Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Yarlung Valley (Yǎlǔ Liúyù) is considered the cradle of Tibetan civilisation. Tibetan
creation myths tell of how the first Tibetan people evolved here from the union of a mon-
key and an ogre, and early histories state that the first kings descended from heaven on a
sky cord at Mt Yarlha Shanpo on the western edge of the valley. The early Tibetan kings
unified Tibet from their base here in the 7th century and their massive burial mounds still
dominate the area around Chongye. Yumbulagang, perched on a crag like a medieval
European castle, is the alleged site of Tibet's oldest building, while Tibet's first cultivated
field is said to lie nearby.
The major attractions of the Yarlung Valley can just about be seen in a day.
Trandruk Monastery
MONASTERY
( , Chāngzhū Sì admission ¥35, photos ¥75; dawn-dusk)
Dating back to the 7th-century reign of Songtsen Gampo, Trandruk is one of the earliest
Buddhist temples in Tibet. It was founded at the same time as Lhasa's Jokhang and
Ramoche to act as one of Tibet's demoness-subduing temples (Trandruk pins down the de-
moness' left shoulder). In order to build the monastery here, Songtsen Gampo had first to
take the form of a
tra
(hawk) in order to overcome a local
druk
(dragon), a miracle that is
commemorated in the monastery's name.
Trandruk was significantly enlarged in the 14th century and again under the auspices of
the fifth and seventh Dalai Lamas. The monastery was badly desecrated by Red Guards
during the Cultural Revolution.
The entrance of the monastery opens into a courtyard area ringed by cloisters. The
building to the rear of the courtyard has a ground plan similar to that of the Jokhang, and
shares the same Tibetan name, Tsuglhakhang. Like the Jokhang, there is both an outer and
inner kora path.
The principal chapel, to the rear centre, holds a statue of white Tara known as Drölma
Sheshema (under a parasol), in front of what remains of five stone Dhyani Buddhas. The
statue of Jampelyang (Manjushri) in the corner allegedly swam to the monastery during a
flood.
To the left is the Choegyel Lhakhang, with statues of Songtsen Gampo and his wives
and ministers, next to original fragments of stone statuary from next door's stone Dhyani
Buddhas.
