Stories of the monastery’s origin

The most prominent of the three origin stories states that the present Monastery's location was chosen by a horse belonging to Merag Lama Lodre Gyatso. He was on a mission assigned to him by the 5th Dalai Lama to establish a Monastery. After an intense search for a suitable place, he retired to a cave to offer prayers, seeking divine intervention to choose the site. When he came out of the cave, he found his horse missing.

He then went in search of the horse and finally found it grazing at the top of a mountain called Tana Mandekhang, which in the past was the palace of King Kala Wangpo. He took this as divine and auspicious guidance and decided to establish the monastery at that location. With the help of the local people, Mera Lama established the monastery at that location in the latter part of 1681.

Into the colourful gate

The monastery entrance features a colourful gate structure known as the Kakaling, which is shaped like a hut and has side walls made of stone masonry. The roof of the Kakaling is decorated with mandalas, and the interior walls are adorned with murals of divinities and saints. The monastery has a printing press for producing religious books using locally made paper and wooden blocks for printing.

These books are primarily used by the literate Monpa Lamas for conducting religious rituals. The library, located on the entire second floor, houses scriptures such as Gyetengpa, Doduipa, Mamtha, Kangyur, Tengyur, and Zungdui, which have been affected by insect attacks.