About THL > Introductions > Meru Nyingpa Monastery Resources > Meru Nyingpa Monastery Intro
Introduction to Meru Nyingpa Monastery
Meru Nyingpa (rme ru rnying pa) Monastery is located in the Barkor (bar skor) area at the heart of the old city of Lhasa (lha sa), just east of the famed Jokhang (jo khang) Temple. Meru Nyingpa is an unassuming monastery nestled deep within the labyrinthine alleyways and whitewashed walls of the old Barkor neighborhood (
view Meru Nyingpa’s location in the Barkor). Meru Nyingpa has a long history that reaches back to the founding of the Jokhang, and indeed to the origins of Buddhism in Tibet itself, in the seventh century. The Jokhang, housed within the larger complex of the Tsuklakkhang (gtsug lag khang), is an iconic structure and the central temple of the Tibetan Buddhist world.
Meru Nyingpa has many qualities that make it a unique monastic complex located within the center of Lhasa, the holiest of Tibetan Buddhist cities. The structure of Meru Nyingpa contains the elements that describe the quintessential Tibetan Buddhist monastery. Essays in this project examine the history, layout, construction, and architecture of Meru Nyingpa to reveal the composition of a Tibetan Buddhist monastery.