Simbiling Monastery

Simbiling Monastery, also known as Shambuling Gompa, Shepeling Dzong and Taklakot Gompa, was located next to the large fort of Tegla Kar (Lying Tiger Fort) on a ridge near Taklakot, above the town of Purang, in the Ngari province, which is just over the border from India, in western Tibet in the valley of the Karnali River, which is known in Tibet as the Mapchchu Khambab - the 'Peacock Mouth River' or 'River Formed from the Mouth of a Peacock'. It was set above a ridge of cave dwellings, high above the town, about 15 km to the east of the Sakya Khorzhak Monastery which has survived, and been restored. In 1841, General Zorawar Singh, the commander-in-chief of the Dogra forces, after conquering almost all of Ladakh and much of Western Tibet, including Mount Kailash, and lakes Mansarowar and Rakas Tal, and all the territory from Ladakh to the Mayum Pass, east of Mansarowar, from where the road lead temptingly on to Shigatse and Lhasa, backed by a garrison he had stationed at the strategically important Shepeling dzong. He was, however, killed the next year fighting a large Tibetan force, bringing to an end Gulab Singh's dream of an extensive Dogra empire including large sections of Tibet. Simbiling Monastery had over 100 rooms and was inhabited by several hundred Gelugpa monks. There was also a fort which was the residence of the regional administrator, and a smaller Sakya monaste

Monastery data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).