Rongbuk Monastery
Rongbuk is the site of a Buddhist monastery of the Nyingmapa in a circle Dingri the governmental district of Shigatse in Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China and also the name of three valleys that describe the northern flank of Mount Everest, its glaciers and its drainage. In the upper Talverlauf the Rongbuk valley splits on a western, a middle and an eastern valley, all at the same time lead a glacier.
Monastery, history and significance
The Rongbuk Monastery was the supply base for some still higher ground " hermitages " simple Cairn buildings in which hermit worshiped the above living deities in the face of massive north face of Mount Everest.
The monastery Rongbuk lies at an altitude of 4980 meters and is considered as the highest monastery in the world. It is also one of the highest permanently inhabited places on earth. The monastery is an important pilgrimage destination, which they reached on the pass Nangma La in multi-day hike for those living in Nepal Tibetan -born Sherpa. The monastery is also the older and " mother monastery " of the two twinned monasteries Rongbuk and Tyangboche ( in neighboring Nepal).
Today the monastery can be achieved in a two -to three- hour drive by jeep from the Tibetan place Shekar Dzong on the Friendship Highway, opened with the Chinese, the base camp of the north access on Everest for off-road vehicles. The base camp is the northern route from the monastery for about five miles south of the valley, in front of the glacier tongue.
The monastery Rongbuk was founded in 1902 by a Nyingmapa Lama Ngawang Tenzin Norbu in an area of meditation huts and caves, which were of monks and nuns in use since the 18th century.
Hermits caves for meditation surrounded the cliffs and walls around the monastery complex in the valley and continue up and down. Mani stones and walls, decorated with sacred syllables and prayers, lead the way.
The founder Lama, abbot of Rongbuk Monastery, also known under the name " Zatul Rinpoche ", was a highly respected monk for the Tibetans. Even if the Rongbuk Lama the early mountaineers regarded as " heretics ", he nevertheless gave them his protection and supported them with meat and tea, and he prayed for their conversion.
It was also the Rongbuk Lama, the Tibetan -born child Namgyal Wangdi Norbu gave the name Ngawang Tenzin or Tenzing Norgay, when he was still a small child. He was. 1953, after his participation in several English and Swiss expeditions without success summit, then along with Edmund Hillary first ascent of Everest
In earlier times, the monastery was at certain times of the year very active in teaching: The monastery is a destination for Buddhist pilgrims from afar, sometimes they come from Nepal and even Mongolia to the Rongbuk valley. These ceremonies took place simultaneously in the satellite monasteries, which had established the same Rongbuk Lama. The ceremonies take place even today, especially in the monastery in Sherpaland in Tengboche.
The Rongbuk Monastery was founded in 1974 in the so-called Cultural Revolution completely destroyed and left in ruins as the photojournalist Galen Rowell was 1981.
The vast treasures of the monastery of books and clothes that had been spent before the Cultural Revolution for security to Tengboche, were for the most part in a fire in 1989 lost.
Since 1983, renovation work will take place, and some of the new buildings are reportedly excellent. There is a simple guest house and a small but expensive restaurant at the monastery.
After Michael Palin, the monastery is now home to 30 Buddhist monks and 30 nuns., But another source reported that residents speak of only about 20 monks and 10 nuns. In earlier times to have lived in the Rongbuk monastery up to 500 monks and nuns.
2011, the Rongbuk monastery was placed at the top of a ranking of the television channel CNN, ' Great Places to be a Recluse '.
As part of the so-called "Cultural Revolution", the monastery was completely destroyed. However, it is constructed in a rudimentary scope again is a monastery and is now inhabited by a few monks and nuns.
The abbot of the monastery is asked by the Nepalese and Tibetans during an expedition for his blessing in the " Puja " ceremony Cleaning: Only clean men should approach the gods of Mount Everest. Without a Puja ceremony, the Sherpas often refuse to move on.
The northern of the two standard approaches to the Everest leads to the monastery Rongbuk through the Rongbuk valley, at the base camp areas on the middle glacial moraine above the monastery, on the Rongbuk Glacier and in the further course in the eastern Rongbuk valley on the east side the saddle between the north ridge of Everest and the Changtse - side summit leads. From here, by the " Advanced Base Camp " so-called, at the foot of the glacier high route, the climb to the 7,000 meter high North Col and the long road over several high camp to the summit begins.
See also mythological meaning in Everest products.
Climate and Temperatures
Rongbuk is the coldest average temperature in January. It is also considered the coldest inhabited place in China, but is not regarded by the government as this.
The lowest temperature measured in Rongbuk, is -55.7 ° C. Rongbuk is the permafrost region, soils not even thaw in summer. Only the upper soil layers are thawed by the irradiating sun in summer.