Key Monastery

Key Gompa (also: Ki, Kye or Kee ) is a Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in India, focusing on a mountain at 4,166 meters above sea level, close to the Spiti River in the Spiti Valley of Lahaul and Spiti district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh is located. Key Gompa is today along with the Tabo Monastery and the Drangtse Monastery of the Gelug school.

It is the biggest monastery of Spiti Valley and a religious training center for Lamas. 1855 100 monks lived here. In the architectural assignment of the different monasteries Kye drops below the Pasada style, which is characterized by more than one floor and often plays a role in fortress monasteries.

History

Key Gompa to have been founded by Drom Tönpa (1004/1005-1064 AD), which was a pupil of the famous teacher, Atisha in the 11th century. This statement could also be on the former Kadam monastery at the nearby village Rangrik refer, which was probably destroyed in the 14th century, when the Sakya school reached its rise to power with Mongol support.

The Kye Monastery was attacked again by the Mongols during the reign of the 5th Dalai Lamas ( Ngawang Lobsang Gyatsho ) in the 17th century and has been an institution of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1820 it was plundered during the wars between Ladakh and Kullu. 1841 it was badly damaged by the Droga army under Ghulam Khan and Rahim Kahn. Later in the same year it suffered more damage from a Sikh army. In the 1840s, it was devastated by a fire in 1975 caused a severe earthquake damage. Using the Archaeological Survey of India and the State Public Works Department could be solved

The successive destructions and the subsequent, multiple reconstruction had a disordered growth with boxy buildings and additions to the sequence so that the monastery today is like a fortress - with temples that were built on each other. Nevertheless Key Gompa is still an outstanding example of the monastic architecture of the 14th century, which was developed under Chinese influence. The Kye Monastery, in addition to a collection of very old murals and books of high aesthetic value also pictures and statuettes of Buddha from practice of Dhyana ( meditation).

The main building has three floors. The first floor is predominantly under the earth and acts as a bearing. A space is called Tengyur is designed with rich murals. The ground floor has a beautifully embellished assembly hall and cells for many monks.

The millennium was celebrated in the presence of the Dalai Lama ( Tenzin Gyatsho ) in 2000.