THL Toolbox > Places & Geography > THL Place Encyclopedia Extensions > Monasteries Database > English Language Bonpo Monastery Survey

English Language Bonpo Monastery Survey

Contributor(s): David Germano, Kevin Vose.

This is extracted from a printed book, "A Survey of Bonpo Monasteries and Temples in Tibet and the Himalaya". All sections contain good maps, showing the location of each monastery, and photographs. It has different sections devoted to different geographical regions, and each section was done by a different team with somewhat different templates for gathering and recording data. What follows is a synthesis.

• name
• location
• history: I use for founder, founding date, and use some info for summary
• headship system: sometimes a list of abbots, a list of hierarchical command (mkhan po, slob dpon, dbu mdzad…), sometimes just a statement that there is/was a system of abbots.
• current number of monks:
• current education: sometimes will say monks go to g.yung drung gling for education.
• educational exchange: mostly same as above—monks go to g.yung drung gling
• daily rituals: something like “monks perform rituals to tutelary deities.” I haven’t entered.
• annual rituals based on the Tibetan calendar: “1st month, 5th day, commemorate the birth of shes rab rgyal mtshan…”
• books held in the monastery:
• income and expenses: things like “monks receive money for performing rituals…goes to restoring monastery/they get to keep it”. I haven’t entered.
• local community: what villages are nearby, how many people.
• local festivals: “1st month, 3rd day villagers do ceremony of…” Pertains to townsfolk rather than monastics.
• occupation of the local people: what townsfolk do—agriculture, herding, etc. Haven’t entered.
• sources: people interviewed, texts consulted.
• Daily life of an individual monk
• Economic circumstances of temple: instead of “income and expenses.

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