Shardzong Hermitage Cave Temple

Shardzong Hermitage, other names are Shardzong Ritro or Xiazong Si temple, is a Geluk hermitage located in the Tsongkha region of Amdo and situated on a slope of Amnye Chi Ri, is one of four major meditation sites in Amdo.  […]

Shardzong Hermitage, other names are Shardzong Ritro or Xiazong Si temple, is a Geluk hermitage located in the Tsongkha region of Amdo and situated on a slope of Amnye Chi Ri, is one of four major meditation sites in Amdo. 

Shadzong Ritro Monastery in Pin’an, Qinghai.

 It was founded by the 4th Karmapa (1340–1383) at the beginning of the 14th century. It is in this monastery that the 4th Karmapa conferred the first vows to Tsongkhapa (1357–1419). At the time of this ceremony, the Karmapa cut a wick of hair of the child, then sent it on a close boulder of the cave where he lived, creating a crack in the rock. A Juniper exhaling an odor of human hair and still visible these days would have grown from it. At the time of his return from China, the 13th Dalai Lama, stayed for a while in this monastery, finding the place magnificent, and gazing at the house of his next reincarnation.

Temples at Shadzong Monastery in Pin’an, Qinghai.

Legend states that Faxian (337-422) stayed at the location while traveling to India. The hermitage was expanded over time and in 1383, a temple hall and stupa were built to commemorate the Fourth Karmapa. The site was partially destroyed during the cultural revolution.  

Assembly hall at Shardzong Temple.

One important thing to mention is the 2^nd Taktser Rinpoche built statues of Sakyamuni and Maitreya at the temple. Later, the 3^rd Taktser Rinpoche Lobsang Kedrup Nyima also built a new assembly hall again. As a result, Shardzong Ritro  developed into a larger-scale monastery, with the Kumbum as the mother monastery. Taktser Rinpoche is the head lama of Shadzong Ritro.

This originally a meditation cave site consist of main assembly hall, Je Tsongkhapa’s Golden statue, Maitreya Hall, Lying Buddha hall, Manjushiri Hall, Avalokitesvara hall. All these temples are carved into the red clay cliff.

Cave temples in Qinghai Province.

How to get Shadzong Retro ? 

Shadzong Monastery is in the Sanhe town of  Ping’an county about 60km to the east from city of Xining, some 28km southwest of Pingan.  There is no bus going to this place, so anyone wants to go to visit the temple either hire a car from Xining or take bus to Pin’an and then hire a taxi to this temple.  This will be one of the nice day trips from Xining. 

Temples of Shardzong Monastery in Pin’an, Qinghai Province.

There is no entrance ticket required by the time of writing this article. 

You can make this nice detour on the way from Xining to Rebkong / Tongren or Xining to Kanbula National Park.