Katok Monastery was founded in 1159 by a younger brother of Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo, Katok Dampa Deshek, at Derge, the historic seat of the Kingdom of Derge in Kham. Katok Monastery's third abbot, Jampa Bum, whose 26-year tenure as abbot ended in 1252, "is said to have ordained thousands of monks from across Tibet, and especially from Kham region of Minyak, Jang, and Gyémorong." The original gompa fell into disrepair and was rebuilt on the same site in 1656 through the impetus of tertöns Düddül Dorjé and Rigdzin Longsal Nyingpo. Katok Monastery held a reputation of fine scholarship. Prior to the annexation of Tibet in 1951, Katok Monastery housed about 800 monks. Katok was long renowned as a center specializing in the oral lineages and as a center of monasticism, although both of these features were disrupted under Longsel Nyingpo. According to The Tibetan BuddhistResource Centre, disciples of Kenpo Munsel and Kenpo Jamyang compiled a Katok edition of the oral lineages in 120 volumes in 1999: "wice the size of the Dudjom edition, it contains many rare Nyingma treatises on Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga that heretofore had never been seen outside of Tibet." According to Alexander Berzin,
Anuyoga
Kathog Monastery became a bastion of the Anuyoga tradition when it became neglected by other Nyingmapa institutions. The Compendium of the Intentions Sūtra the root text of the Anuyoga tradition was instrumental in the early Kathog educational system. Nubchen Sangye Yeshe wrote a lengthy commentary on the Compendium of the Intentions Sūtra rendered in English as Armor Against Darkness.
Expansion
In 2016, an expansion of the Katok Monastery to the northeast was completed. This expansion included a new temple and assembly hall, directly adjacent to the existing monastery complex.
People from Katok Monastery
A minor figure from Katok, the First Chonyi Gyatso, Chopa Lugu, is remembered for his "nightly bellowing of bone-trumpet and shouting of phet" on pilgrimage, much to the irritation of the business traveler who accompanied him. Chopa Lugu became renowned as "The Chod Yogi Who Split a Cliff in China."
The Fifth Nyingon Choktrul, Gyurme Kelzang Tobgyel Dorje was a noted teacher in the Katok tradition.
Jamyang Gyeltsen served as a principal abbot, and was involved in rebuilding the monastery in the 1980s. He is known for his teaching, writing, and for compiling a history of the monastery.
