Ki Gompa Buddhist monastery is either an outpost or a temple with a thousand-year history
Ki Gompa Buddhist monastery is either an outpost or a temple with a thousand-year history

Video: Ki Gompa Buddhist monastery is either an outpost or a temple with a thousand-year history

Video: Ki Gompa Buddhist monastery is either an outpost or a temple with a thousand-year history
Video: Interview with curators Artúr van Balen, Fabiola Bierhoff and Anna Hoetjes - YouTube 2024, November
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Ki Gompa - the largest Buddhist monastery
Ki Gompa - the largest Buddhist monastery

Key Gompa - one of the largest Buddhist monasteries in Tibet. It is located in the Spiti Valley in the heart of the Indian Himalayas. Getting here is not easy, because the monastery was built at an altitude of 4166 meters above sea level. Here, since the 11th century, lamas have been trained, today about 300 people live in this training center.

Ki Gompa - the largest Buddhist monastery
Ki Gompa - the largest Buddhist monastery

It is believed that the monastery was founded by Dromtön, a disciple of the famous educator Atisha, in the 11th century. However, this information may equally apply to the Kadampa monastery, which was also located in this area, but was destroyed in the 14th century. Nevertheless, historians traditionally agree that Ki Gompa has a thousand-year history, in this regard, in 2000, with the participation of the Dalai Lama, this significant date was celebrated.

Ki Gompa - the largest Buddhist monastery
Ki Gompa - the largest Buddhist monastery
Ki Gompa - the largest Buddhist monastery
Ki Gompa - the largest Buddhist monastery

The history of Ki Gompa is truly tragic, but in spite of everything, the building survived, and strong-spirited lamas are still being brought up within its walls. Perhaps one of the most difficult periods for the monastery was the 17th century, when, during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama, the Tatar tribes raided Ki Gompa. In the 19th century, the monastery also had a chance to withstand the attacks of various armies that fought in this troubled region, a lot, unfortunately, was plundered. To top it all off, in 1975 the monastery building was damaged by a powerful earthquake.

Ki Gompa - the largest Buddhist monastery
Ki Gompa - the largest Buddhist monastery

Today, Ki Gompa looks more like a defensive outpost than a monastery. Of course, the influence of the Chinese tradition is noticeable in its architecture: a multi-storey building looks like a heap of small rooms, there are narrow corridors inside the monastery, and twilight reigns constantly. The building received its unusual appearance due to the fact that the monks were constantly completing the destroyed parts.

Ki Gompa - the largest Buddhist monastery
Ki Gompa - the largest Buddhist monastery

The monastery contains wonderful collections of paintings and frescoes, there are valuable manuscripts, unique wind instruments. In addition, here you can see an exhibition of weapons that were used in different periods for the defense of Ki Gompa. By the way, on our website Kulturologiya.ru we wrote about other Buddhist monasteries that are not inferior in their beauty to Ki Gompa. This is the Chinese temple of ten thousand Buddhas, as well as the Yarhen monastery.

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