Tholing Monastery

Tholing Monastery
Tibetan transcription(s) Tibetan: མཐོ་ལྡིང་དགོན་པ Wylie transliteration: mtho lding dgon pa Other transcriptions: Toling Chinese transcription(s) Simplified: 托林寺 Pinyin: Tuolin si
The red temple of Tholing Monastery, built 997, surrounded by ruins.
Religion
Affiliation	Tibetan Buddhism
Sect	Kadampa
Deity	Vairochana
Location
Location	Tholing (Zanda), Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region
Country	China
Location within Tibet Autonomous Region Show map of South Asia Tholing Monastery (Tibet) Show map of Tibet
Geographic coordinates	31°29′01″N 79°47′53″E / 31.48361°N 79.79806°E / 31.48361; 79.79806
Architecture
Founder	Rinchen Zangpo
Date established	10th century

Tholing Monastery (or Toling, mtho lding dgon pa མཐོ་ལྡིང་དགོན་པ) (Tuolin si 托林寺) is the oldest monastery (or gompa) in the Ngari Prefecture of western Tibet. It is situated in Tholing (Zanda), Zanda County, near the Indian border of Ladakh. It was built in 997 AD by Yeshe-Ö, the second King of the Guge Kingdom. In Tibetan language 'Tholing' means "hovering in the sky forever" and is reflected by the location of the monastery at an elevation of 12,400 feet (3,800 m). The complex includes three temples, the Yeshe-O Temple, the Lhakhang Karpo and the Dukhang. There are many ancient, precious, and well-preserved frescoes.