Amnye Machen ཨ་མྱེས་རྨ་ཆེན།

The Amnye Machen mountain range is located in the Golok region of Amdo. It is one of Tibet’s most sacred mountains and is revered by both Buddhists and Bon adherents. The protecter deity Machen Pomra is said to reside in the mountain’s highest peak. The pilgrimage circuit around the mountain is popular among Bon followers and Buddhists.Amnye Machen, the seat of the Tibetan mountain god Machen Pomra rises to 6.826 meters. He is head of the Sadaks (Lords of the Ground) of the region and many consider him the senior regional godhead of Tibet. Machen Pomra vowed to protect the Buddhist teachings several times, first before the Buddha Vajradhara, then before Guru Rinpoche and afterwards before Je Tsongkhapa – himself a native of Amdo. Machen Pomra is therefore also one of the protectors of the Ganden Monastery. The Amnye Machen range has three prominent peaks; the southern pyramid (second highest) is called Chenrezig, the Avalokitesvara, of which the Dalai Lama is believed to be an incarnation; the central lower peak, a smaller pyramid, Amnye Machen; and the northern, which is the highest, a huge, round, broad dome called Dradul-Lung-shok) Victor of enemies wind wing. The dome in the north is the highest part, but it is not so imposing as the large pyramid at the southern end. Machen Pomra is the protector of Chadongri Monastery and the communities of Golok. A pilgrimage or Kora around his abode takes a week on foot and it is said that 10.000 people a year undertook the Kora in the past. The great yogin from Amdo,  Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol (1781-1851) stayed at the mountain and his cave there is visited by many pilgrims. Machen or Magyal Pomra is “a powerful protector of the Dharma who, after having been subjugated by Guru Padmasambhava, became a Bodhisattva of the tenth spiritual level”.