Tsurphu Monastery

July,27 2016 BY Master Catherine Jigme 0 COMMENTS

Brief Introduction

Tsurphu Monastery in Lhasa is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery which served as the traditional seat of the Karmapa. The monastery was founded by the first Karmapa, Düsum Khyenpa (1110-1193) in 1159, after he visited the site and laid the foundation for an establishment of a seat there by making offerings to the local protectors, dharmapala and genius loci. In 1189 he revisited the site and founded his main seat there. It has a complex of 300 square meters, with walls up to 4 meters thick, and is capable of holding over 1,000 monks. The monks' residences were on the eastern side. Many travelers start the interesting Tsurphu Monastery to Yampachen trek from here.

Location

The monastery is located at 4,300 meters above sea level in the middle of Dowo Lung Valley in Gurum town, 70 km from Lhasa City.

Transportation and accommodation

There is a regular bus from Lhasa to the Tsurphu Monastery every day, around 7:00 am to 8:00 am. The bus departs once it is full. The bus stops at a narrow lane which can be found by going south for 200 meters from the west garden of the Jokhang Temple. The bus ticket is 20CNY per person. It takes around 3-hour ride along the hilly road to Tsurphu Monastery. The bus gets back to Lhasa at around 15:00 pm.

There are no hotels or guesthouses near the monastery. It is best to get back to Lhasa for accommodation if travelers just pay a visit to it. If travelers will do the trek, they can camp in the backyard of this monastery.

Tips
1) Taking the road condition into consideration, it is best to rent a landcruiser.

2) Travelers can enjoy the Tsurphu Kora, a walk of 2 or 3 hours, winding up some 150m, providing splendid views of the Tsurphu below.

About the Author - Master Catherine Jigme

With exceptional passion and outstanding leadership, Mrs. Catherine has dedicated herself to Tibet inbound tourism and China tour for 15 years. As one of the handful females who see great potential of Chinese inbound tourism, Catherine has made great contribution to promoting Tibet tourism and enhancing the employment of Tibetans and prosperity of local Tibetan community.

Over the years, she travelled overseas with Tibet Tourism Bureau many times to promote Tibet tourism. Currently, Catherine works as the marketing director of Tibet Vista, an opinion leader behind the whole team of Tibet Vista.

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