means “Mani” and “Rimdu” means small red pills that are blessed during the festival. The red pills are blessed repeatedly and then distributed to all attendants of the festivals and it is celebrated for nineteen days.

Mani Rimdu festival’s preparation is divided into six steps. They are:

  • Construction of the sand mandala.
  • The empowerment (Wong).
  • The sixteen different dances (Chham).
  • Ser-kyem
  • The fire puja (Jhinsak).
  • Chhingpa

The festivals start with 24hours of Puja.  The Puja is performed by the monks dressed up in the traditional way. This festival includes sixteen different dances which are performed due to the religious value of the festival but not for entertainment purpose.

Things to do at Tengboche Monastery

As already mentioned above, the Tengboche monastery is surrounded by mountain ranges and forests. You can see endangered musk deer, Yak as well as snow leopard also. Above all, the Tengboche monastery consists of marvelous green vegetation which has various medicinal plants and herbs. You can also learn the old traditional way of making medicine by Buddhists there. You can also evaluate the practice of Buddhism done by monks.

Trekking Through Tengboche Monastery

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First of all, Tengboche Monastery is the main attraction for travelers while trekking in Everest Base Camp, Three high Passes or other routes in the Everest region. Most of the time you will be spending the night at Tengboche on the 5th day after an acclimatization day in Namche Bazar. At the time of the Autumn season, you can see the ceremony of Tengboche which is called “Mani Rimdu” that falls in Oct-Nov. After a day in Tengboche traveler goes to Dingboche.

If you want to explore the area of Tengboche only then you can send an inquiry in [email protected]

About Author

As the head of Pristine Nepal Treks and Expedition, he is the inspiration for all the young generation who wants to work in the trekking field. As he is working in the tourism/trekking field from a young age he is always interested to learn and exploring more about the Himalayas, Culture, History, and politics too.

With a very friendly nature, smart personality, and kindness he is an expert in the tourism sector and has already organized countless trekking trips and going on.

(1) Comment

  1. ปั้มไลค์

    Like!! Really appreciate you sharing this blog post.Really thank you! Keep writing.

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