History of Shalu Monastery Tibet

The Shalu Monastery was founded by Chetsun Sherab Jungney, the disciple of Loton Dorji Wangchuck, in 1027 A.D. at Shalu village near Shigatse town in Tibet. It is one of the oldest monasteries built during the later spread of Buddhism and was consecrated by Atisha(982-1054) a renowned Buddhist sage.  In the early 14th century, the monastery became one of the most famous centers of learning under the Abbotship of Buton Rinchen Drup(1290-1363 A.D.), renowned Buddhist scholar. During his tenure of abbotship, he had personally supervised the completion of 499 tantric Mandalas and excelled in the field of preaching, debating, and composing. His fame had attracted many wise scholars from far off places to study in the monastery, and the number of the monks rose to 7700 at that time.

The monastery consisted of one big center hall known as Shalu Lhakhang. It was surrounded by four other buildings to accommodate the ever-increasing number of scholars and monks who joined the monastery to seek knowledge and take refuge under the three jewels. Since its inception in 1027 A.D till the illegal invasion of Tibet by the Chinese in 1959, the monastery was one of the most famous religious learning centres in Tibet. The Shalu monks could, through their religious practice, control their body temperature irrespective of the cold temperature outside, and also were able to cover long distances with rocket speed through their skill in controlling atmospheric pressure etc.

Like all the religious sites in Tibet, in 1959 Shalu Monastery was destroyed by the Chinese, and the monks were either imprisoned or forced to renounce their vows. Currently, there are about 70 monks at the monastery in Tibet but they do not get an opportunity to learn and practice.