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Zangdokpalri Monastery, West Bengal, India
Nyingma Tradition, 20th century, about 300 monks and nuns.
Zangdokpalri Monastery is a Nyingma monastery established by Dudjom Rinpoche in Kalimpong, West Bengal, India, in 1946. The monastery is popularly known as Durpin Monastery.
Zangdokpalri Phodang Monastery, founded by Dudjom Rinpoche. Photo: Yeshedorje, rigpawiki.org/
Location
Zangdokpalri Monastery is located at an altitude of 1,372 meters, atop Durpin Dara (Hill), one of the two hills of the town, and oversees the city with a breathtaking view.
The Indian Army has a major base atop the Durpin Hill due to its proximity to the international border. Near the monastery, a helipad has been constructed by the Indian Army.
History
The monastery was consecrated in 1976 by the visiting Dalai Lama. It houses many rare scriptures that were brought into India after the annexation of Tibet in 1959. It also houses the 108 volumes of the Kangyur.
The shedra,1 founded in 1983, has approximately 60 students.
The monastery is the residence of Lama Chime Rinpoche, a senior student of Dudjom Rinpoche.2
Since 2009 Zangdokpalri Monastery is run by Shingdrup Rinpoche.
Features
The architecture is modeled according to the palace of Guru Rinpoche in Zangdokpalri, the Glorious Copper-Colored Mountain, the manifestation of the celestial paradise of Padmasambhava.
Atop this Glorious Copper-Colored Mountain is the majestic Lotus Light Palace, filled with the light of wisdom. The devotees of Guru Rinpoche consider Zangdokpalri the ultimate paradise--a place of peace, joy, and pure blessings.
Padmasmabhava statue in the prayer hall. Photo: ST Vibes.
Travel and Visiting
Zangdokpalri Monastery is 5 km from Kalimpong. Taxis are available that go up to Durpin hills. Trekking up to the monastery takes about 40 minutes. Kalimpong is well connected by road and takes two and half hours to reach from the nearest railway station.
The nearest airport to Kalimpong is Bagdogra in Siliguri. All major domestic airlines from various Indian cities offer good connectivity between Bagdogra and rest of India. Direct flights to Bagdogra are available from Delhi, Kolkata, and Guwahati.
The best time to visit is between April and June
Sources
https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Zangdokpalri_Monastery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zang_Dhok_Palri_Phodang
http://www.zangdokpalri.org/temple-monastery/
https://www.cglf.org/projects/zangdok-palri
Footnotes
1. The Tibetan word shedra literally means a ‘centre for teaching’. In traditional monastic centres, the shedra is the school where monks and nuns study the most important Buddhist scriptures, based on the explanations of their teacher, or khenpo.
2. Lama Chime Rinpoche (1920—2012) was a very close disciple of Dudjom Rinpoche. Born in the Ngari area, close to Mount Kailash, he was first trained in the Dudjom Tersar lineage by Degyal Rinpoche, a direct student of Dudjom Lingpa. He then met Dudjom Rinpoche and followed him to Lama Ling. Later, he went to India and was in charge of Zangdokpalri Monastery.
Lama Chime Rinpoche worked three times on the building of a Zangdok Palri monastery for Dudjom Rinpoche: one in Kongpo for the original monastery of Lama Ling; a second time for the second Lama Ling monastery after it had been destroyed by an earthquake: a third time in Kalimpong, India.
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