Buddhist monasteries (Himachal Pradesh) Lhalung Monastery Altar of Guru Rinpoche *Worship at Lhalung Monastery Dhankar Monastery *Tabo Monastery and chortensPanorama Nako Monastery, Spiti *Shakyamuni Buddha at the monastery of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin GyatsoMcLeod Ganj, also called Little Lhasa, capital of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile </div>

Buddhism in the Himachal Pradesh state of India of has been a long-recorded practice. The spread of Buddhism in the region has occurred intermediately throughout its history. Starting in the 3rd century BCE, Buddhism was propagated by the Maurya Empire under the reign of Ashoka. The region would remain an important center for Buddhism under the Kushan Empire and its vassals. Over the centuries the following of Buddhism has greatly fluctuated. Yet by experiencing revivals and migrations, Buddhism continued to be rooted in the region, particularly in the Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur valleys.

After the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, escaped from Tibet with his followers in 1959 and took refuge in India, the focus on Tibetan Buddhism spread further and attracted immense international sympathy and support. The Dalai Lama found Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh as an ideal place to establish his "capital in exile" at McLeod Ganj in close vicinity to Dharamshala, and is called the Little Lhasa and also as Dhasa (a combination of Dharamshala and Lhasa in Tibet). This situation has given the state a unique status in the global firmament of Buddhist traditions. It is now the cradle of Tibetan Buddhism, with its undeniable link to the past activities initiated in the 8th century (in 747 AD) by Guru Padmasambhava (who went to Tibet from Rewalsar in Himachal Pradesh in North India to spread Buddhism), who was known as the "Guru Rinpoche" and the "Second Buddha".

The influence of Buddhism is strong throughout the Trans-Himalayan region or Western Himalayas, formed by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh and bounded by the Indus River on the extreme west and the Tons-Yamuna River gorge on the east.Handa p.21 With the influx of Tibetan refugees into India, in the last over 50 years (since 1959), popularity and practice of Tibetan Buddhism has been notable. Apart from the original practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism in ancient and medieval India, it is now seriously pursued by Tibetans re-settled at Dharamshala (the nodal centre and the 'capital in exile' of the Dalai Lama were initially re-settled) in Himachal Pradesh, Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Kushalnagar (Karnataka), Darjeeling (West Bengal), Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Ladakh.

Overview After a lull in the spread of Buddhism in the state during the 10th century, the Tibetan King Yeshe Od of Guge took the initiative to revive it. Of the 21 scholars he had sent to revive Buddhism in the Trans Himalayan region, only two had survived, and one of them was the famous scholar-translator Rinchen Zangpo who transfused Buddhist activity in the state of Himachal Pradesh. Known by the epithet "Lohtsawa" or the "Great Translator", Zangpo built 108 monasteries in the trans-Himalayan region to spread Buddhism, which are considered as the main stay of Vajrayana of Tibetan Buddhism (also known as Lamaism). He institutionalised Buddhism in this region. Zangpo had engaged Kashmiri artists who created wall paintings and sculptures in these legendary 108 monasteries; only a few of these have survived in Himachal Pradesh namely, the Lhalung Monastery, Nako Gompa in Spiti and Tabo Monastery in Spiti, the last named monastery is known as the Ajanta of the Himalayas. In Himachal Pradesh, apart from these ancient Buddhist monasteries set up by Zangpo, his contemporaries of other Buddhist sects built many more monasteries. This activity thus further continued in the subsequent centuries under the four main traditions of Nyingma, Kagyu, Gelug, and Sakya, categorised as per teachings into three "vehicles": Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. These monasteries are mostly in the Spiti, Lahaul and Kinnaur valleys. Some of the well known monasteries are Gandhola Monastery (Drukpa Kargyu sect) Guru Ghantal Monastery, Kardang Monastery (Drukpa sect), Shashur Monastery, Tayul Monastery and Gemur Monastery in the Lahaul Valley, Dhankar Monastery, Kaza Monastery, Kye Monastery, Tangyud Monastery (Sakya sect), Kungri Monastery (of the Nyingma sect), Kardang Monastery (Drukpa Kagyu sect) and Kibber Monastery in the Spiti Valley, and the Bir Monasteries (Bir Tibetan monasteries of the Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya sects) in the Kangra valley.

History

The very earliest influence of Buddhism in Himachal Pradesh is traced to the Ashokan period in the 3rd century BC. He had established many stupas, and one of them was traced to the state in the Kulu valley, as cited in the chronicles of the Chinese travellers. Mention is also made of a much earlier propagation during Buddha's time itself by Sthavira Angira and Stavira Kanakavatsa, in the Kailash area and Kashmir respectively. In the 7th century, King Songtsen Gampo of Tibet had deputed Thomi Sambota to visit Buddhist Viharas in India to imbibe more of Indian Buddhist knowledge. It was in 749 AD that Padmasambhava (hailed as the second Buddha) with his compatriot Shantarakshita established the Vajrayana Buddhism in the Western Himalayan region. Rewalsar lake at Rewalsar in Mandi district is where Padmasambhava (literal meaning "lotus born") is said to have meditated for long years. At Rewalsar, there is also a strange legend of his life linked to the local King, his daughter and the lake. It is one of the most ancient links to Tibetan Buddhism in Himachal Pradesh where Buddhists undertake parikrama of the lake on religious pilgrimage.

Archaeological evidence in Himachal Pradesh offers strong evidence of Buddhist influence. Numismatic evidence has established the presence of Buddhism in the Kuluta region (upper Beas region of the Kuluta Kingdom) of the state in the 1st century BC and 2nd century AD. On the Palampur-Malan- Dadh-Dharamshala road, from Malan rock inscriptions in Brahmi and Kharoshti scripts of 3rd and 2nd century BC have been discovered on a single granite rock known as Lakhina pathar, which are supported by the Buddhist monuments at Chahri; inscribed pedestals of Vajravarahi (Buddhist tantric goddess) is dated to 5th or early 6th century. Handa's archaeological explorations have also unearthed a headless stone image of Buddha (now in the Kangra Museum) at sites of Chetru and Kanhiara villages; Chetru in local lingua is interpreted as Chaitya in Sanskrit. Names such as Matth and Trilokinath and one dozen maths in Kangra and Mandi districts further point to Buddhist establishments between the 3rd century BC and 6th century AD. Cave type (guha type) Buddhist monastery at Gandhala has been inferred from a copper lot (pot), chased with Jataka episode discovered in a monastic cell in Kullu subdivision of the Kangra division which is dated to the 2nd century AD. Trilokinath and Gandhala (also known as Guru Ghantal), beyond Rohtang la pass are considered classical Buddhist shrines of Indian Buddhism (inferred to predate Padmasmbhava's times by many centuries). Discovery of marble head (7th or 8th century AD) of Avalokiteshvara at the confluence of Chandra and Bhagha Rivers support evidence of monastic activities in these remote regions.Handa p.75-80

Archaeological evidence also supports the influence of Vajrayana Buddhism influence prior to the 8th century in the region east of Sutlej river. Cult powers of Padmasambhava, before he went to Tibet (before 747 AD), are also deciphered from legends at Nako in Kinnaur, Trilokinath and Gandhala in Lahaul, and Rewalsar in Mandi district. From the mid 8th century (after 747 AD) evidence of Buddhist activities remain obscure till Tibetan Buddhism penetrated the region in the 10th century.Handa p.86

Rinchen Zangpo was urged by Buddhist Guru Shantarakshita from Kashmir, who had already established a monastic order in Tibet, to travel around to spread Buddhism in the trans-Himalayan region. At that time, Zangpo was teaching in Kashmir. He embarked on his campaign to teach Buddhism in the trans-Himalayan region by travelling through Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur valleys of the Sutlej River valley, in Himachal Pradesh, then to Ladakh and further on to Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. He established Buddhist Dharma in all these regions. This period was called the "Second Coming" of Buddhism in the region since earlier efforts made had not progressed much. It is said that Zangpo's persistence of amalgamating Tibetan Buddhism into the Indian creed was the "Second Advancement" or "Second Coming", also called the "Classical Period". Since then, Tibetan Buddhism has also imbibed many of the religious practices and culture of India. Buddhist monastic art and architecture thus went through a sea change.

Another Buddhist Tantric Guru Deepankara Srijnana (Atisha) (982–1054) was held in high esteem during the period of Zangpo. He had a great influence on Zangpo in teaching the finer aspects of Tantric texts in Sanskrit and the translated texts in Tibetan. Under Atisha's influence there was conceptual reformation of primitive Buddhism in Tibet into the Mahayana Buddhism, which laid stress on "celibacy and morality". This resulted in the evolution of a reformed sect known as Kahdampa, which eventually got subsumed under the Gelukpa sect. This reformation also caused further break-up of Buddhism under several sects and sub sects. The Kings of Guge had a significant role in propagation of the religion, which had strong influence on the architectural planning of Tibetan monasteries. One of the Guge brothers, Chang chub-O, had even got the Tabo Monastery in Spiti refurbished. But Tibet was fragmented under the influence of its various sects and subsects, which attracted Mongol invasion. Three events in the 13th century had profound effect on Tibetan Buddhism; one was Chengiz Khan's invasion of Tibet in 1206; the second event in the second half of thirteenth century was that of the then Chinese ruler Kublai Khan's (of Yuan, who later became a Buddhist); and the third of Kashmir, which until then had been a stronghold of Buddhism, going under Muslim rule after 1339, putting an end to cultural communication with India. Mongol invasion is also credited with uniting Tibet under the institution of the Dalai Lama. While the Mongols favoured the Sakya sect, the Ming dynasty (Chinese) favoured Kargyupa and Kahdampa sects; but these actions resulted in inter-sectoral rivalry and even destruction of each other's monasteries. It was during this period that monasteries were also built on hilltops and many were also well fortified. The period between 1300 AD and 1850 AD marked the development of hill-top monasteries and examples of this type in the western Himalayan region are the Ki Monastery in Spiti and the Hemis Monastery in Ladakh.Handa pp.94–97

Thus, from the 14th century onwards, the monasteries had adopted a fort-like design for its buildings from logistic considerations and built them as "religio-military strongholds"; many of them have disappeared due to invasions but some have survived in Ladakh and Spiti valleys in India. Zangpo's "Classical monasteries" in Western Tibet, in Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh, and in Ladakh have survived and are fairly well preserved for posterity. However, instances of greed and neglect have been reported in some monasteries.

Tibetan immigration