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Phuntsok Ling · Odisha, India
Dundul Raptenling Monastery
A monastery of the Dudjom Tersar lineage, founded under the blessings of Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche. Today it is home to more than 100 young monks and the place where Zangdok Palri is being built.
01History
Founded by Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche in exile
Before 1959, His Holiness Dudjom Jigdral Yeshe Dorje established Rigzin Ghatseling Monastery in the Kongpo region of Tibet. After Tibetans went into exile in India, His Holiness the Dalai Lama asked Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche to help preserve the Nyingma lineage, and Rinpoche resolved to found a monastery.
With the support of the Government of Odisha and the guidance of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, he chose Odisha, one of the Twenty-Four Great Sacred Places of the Hevajra Tantra and regarded as the land of Oḍḍiyāna. In 1961 he named the monastery Dundul Raptenling, at Camp No. 3 of the Odisha Tibetan settlement.
Construction of the three-story temple began around 1969 under Lama Sherab Dorje Rinpoche and Lama Dorje Namgyal Rinpoche, and took about ten years to complete.
02The temple
Three floors, three enlightened realms
Every part of the temple follows the sacred symbolism of the enlightened realms. The top floor, Chöku Zhingkham, holds a statue of Amitabha. The middle floor, Longku Zhingkham, centres on a ten-foot statue of the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara with a statue of Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche before it. The ground floor, Tulku Zhingkham, holds Shakyamuni Buddha with Guru Nangsi Zilnön, Guru Dorje Drolö, Hayagriva and Vajrakilaya.
The monastery sits among holy mountains in the Phuntsok Ling Tibetan Settlement, a setting revered as one of the most auspicious places for the Vajrayana teachings in India.
03The monastery today
A home for more than 100 young monks
Since 2010 the monastery has been led by Lama Sonam Tashi Rinpoche, who has restored it and welcomed more than 100 young monks, many of whom arrived as small children.
The monks receive meals, a safe home, an education and training in ritual, philosophy and the sacred cham dances. New classrooms, dormitories, a library and a large teaching hall have been built, and Zangdok Palri, Guru Rinpoche’s pure land, is rising on the monastery grounds.
