Yarlung Valley
The Yarlung Valley is formed by the Yarlung Tsangpo River and refers especially to the district where it joins with the Chongye River, and broadens out into a large plain about 2 km wide, before they flow north into the Yarlung Tsangpo River or Brahmaputra. It is situated in Nedong County of Lhokha Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The capital of Lhokha Prefecture, Zêtang, in the Yarlung Valley, is one of Tibet's largest cities, and is 183 km southeast of Lhasa.
It was originally well-forested and suitable for agriculture. The Tsetang district is famous for its apples and pears.
The Yarlung and the adjoining Chongye Valley formed the original seat of the Yarlung dynasty of Tibetan kings and controlled important ancient trade routes into India and Bhutan. The first Tibetan Emperor, Songtsen Gampo, moved the capital to Lhasa after greatly expanding his territories and power.
Description
The valley, often referred to as the "cradle of Tibetan civilisation", is only 72 km long, but contains a number of important castles, monasteries, temples, meditation caves, peaks and stupas. There are three renowned power places, Sheldrak, Tradruk, and Yumbu Lagang or. Also, there are three major stupas which serve as receptacles for sacred relics : Takchen Bumpa, Gontang Bumpa, and Tsechu Bumpa.Just below the town of Tsetang there was a 14th-century iron suspension bridge built across the Yarlung Tsangpo River or Brahmaputra by the famous engineer, Tangtong Gyalpo, with a span of 150 to 250 metres, but only five large stone supports are left today. A modern bridge has been built a few kilometres downstream at Nyago. Even by the time Sarat Das visited in 1879 it was in such a state of disrepair that he had to take a large boat containing traders and their donkeys, to ferry across the river.
Major sites of interest
The Lower Yarlung Valley
- Mount Sotang Kangbori is to the east of the town of Zêtang, rising 800 metres above the town with its spurs protecting it from the elements and forming a defensible position at the mouth of the valley. It is one of the four sacred mountains of Central Tibet, and the abode of Yarlha Shampo, a powerful mountain god. It is also famous for its cave at 4,060 metres near the summit. This is where, according to legend, Chenrezig incarnated as a red monkey and impregnated a sinmo, or white ogress, conceiving six sons who were the ancestors of the original six clans of Tibet. In the cave may be seen a naturally occurring image of a monkey and paintings of simian figures. It is said that within the mountain is a beyul or 'hidden land'.
- Sheldrak Monastery Above the Sekhang Zhika village, bypassing a sacred burial ground with a stupa dedicated to Hayagriva, is Sheldrak Monastery. Founded in the 14th century, it is apparently dedicated to the Terton or treasure-finder Sangye Lingpa. It contains images of Padmasambhava with his two foremost consorts, the Eight Manifestations of Padmasambhava, and Karmapa Rangjung Dorje.
- The Sheldrak Caves in the Pema Tskeri range at the entrance to the Yarlung Valley above Sheldrak Monastery:
- Lhabab Ri - 'The Hill of Divine Descent' is the highest of three hilltops at the southern end of the Pema Tsekpa range, below the Sheldrak Caves. It is where the first king Nyatri Tsenpo is said to have descended from the heavens on a "sky-cord" and, being unable to understand the local speech, was carried down the hill on the shoulders of Tibetans who realised his divine provenance and why he had come. Buddhist legends claim he was descended from a Licchavi state in modern Bihar and claim he was descended from the Buddha.
- Tsechu Bumpa Stupa is just south of the turn off to Sheldrak. It is one of the three sacred stupas of Yarlung and its circumambulation usually marks the beginning or end of pilgrimage to Sheldrak. It is said to have at its centre a rock crystal image of the Buddha brought from India and given by the translator Chokrolui Gyeltsen to King Trisong Detsen. Another legend says it contains the armour of King Songtsen Gampo. The site contains a large number of mani stones.
- Tradruk Temple, either the first or second of the great geomantic temples of Tibet, was built during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo.
- Gongtang Bumpa Stupa, one of the three main stupas of the Yarlung Valley, is situated at the centre of the entrance to the fertile Chongye Valley, protecting the Yarlung Valley from the approach of demons or hostile forces. It is said to have been built on the advice of the famous translator Vairocana, one of Padmasambhava's foremost students and holder of the Dzogchen lineage to settle a boundary dispute. It was about 6–8 metres high. A new temple to the west has images of Hayagriva with Padmasambhava and Lhodrak Longka Geling on either side.
- Bairo Puk - Vairocana's Cave. The meditation cave of Vairocana, one of Padmasambhava's main disciples, is 3 metres deep facing a dry waterfall. Only the copper base of the original statue remains, though there is still the imprint of Vairocana's handprint in the rock and some rock-inscriptions.
- Riwo Choling Monastery. South of Tradruk Temple and east of Tsharu village are immense ruins of what was once a Gelugpa monastery founded in the 15th century by Panchen Lama I, Khedrup Gelek Pelzang, Tsongkhapa's foremost disciple. The monks from here used to act as caretakers of the Yumbu Lagang Palace.
The Upper Yarlung Valley
- Podrang Village, about 5 km south of Yumbu Lagang, is said to be the oldest village in Tibet.
- Takchen Bumpa Stupa, is the first of the three major stupas of Yarlung. It is named after Sadaparudita, a bodhisattva mentioned in the Prajnaparamita literature. It is on a pass on the old route to Eyul to the east. The chorten is of a very ancient design, with a dome-shaped bumpa and steps leading up to a window near the top of the dome. A lamp is left burning in the window. The structure was badly damaged during the Cultural Revolution but is now fully restored.
- Next to the Takchen Bumpa Stupa is Takchen Bumoche, a small Drukpa Kargyu monastery attributed to Geshe Korchen from the Kadampa period. When Keith Dowman visited this monastery in 1985 or 1986 there were about a dozen monks in residence.
- Chode O has an Assembly Hall with three storeys. It was founded by the 5th Dalai Lama and expanded by the 7th Dalai Lama. On the middle floor is the main image of Shakyamuni with his main disciples, Sixteen Elders and Eight Medicine Buddhas.
- Chode Gong is older than Chode O, being founded in the 11th century by Ra Lotsawa. The Temple is of four storeys and contains an Assembly Hall and an inner sanctum containing a shrine dedicated to Tsongkhapa and his students, the 8th Dalai Lama, the Buddhas of the Three Times and the Eight Bodhisattvas.
- Yabzang Monastery, presently mainly in ruins, was founded by Gyurme Long in 1206 was the seat of the small Yabzang Kagyu school tracing its descent through his teacher Geden Yeshe Chenye who was a disciple of Phakmodrupa.
- The main peak of Mount Yarlha Shampo is 24 km past Yarto township. The highest peak is the abode of the protector Yarlha Shampo. The road leads over the Yarto Drak La pass, which marks the end of the Yarlung Valley, to the Nyel Valley and on to the Indian and Bhutanese borders.
Footnotes