Tibet World Travel Tibet Tour, Tibet Trip, Tibet Travel, Tibet Train, Tibet Trekking,
Jyeku DondrupLing, a major Sakya monastery in Jyekundo, was built on the site of earlier Bon and Kagyu monasteries. The Sakya presence was first established by Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen, and then expanded into a formal monastery in the fifteenth century by Dakchen Sherab Gyaltsen. Jyekundo Dondrupling Monastery suffered heavy damage from the 2010 earthquake and the main prayer hall was completely destroyed and a number of resident monks were killed. The monastery has since been almost rebuilt, but there are still some temples and statues under construction. Jyeku Dhodrupling monastery is just located the small hill above the Jyekundo town. And it offers the best view of the entire town below. Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen was born in 1235 in Ngari into the illustrious Khon family that had recently established themselves at Sakya in Tsang. His father was Sonam Gyeltsen, the younger brother of the great scholar Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyeltsen, who is commonly referred to as Sapan. His mother was Kunga Kyi. In 1254, Pakpa went on a teaching tour in Kham where he visited various monasteries, converting several, including Dzongsar and Jyegu Dondrub Ling from Bon to the Sakya tradition. Dakchen Sherab Gyeltsen was born in Sakya in 1436 or 1439. One additional source gives 1376. His father was the Eighteenth Sakya Tridzin, Jamyang Namkha Gyeltsen, and his mother was Machik Peljung Gyelmo. He had a younger brother, Gyakarwa Lodro Gyeltsen who served as the Twentieth Sakya Tridzin. He trained with Jamyang Konchok Zangpo. At the age of twenty-seven Sherab Gyeltsen went to Kham. According to legend he lost his way and found himself in a Mongolian region; deciding that it was suitable for dharma, he established Dondrub Ling. The monastery, in Jyekundo, occupies a site that previously had a Bon temple and later two small Karma Kagyu temples. Legend has it that Pakpa Lodro Gyeltsen had converted the Bon temple to Sakya when he passed through the area, and that in the intervening years the Sakya and Kagyu had contested the site. Some sources list Sherab Gyeltsen the twentieth Sakya Tridzin, although most lists have him as the twenty-first, an office he held from 1473-1495. Among his students were Sakya Lotsawa Jampai Dorje. Sherab Gyeltsen passed away at Shabdeding in 1465, 1486, or 1494. A single golden manuscript volume of his works is said to exist.
