Talk:Gandhola Monastery

Gondhala monastery in Lahaul
There are actually two different monasteries in Lahaul, Himachel Pradesh, India, separated by about ten kilometers, which have very similar names. Almost all of the few books that treat the subject confuse the two, and the history now found in all accounts and websites becomes quite aberrant.

Gondhla Monastery (also called Gondla, Kundlah) has been built around the 17th or 18th century by followers of the Drukpa lineage, then damaged by the time and avalanches, and rebuilt recently on the same spot. It can easily been seen from the road, as one travels between Keylang and the Rohtang pass and reaches the village called Gondhla, about 18 km before Keylong.

On the other hand, Gandhola or Gaṅdolā, (locally called Guru Ghantal Gompa) is another, much more ancient monastery, perched high above the sacred junction, or sacred Triangle, of the Chandra and Bhaga rivers which unite there together form the Chenab River. It is said by a few historians, most likely mistakenly, to have been founded by Guru Rinpoche or Padmasambhava in the 8th century CE. However, no local tradition nor any guidebook or biography of the Mahasiddhas who cane to practice there on the holy mountain of Drilbu Ri, and stayed in this monastery, mention the venue, otherwise remarkable, of the great Padmasambhava. It may be that the site referred to in the Padma bKai Thang doesn't correspond to this holy spot, as Gandhola can also mean Bodhgaya, for instance. Being located at sacred Triangle of the Chandra and Bhaga rivers union, and on the slopes of the very sacred mountain of Drilbu Ri, this ancient has attracted countless great Mahasiddha over the last two millennium. Some of them, like Gyalwa Gostangpa, mostly stayed in caves nearby. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nawang jinpa (talk • contribs) 10:17, 9 October 2010 (UTC)


 * Tashi delek! Thanks, Nawang jinpa, for your interesting note above. I have only discovered it today as I have been away travelling in India for 3 and a half months. I visited the lower monastery again about 2 months ago (was there 6 years ago as well) and wanted to go to the upper one but, it was not convenient because of the others I was driving with. I was assured that the lower gompa was the more ancient one and where Guru Rinpoche actually stayed. However, I would like to find out more about all this (I wish I coulod afford to go back to check it our myself). If you can find any references or written accounts please let us know the references. In the meantime I will write to some of my Tibetan friends who know the area well and see what they can tell me. Any further information from you or others would be most welcome indeed. Cheers, John Hill (talk) 03:43, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Merged Guru Ghantal Monastery with this article
Today I merged the information in the Guru Ghantal Monastery after consulting with User:Dr. Blofeld (previously known as "Himalayan Explorer") who created that article on 21 November, 2009. He agreed with the merger (see my Talk Page). I have created a redirect instead at Guru Ghantal Monastery John Hill (talk) 02:39, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

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Photo of Gandhola Fort
The current photo (left) taken in 2004 has a small image of the fort set in the surrounding countryside. This does not show the layered construction, which is highlighted in the text. I propose to replace the current photo with the closeup photo (right) taken in 2016 which shows the construction in greater detail, and to put the current photo in the Gallery. Tagooty (talk) 01:57, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Done as no comment. Tagooty (talk) 16:05, 30 May 2020 (UTC)