At the foot of Mount Everest in Tibet lies Rongbuk Monastery, the highest-altitude monastery in the world. Although not large, this monastery, where monks and nuns live together, is renowned for its unique location and is especially worth visiting for its distinctive exorcism rituals.
Table of Contents
The History of Rongbuk Monastery
Rongbuk Monastery, holding the title of “the world’s highest monastery” at an elevation of 5,010 meters (16,437 feet) at the northern foot of Mount Everest, has a history rooted in 19th-century Tibetan Buddhism. It was first founded in 1899 by Ngawang Tenzin Norbu, a renowned lama of the Nyingma school, the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism. Ngawang Tenzin Norbu chose this remote, high-altitude site not only for its spiritual connection to the “sacred mountain” (Everest, known as “Chomolungma” in Tibetan, meaning “Goddess Mother of the World”) but also to create a quiet retreat for meditation and scripture study, far from the bustle of lower-altitude towns.
Rongbuk Monastery was not always the highest-altitude monastery in the world. That title once belonged to the nunnery Rongbukde Monastery, located to its north at an altitude of 5,300 meters. However, Rongbukde Monastery was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, which left Rongbuk Monastery with this distinction.
Rongbuk monastery’s first structure was a simple stone hut, and harsh Himalayan winters,with temperatures dropping to -30°C (-22°F), often damaged its walls. In 1902, just three years after its founding, Ngawang Tenzin Norbu led monks to expand it into a small complex with a main chapel and several monk residences. However, during the 1960s, much of the original monastery was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. It was not until 1983 that local monks and the Tibetan government collaborated to rebuild Rongbuk, using traditional stone-and-wood techniques to withstand the high-altitude weather.
A unique part of Rongbuk’s history is its connection to early Mount Everest expeditions. In 1921, the British Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition led by Charles Howard-Bury visited the monastery. Monks there provided the team with food, shelter, and crucial information about Everest’s northern routes. Later, in 1953, before Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s first successful summit, A Tibetan named Tenzing stopped at Rongbuk to pray for safety, a moment that linked the monastery to one of the 20th century’s greates adventure achievements.
The Architectures of Rongbuk Monastery
Rongbuk Monastery’s architecture is a testament to Tibetan ingenuity in adapting to extreme high-altitude conditions. Unlike grand monasteries like Jokhang or Drepung, Rongbuk’s structures are small, sturdy, and built low to the ground which is designed to resist strong Himalayan winds.
The main building is the Great Chapel made from local gray stone. The roof is covered with wooden planks weighted down by stone. Inside, the chapel is modest but sacred: a central statue of Padmasambhava (the 8th-century founder of the Nyingma school) stands 2 meters tall, carved from sandalwood and draped in red silk scarves. The walls are painted with murals using mineral pigments mixed with yak butter – a local material that helps the paint adhere in dry, cold air – depicting scenes of Padmasambhava subduing demons and guiding disciples.
Surrounding the Great Chapel are 10 small monk and nun residences, each a 20-square-meter stone hut with a single window and a mud stove for cooking and warmth. There is also a small scripture library, its wooden shelves holding over 500 ancient Buddhist texts wrapped in blue silk.
Religious Activities of Rongbuk Monastery
Rongbuk Monastery’s religious activities are deeply tied to the Nyingma school’s traditions, with exorcism rituals (known as “Dorje Phurba” ceremonies) being among its most distinctive practices, rooted in the belief that high-altitude areas are home to “demons of cold and wind” that threaten both physical health and spiritual peace.
According to the Tibetan calendar, the monastery holds a three-day Cham dance festival starting on the 15th day of the 4th month each year, and an exorcism ritual on the 29th day of the 11th month.
On that day, many tents are pitched below Rongbuk Monastery, where local villagers, who come to watch the Cham dance, stay overnight in advance. Crowds gather in and around the newly adorned monastery; fresh green prayer flags flutter on the mountainside, and colorful flags, prayer banners, and decorations hang everywhere.
Most of the Tibetan spectators bring butter tea and tsampa with them. At ten o’clock, the day-long Cham performance officially begins. First, monks wearing yellow, cockscomb-shaped ritual hats open the prelude. The first to appear, Awang, slowly descends the wooden staircase on the left side of the courtyard, turns, and stands in the center to strike his ritual cymbals, welcoming the monks who descend one by one from the stairs, the monks appear in order of age.
The monks perform in pairs, and as they, dressed in resplendent ritual robes, gradually dance into the courtyard, the crowd bursts into cheers. In the middle of the courtyard stands a tall pole draped with yellow, red, and blue prayer flags, around which they dance slowly and steadily. Eight monks, wearing tall hats, move together in unison, their steps graceful and captivating. Half of them hold green round drums, beating them rhythmically as they dance.
Conclusion
Rongbuk Monastery is more than just a high-altitude landmark. Its exorcism rituals reveal a deep connection between the monastery’s faith and the Himalayan environment.
To stand at Rongbuk Monastery, with Mount Everest’s snow-capped peak visible in the distance and the sound of monks’ chanting mixing with the wind, is to feel the quiet power of a place where faith and nature coexist.
YPT’s Tibet Roof of the World tour will equip you with a local professional guide and will take you to every essential monastery of Tibet.
Click here to read more about our China tours.
About Post Author
