Brief / profile

With the height of 5,100 meters, the Rongbuk Monastery is a 5-tier Tibetan Buddhist monastery as well as the highest monastery in the world.

Location
It stands in Basum Township, Dingri County, Shigatse.

History
The monastery was established by a local lama in 1899. In the ancient time, it was very active due to the teachings held at regular time.
The treasury of books and costumes in the monastery were taken to Tengboche in terms of safety. However, they were lost due to a fire in 1989.
Since 1983, the Rongbuk Monastery has been renovated.

Architecture / Structure / Each scenery
In front of the monastery, there’s a large and terraced chorten with a reliquary.
The statues of Skyamuni and Geru Rinpoche were dedicated in the frontispiece of the main hall. Moreover, the mural paintings in it are really fantastic and you should never miss to have a visit.
Moreover, there will be a Buddhist Dancing Ceremony held to celebrate the birth of Sakyamuni from the 15th April according to the Tibetan Calendar. This ceremony is also known as Saka Dawa Festival. In addition, in order to placate wandering ghosts, there’s also another Tibetan festival held on 29th December according to Tibetan Calendar. During the festival, monks will wear masks.

Transportation.
As for how to get there, the monastery is accessible by vehicle on a backward dirt road.

Note
This monastery is also a good point to appreciate the beautiful scenery of Mt. Everest which is 8 km away.
Furthermore, the Rongbuk Monastery links Shigatse City and Lhasa by a road, so you can get to these 2 cities from this place.