Jia Ge Monastery

Jia Ge Monastery

Jia Ge Monastery is a Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Jia Ge Monastery

Time period: Qing Dynasty

In 2012, Jia Ge Monastery was designated as part of the eighth batch of Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Units by the People’s Government of Sichuan Province.

Jia Ge Monastery is situated at a high altitude, with a small stream flowing in front of the temple. The monastery has a long history and is an important cultural heritage site.

On the way from Zhagana to Langmu Temple — specifically along the G248 National Highway between Diebu County in Gansu and Langmu Temple — after crossing the Bailong River, there is a small temple called Jia Ge Monastery (also known as Jiagai Temple). Here, the Bailong River becomes a small stream that flows in front of the temple, though the current is quite swift. Jia Ge Monastery is located in Geji Village, Jiangzha Township, Ruo’ergai County, Sichuan Province, at an altitude of 3,050 meters.

Over a thousand years ago, the great Guru Rinpoche prophesied that when “iron birds fly in the sky and iron horses run on the earth,” the light of Vajrayana teachings would spread across the world. This prophecy has long since become an indisputable reality. Toward the end of the last century, an otherwise obscure small town gained worldwide renown for its indelible contributions to the propagation of tantric Buddhism — that town is the “Jewel of the Snowland,” Sertar (Seda).

Introduction

In this unique monastery with a lineage of accomplished masters, the noble and sacred bloodline has been passed down through generations for over 300 years. The ancestors of Jia Xiu Monastery lived a leisurely nomadic life in a tribe on the beautiful Tibetan frontier about a thousand years ago. Several generations later, Lankarinchin, the son of Qocang Huazhi, completed his studies, traveled extensively, first undertaking retreats in the Ganji Cave in India, and later married Huasang Dechen Drolma, the sister of Karmawa Tsha, at Dolun Tsarp Monastery, where they had children.

History

At that time, the Sertar area was home to three tribes — Qocang, Xuerè, and Waxi — scattered across vast mountain grasslands inhabited by wild yaks, wild horses, and ruins. In a dream, the protector deity Danchen Dorje Nampa revealed that the leader of the Waxi tribe should settle with his people on the Six-Armed Mahakala Mountain (Zhu Ri Mountain), the Qocang leader should settle on Danchen Mountain (where the Qocang tribe established Jia Xiu Village, whose ancestors belonged to the Qocang tribe), and the Xuerè tribe should settle around the Gesar Mountain at the border of Serba and Huoxi. These three tribes multiplied and thrived, eventually forming the town of Sertar.

Current Situation

Aside from practicing at their own monastery, some of Jia Ge Monastery’s monks also train at the Larung Gar Five Sciences Buddhist Academy and at Yachen Monastery. The monastery’s reincarnate lamas have guided numerous lay practitioners from inland China, with followers spread across the nation, making it a true Great Vehicle Bodhi Achievement Liberation Center. With the improvement of transportation conditions in Sertar, it is believed that in the near future, Jia Xiu Monastery will attract even more sincere men and women who yearn to genuinely practice and realize the tantric teachings of Vajradhara and the sacred doctrines of Guru Rinpoche.