The ultimate guide to Tibetan Buddhist monasteries: exploring gompas in the Himalayas

25.11.2024 - 15:43 / lonelyplanet.com

Nov 22, 2024 • 7 min read

The barren, high-altitude plateaus of Tibet and snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas have one feature setting them apart from all other mountain environments: gompas. Meaning “places of meditation” in Tibetan, gompas are basically monasteries — some small-sized, some as big as village-like enclosures — where monks and nuns live, are educated to the Buddhist equivalent of a PhD, and take care of the religious needs of the surrounding lay communities. Think of gompas as living Buddhist universities that preserve Tibetan culture and identity. 

On the outside, gompas are box-like and straightforward, often whitewashed or maroon and flanked with stupas, a dome-shaped structure that often contains relics and serves as a place for meditation. But on the inside, their plain exteriors explode into a cataclysm of colors, a microcosm of golden statues of Buddhas and other celestial beings, and intricate murals imbued with concepts of ancient spirituality, numerology and cosmology — a lot to take in for the uninitiated traveler. This Tibetan monastery travel guide will help you better understand the world of gompas, spiritual centers at the heart of Himalayan culture.

Who are all the angry demons pitted on a gompa's inner walls, and what is the meaning of the large wheels they hold with their claws and, sometimes, between their fangs? Bhavachakra, or Tibetan Wheel of Life, is the most essential representation of the complex relationships that make up the philosophy of the Buddhist universe. 

The wheel’s outside rim symbolizes the endless cycle of karmic cause and effect, inside of which six same-sized slices represent six different realms, or coexisting worlds, where humans, animals, gods, the damned and the demi-gods lead lives of suffering because of what spins at the wheel's very center — the three poisons of ignorance (represented by a pig), attachment (a snake) and aversion (a bird). 

A gompa’s main prayer hall serves as a visual textbook for those who can understand the symbolism of every figure within its walls, but it is also a house. In Tibetan, “lha khang” means residence (khang) of god (lha) and refers to the enlightened beings (bodhisattvas) and the Buddha that live within it.

Tibetan Cham dances, when Tibetan monks wear colorful wooden masks and perform movements that read like stories for those in the known, are a cultural delight but require visiting gompas at precise times of the year. Most gompas hold some of these beautiful and sometimes unsettling masks in special rooms — look out for the skeletal face of Chitipati, lord of the charnel grounds (places where bodies are cremated or left to decompose), or the deer-shaped masks that symbolize the innocence and power of this