Palpung Monastery

Palpung Monastery
Tibetan transcription(s) Tibetan: དཔལ་སྤུངས། Wylie transliteration: dpal spungs
View of Palpung Monastery in 2014
Religion
Affiliation	Tibetan Buddhism
Sect	Karma Kagyu
Location
Location	Babang, Dêgê County, Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China
Country	China
Location within Sichuan
Geographic coordinates	31°38′54″N 98°47′45″E / 31.64833°N 98.79583°E / 31.64833; 98.79583
Architecture
Founder	8th Tai Situ
Date established	1727; 297 years ago (1727)
Protected 1958. Reopened as monastery in 1982.

Palpung Monastery (Tibetan: དཔལ་སྤུངས།, Wylie: dpal spungs dgon pa^[1]) is the name of the congregation of monasteries and centers of the Tai Situpa lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism as well as the name of the Tai Situ's monastic seat in Babang, Kham (modern Sichuan). Palpung means "glorious union of study and practice". It originated in the 12th century and wielded considerable religious, political, and economic influence over the centuries.^[2]

The current monastery was founded in 1727^[3][4] by the 8th Tai Situpa "Situ Panchen" with the great support of the Dharma King of Derge Temba Tsering. It is the seat of four lines of incarnate lamas, the best-known being the Tai Situpa^[5] as well as the Jamgon Kongtrul and the Second Beru Khyentse. The temple has historically been associated with the Karmapas: for instance, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa, was enthroned first at Palpung before traveling to his main seat at Tsurphu Monastery in Ü-Tsang.

The 12th Tai Situpa, Pema Tönyö Nyinje, has established a new monastic seat in exile at Palpung Sherabling Monastery in the state of Himachal Pradesh near the city of Baijnath. Palpung Yeshe Rabgyeling Nun Monastery is near the city of Manali in the town Bunthar about 3 hours drive from the Palpung Sherabling Monastery (Wylie: shes rab gling^[6]).