Milarepa's Cave, Nyalam
{{short description|Cave in Nyalam County, Tibet}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Milarepa's Cave
| native_name = མི་ལ་རས་པའི་བྲག་ཕུག
| native_name_lang = bo
| image = File:Gompa at Milarepa's cave.JPG
| image_upright =
| alt =
| caption = View overlooking Phelgyeling Monastery at Milarepa's Cave, Tibet
| map_type = Tibet
| map_size =
| map_alt =
| map_relief =
| map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|28.2417|86.0077|type:landmark|display=title,inline}}
| coordinates_footnotes =
| religious_affiliation = Tibetan Buddhism
| locale =
| location = Gangka village, Nyalam County, Shigatse, Tibet
| deity =
| rite =
| sect = Gelug
| tradition =
| festival =
| cercle =
| sector =
| municipality =
| district =
| territory =
| prefecture =
| state =
| province =
| region =
| country =
| administration =
| consecration_year =
| organisational_status =
| functional_status =
| heritage_designation =
| ownership =
| governing_body =
| leadership =
| bhattaraka =
| patron = Milarepa
| religious_features_label =
| religious_features =
| architect =
| architecture_type =
| architecture_style =
| founded_by =
| creator =
| funded_by =
| general_contractor =
| established =
| groundbreaking =
| year_completed =
| construction_cost =
| date_demolished =
| facade_direction =
| capacity =
| length =
| width =
| width_nave =
| interior_area =
| height_max =
| dome_quantity =
| dome_height_outer =
| dome_height_inner =
| dome_dia_outer =
| dome_dia_inner =
| minaret_quantity =
| minaret_height =
| spire_quantity =
| spire_height =
| site_area =
| temple_quantity =
| monument_quantity =
| shrine_quantity =
| inscriptions =
| materials =
| elevation_m =
| elevation_footnotes =
| nrhp =
| designated =
| added =
| refnum =
| footnotes =
| website =
}}
{{Tibetan-Chinese-box
|title=Milarepa's Cave
|t=མི་ལ་རས་པའི་བྲག་ཕུག
|w=mi la ras pa'i brag phug
|s=米拉日巴修行洞
|tc=米拉日巴修行洞
|p=Mǐlārèbā xiūxíng dòng
}}
{{Tibetan-Chinese-box
|title=Nyalam Pelgye Ling
|t=གཉའ་ལམ་འཕེལ་རྒྱས་གླིང་{{Cite web
| title = gnya' lam 'phel rgyas gling
| work = The Buddhist Digital Archives
| publisher = Buddhist Digital Resource Center
| date =
| access-date = 6 March 2022
| url = http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/G1KR1647
| quote = གཉའ་ལམ་འཕེལ་རྒྱས་གླིང་།
}}
|w=gnya' lam 'phel rgyas gling
|thdl=Nyalam Pelgyé Ling
|s=潘杰林寺
|tc=潘杰林寺
|p=Pānjiélín sì
}}
Milarepa's Cave or Namkading Cave is a cave where the Tibetan Buddhist philosopher, and Vajrayana Mahasiddha, Milarepa (c. 1052–c. 1135 CE) spent many years of his life in the eleventh century. It is located {{convert|11|km|mi|0}} north of the town of Nyalam at Gangka village.{{cite book|author1=Bradley Mayhew|author2=Michael Kohn|title=Tibet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCDqWS-4NTQC&pg=PA192|year=2005|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74059-523-0|page=192|quote=The [Nyalam Pelgye Ling] template is signposted 10km north of Nyalam, at Gangka village.}} It is on the slope below the China–Nepal Friendship Highway and above the Matsang river in Nyalam County, Tibet.Dorje (1999), p. 304.
Phelgyeling Monastery
File:Milarepa-statue-made-by-root-student-rechungpa.jpg
A path leads down from the roadside through the village and down a hillside where there is a small monastery (gompa) named Nyanang Pelgye Ling Monastery, or Phelgyeling which is built around the cave.[http://www.tibetanexpeditions.com/ Tibet: Highlights in Brief]Karl-Heinz Everding, "Tibet: lamaistische Klosterkulturen, nomadische Lebensformen und bäuerlicher Alltag ...", p. 260. {{ISBN|3-7701-4803-7}} The monastery's assembly hall has the statue, {{convert|7|ft|m|0}} in height, of Shakyamuni Buddha in the center.
The monastery used to be a Kagyupa but later was converted to a Gelugpa by the 5th Dalai Lama. Later, Phelgyeling Monastery was affiliated with the Gelugpa Sera Monastery in Lhasa.{{Cite web
| title = Milarepa Meditation Cave
| author =
| publisher = Tibet Vista
| date =
| access-date = 20 January 2020
| url = https://www.tibettravel.org/tibet-travel-guide/milarepa-cave.html
| quote = The monastery used to be a Kagyupa temple but, since the late 17th century, has been affiliated with the Gelugpa Sera Monastery in Lhasa.
}}
A separate Nyanang Phelgye Ling Monastery was set up by the Tibetan diaspora in Nepal in foothills of Swayambhunath, Kathmandu. Many holy relics were brought from Tibet by fleeing monks during the 1959 Tibetan uprising, which was suppressed by the Chinese government. The Kathmandu monastery was constructed in 1972. The relocated relics are now safely kept in this monastery.{{Cite web
| title = History
| author =
| publisher = Nyanang Phelgye Ling Monastery
| date =
| access-date = 7 March 2024
| url = https://nyanangphelgyeling.org/history/
| quote =
}}{{Primary source inline|date=March 2024}}
Description of the cave
Milarepa's Cave, which overlooks the entrance to the hidden valley of Lapchi Gang, is entered from the gompa's vestibule. The path is flanked by pilgrim's offerings of decorated stones and sweet-smelling herbs and wild flowers growing all around. The cave itself is kept as a shrine by two monks, guarding a statue of Milarepa enclosed in a glass case. In the cave is an impression in the rock attributed to Milarepa's sitting meditation posture and a handprint said to have been created when Milarepa helped Rechungpa (1083/4–1161 CE), his student, use a boulder to prop up the ceiling. There are images of Milarepa, Tsongkhapa, and Shri Devi, a protectress whose mule is said to have left a footprint in the stone when she visited Milarepa in a vision.
Restoration work within the cave and the monastery was undertaken by artists and craftsmen from NepalDowman, Keith. 1988. The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London & New York. {{ISBN|0-7102-1370-0}}, p. 282. and was financed in the 1970s by the Chinese government.
In art
The cave and the Pelgye Ling temple were the subject of Richard Gere's artistic photo work, Milarepa's Cave, Nyelam Pelgye Ling Temple, Tibet (1993).{{cite news |last=Loke |first=Margarett |date=November 28, 1997 |title=Richard Gere 'Pilgrim' |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02E5DC133AF93BA15752C1A961958260 |department=Art In Review |work=The New York Times |page=E00041}}
Associated caves
{{See also|Milarepa's Cave (disambiguation){{!}}Milarepa's Cave}}
There are many more caves associated with Milarepa in Tibet and Nepal. There is the Milarepa Cave in Gandaki, Nepal on the Annapurna Circuit just outside of the town of Manang.
Another notable one is close to Lar in the Tsum Valley at the border with Tibet, 28.52°N / 85.08°E, alt 3330 m. It features the print in rock of Milarepa's foot. It can be visited and there are two shrines on the site. Buddhist presence in this valley developed around Milarepa's time, as the gompa in Dephu Donma monastery, up the valley, dates back to the 12th century AD.
Footnotes
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
References
- Dorje, Gyurme (1999). Footprint Tibet Handbook with Bhutan. Second Edition. Footprint Handbooks, Bath, England. {{ISBN|1-900949-33-4}}.
- Dowman, Das (1988). The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide. Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., London & New York. {{ISBN|0-7102-1370-0}}.
- Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael Tibet. (2005). 6th Edition. Lonely Planet. {{ISBN|1-74059-523-8}}.
External links
- [http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/G1KR1647 gnya' lam 'phel rgyas gling], The Buddhist Digital Archives
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150923182527/http://www.basecamptrekking.com/rolwaling-trekking/lapchi-trek#Milarepa cave, Lapchi kang]
- [http://www.paulwhkan.com/asia/nepaltibet22/nepaltibet22.html#e Photos]
{{commons category|Milarepa's Cave}}
{{Buddhist monasteries in Tibet}}
{{Xigazê}}
Category:Buddhist monasteries in Tibet