Guru Ghantal monastery, (near) Keylong, Himachal Pradesh, IN

Raw data

"Guru Ghantal Gompa : 3,020 metres This Buddhist temple is situated 4 km. above the confluence of Chandra and Bhaga in village Tupchiling in Lahaul. The Avalokiteshwara - a marble head sculpture belongs to 8th century AD. It has been consecrated by Guru Padamshambhava. This is fully wooden temple. An annual fair is held here in the month of June called 'Ghantal Festival'. There is also an idol dedicated to Bajreshwari Devi in the Gompa."
http://www.himachalworld.com/religious-tourism/monasteries-in-himachal.html#list_of_monasteries_in_himachal

"GURU GHANTAL - This monastery is situated on a hill above the Tupchiling village at the confluence of the rivers Chandra and Bhaga. This gompa was founded by Padma Sambhava and is more than 800 years old. The peculiar feature of the gompa is the wooden idols as distinguished from the clay idols found in other monasteries. The Guru Ghantal white marble head was installed by its founder, but now the same is kept under lock and key for fear of theft. […]
There is one blackstone statue of a goddess identified as kali in the innermost chamber which gives credence to the theory that this was once a Hindu temple like the Trilokinath temple at Udaipur.
The wall paintings are in stone colours. Because of lack of care colours have washed away. There is lot of seepage in the monastery. Another reason for lack of care is that most of the valuables have been transported to the Tupchiling gompa which is easily accessible and the caretaker also hails from this village only. The workmanship in the gompa is certainly superior to all other gompas."
http://hplahaulspiti.nic.in/Monasteries.htm#GURUGHANTAL

"Lahaul & Spiti District, Himachal Pradesh, India"
http://hplahaulspiti.nic.in/TouristMap.htm

Input by: tmciolek, Mar 30, 2012

Final data (and their sources)

Last updated: 12 Apr 2013

Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 200 m from the point defined by the coordinates below.

Location of Guru Ghantal monastery, IN.

General location of the Guru Ghantal monastery, IN.
Lat 32.549 Long 76.9781
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2012.


Google Map link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=32.549+76.9781+(Approx.%20loc.%20of%20the%20Guru%20Ghantal%20monastery,%20IN)&ll=32.549,76.9781&spn=05.0,05.0&t=k&hl=en


Final data - explanatory notes

1. Monastery's name


2. Monastery's modern country & province

  • India: Himachal Pradesh

3. Monastery's alternative/historical names


4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates

  • Approx., Lat 32.549 Long 76.9781 - based on the visual identification of the site in satellite imagery, maps.fallingrain.com - tmciolek, 30 Mar 2012.

5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries


6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village


7. The settlement's alternative/historical names


8. The settlement's coordinates


9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition


10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition

  • [missing data]

11. Date-early

  • MBM chrono-tag <=0200 - tmciolek 12 Apr 2013
  • <=0200 0200-32c 0233-66c 0267-99c 0300-32c 0333-66c 0367-99c 0400-32c 0433-66c 0467-99c 0500-32c 0533-66c 0567-99c 0600-32c 0633-66c 0667-99c 0700-32c 0733-66c 0767-99c 0800-32c 0833-66c 0867-99c 0900-32c 0933-66c 0967-99c 1000-32c 1033-66c 1067-99c 1100-32c 1133-66c 1167-99c 1200=> dated-el

12. Date-intermediate

  • MBM chrono-tag 0700-32p 0733-66p 0767-99p - tmciolek 12 Apr 2013

13. Date-late

  • MBM chrono-tag 1200=> - tmciolek 12 Apr 2013

14. Details of contacts with other monasteries

  • [missing data]

15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery

  • [missing data]

16. Additional notes

  • [missing data] (incl. details of the size of the monastic population)

17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by

  • [missing data]

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