Tholung Monastery

Tholung Monastery (Tibetan: ཋོལུང་དགོན་པ་, Wylie: Tho Lung dgon pa) is a gompa located in remote upper Dzongu, in the buffer zone of Khangchendzonga National Park.

It includes unique and prized manuscripts and relics from other gompas that were placed there for protection at the time of the Nepalese invasion of the area during the end of the 17th and beginning of the 19th centuries.

After Nepalese invasion, Gyatso traveled to Tibet where he selected two monks, Tagye Tshampo and Jo Tshongpon, to watch over the relics.

Because of the region's cold and moist climate, the relics are removed from their boxes for ventilating and sunning each three years in a ceremony known as ‘Kamsil’ by the Department of Ecclesiastical.

[1] Tolung Monastery situated at an altitude of 8,000 feet (2.4 km) ft and lies inside of Khangchendzonga National Park, North Sikkim.