Ging Gompa

Sangchen Thongdrol Ling Gonpa

Ging Gonpa 'Gying = a gentle slope' 'Ging = a class of Bon deities'

Ging Gonpa
Idol of Gyalwa-Lat-chen-chenpo as seen in Ging Monastery, Darjeeling

Brief history

The Royal History of Sikkim has it that Lama Rinzing Dorji Ladenla, also known as Kacheng Tulku, built this monastery on Observatory Hill in Darjeeling. The monastery was established probably around 1760's, as an offshoot of the Pemayangtse Monastery in Western Sikkim. The monastery was re-established in the year 1818 by the Lamas of Pemayangtse Sikkim, the 193-year-old Sangchhen Thong-Delling Gonpa is one of the oldest monasteries in Darjeeling. The exterior appearance and date of preserving the manuscripts justifies the monastery to be the oldest in Darjeeling. The town of Darjeeling was not in existence then, this area was then a part of the erstwhile Sikkim kingdom. This monastery was directly supervised by the Darber of Sikkim. As per the Darber‘s notification No. 464/J dated 9.5.1933 in Tibetan, the control of the Ging Monastery and Bhutia Busty Monastery in Darjeeling were entrusted to the Judicial Secretary of the Darber, which is now carried out by Ecclesiastical Affairs Department of Sikkim. The appointment of head lama is also regulated from Pemayangtse Monastery. The monastery, built in 1818, had existed at a place where the present Gorkha Rangamnch is situated near Loreto College. The monastery was later shifted, i.e. in 1879, since the Britishers residing in the area were disturbed due to the blowing of conch shells, the loud sound of Lhabha, Gyaling in the early hours and the evening.

An excerpt: "It is said that Buddhist monks in India deliberately wiped out Buddhism in India when it was threatened by the revival of Hinduism. All Buddhist artifacts, places of worship and literature were buried underground and movable ones were transported across the Himalayas to Tibet. The buried treasures were called "Termo" and they were later revealed by the chosen ones. The "revealers" of these hidden treasures or time capsules were called Ter-tyon-Ling-pa. There are eight of these "Ter-tyon-Ling-Pa" of which two are associated with Denjong/ Sikkim. The two are the Ter-Tyon-Dö-jom-Lingpa and Ter-Tyon-Dorji-Lingpa. The Ter-Tyon-Dorji-Lingpa was initially based at a place which became known as Darjeeling, a name derived from Dorji-Lingpa. There was a monastery of the lineage at this spot which was later shifted to Ging."

Sangchhen Thongdor-ling Gonpa is one of the religious shrines of Darjeeling that attracts many tourists even till date, probably for its age-old heritage. The monastery practices Nyingmapa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Presently renovation work has been done with the sanction of the Ecclesiastical Affairs Department of Sikkim. The last head monk, Phetuk Dukpa, died after almost 30 years of his dedicated service to the monastery. After his death a lama to reside and look after the affairs of the monastery is yet to be appointed.

References

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