His Holiness visited Spiti in June 2009 and gave a teaching to many locals who came from nearby valleys to see him. The newly built monastery which was inaugurated by His Holiness, stands on the spot where the old monastery known as Tenggyud Lhundrup Choekhor Ling monastery remained for the past 35 years which is directly connected to the old Tenggyud monastery.

Brief History of Tenggyud Sakya Monastery:

According to H.E. Khangsar Rinpoche, there exist various viewpoints to narrate the history of Tenggyud Monastery such as accounts passed through generation-to-generation and authentic accounts found in histories. It is written in the biography of the great translator, Lochen Rinchen Sangpo (958-1055) that he built over one hundred and eight temples and monasteries in dedication to his mother. History and time testify that Tenggyud Sakya Monastery is also one among them. One can also infer from the fact that during the excavation work at the remains of the former Gomic monastery, some old artifacts and fragments of statues of four Buddhist Guardian Deities were found and they are identical to the statues of Tabo Monastery, which is believed to have been founded by Lochen Rinchen Sangpo.

A further reason is given by the words of the great master Choepal Sangpo (14th and 15th Century). While he traveled to Spiti, he said that there exists Sakya monastery at the present site of Nonga (Rongtong) and, other in a Zong (fort) at the vicinity of Gomic. Later on, he combined both the monasteries into one and designated a name for it as “Tenggyud Lhundrup Chokhor Ling”. This great master Choepal Sangpo was direct disciple of Bodong Choklay Namgyal (1376-1451) and Vajradhara Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo (1382-1456). Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo traveled three times in to far western Tibet (Tod Ngari) where he bestowed during his second visit, the empowerment and instruction of Kalachakra and Vajra-Panjara tantra. Among the disciples who received those teachings also was Khenpo Rinchen Sonam from Spiti. As illustrated by these histories, it is evident that the Tenggyud monastery of Spiti has a history of at least 800 years.

Reference Phyul.com