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Samtencholing Monastery
Marpha, Lower Mustang





Samtencholing Gumba was established 400 years ago by Kathok Rimpoche from Tibet, according to the Nyingma tradition of Dorjee Drak.
​It is located in a picturesque Marpha village, Lower Mustang, Nepal.



The brief history of the monastery:



About 400 years ago at that place was just a small village Gumba, while Kathog Rimpoche was passing through Marpha Village and local people requested him to build a monastery here, he agreed and asked to provide a middle child from each family to become a monk, at that time statues of Amitabha Buddha, Avalokiteshvara and Guru Padmasambhava were established here and since then they recieve a daily worship. In course of time the monastery has grown and developed, accumulated rare scriptures, and oral tradition of transmission still remains intact. Reincarnated masters (Tulku) of this lineage include Jigme Lingpa, Lhatsün Namkha Jigme, and Tulku Lodro Singey being the present one.



About us:



The Monastery is a home to 20 monks, 14 of them are young boys completing their 10-year studies of dharma, tibetan language, chanting and performing ceremonies. They are guided by the current head of the monastery Khenpo Pema Hirachan, previous head of the monastery Gelong Urgen Palzang has retired from his formal duties, which he has performed for more then 50 years, and now dedicates his time solely for sadhana, he still remains the heart of the monastery.



Pujas and Festivals:



You are welcome to attend our monthly pujas, every dashami and ekadashi (10th and 11th lunar days) we have Guru Padmasambhava Puja, every chaturdashi (14th lunar day) there is Avalokiteshwara Puja, and every Poornima (Fullmoon day) there is Amitabha Buddha puja.
On the Buddha Jayanti day there is a big festival where all Marpha people carry scriptures from the monastery around the village. And on the Diwali day there is a colourful Lama Dance festival.



Meditation:



It is possible to meditate at the monastery in a separately designated meditation hall. Teachings on meditation are given if required. At the moment Samtencholing does not offer food and lodging for meditators, but we plan to start organized meditation courses in future.







Thank You



Thank you for visiting our small website, if you have any questions fell free to contact us. At

pemahirachan@gmail.com​


We need your support:



Living rooms for monks are currently (for the december 2022) in a very poor condition and require repair, any contribution to that case would be welcome, if you wish to help you can contact the head of monastery Pema Khenpo directly by writing a mail
pemahirachan@gmail.com



Bhir Gompa



The story of that gompa goes back to the dates unknown, it is said that a yogi lama was living in that cave and while the king of Nepal was passing here, his wife got sick and that yogi has cured his wife, so the King donated to build a small gompa and established the shrine of Mahakaal there, it was used for the solitude retreats of monks where they stayed from a few months up to 3 years, but currently it is closed, and gompa opens just once a year for the special puja. One room is still open there and offers a good place for meditation.



Copyright © Marpha Monastery, 2022