Drak Yerpa situates northeast of Lhasa around 45km, it’s a place with many mythical stories of Tibetan kings, scholars, lamas, and so on. Initially from the great king Songtsen Gampo in (604-650) and then to Lhalung Paldor (the one who assassinate the last king of Tibet called Lang Dharma).
Yerpa contains more than 80 meditation caves and temples at an altitude of 4300 meters, all the meditation caves are lined up along the hill where there are stairs to climb up and visit every cave and temple. More than 300 people meditated there and histories of enlightenment succeeded as well, Yerpa also shares a divine stream that originally comes with the stories of Tara (Dolma in Tibetan).
History
The 33rd king Songtsen Gampo and his two foreign queens are said to have meditated here in the Peu Marshergyi Lhakhang, where they discovered ‘self-arising’ symbols of Buddha-body, speech, and mind. The historical site is still at Yerpa with a meditation cave in the innermost chapel and a statue of the king some white dotted colors can be seen on the ground which historically states that a female goat came to serve the king for his thirst and feed him milk and suddenly a servant coming up the chapel where the goat immediately run back and milk dropped on the ground.
Lhalung Paldor who is the assassinator of King Lhang Dharma and escaped to Yerpa through the Transem la or Ngachen la (pass before the Yerpa) and spent the rest of his life in the Naytan meditation cave containing Shakyamuni Buddha surrounded by the Sixteen Arhats or Elders. In the center, there is a pillar that is said directly linked with heaven and hell, doing a good thing and actions lead directly to heaven in the form of enlightenment whereas doing bad actions leads straight to hell, however, there are four statues of gods facing the four directions at the present.
Apart from that Khando Yeshi Tsogyal (one of the wives of Padmasambhava) also meditate there and one of the self-arising stone contains the 5-year-old Khando Yeshi’s footprint. Also, the Bengali master called Atisha (master of Lamrim) meditated at Yerpa for three years in the Jampa Lhakhang. These are some major meditation caves, which are Peu Marsergyi Lhakhang, Chongyal Duppuk, Dawa Duppuk, Virocana Lhakhang, Kyormo Lhakhang, and Jampa Lhakhang.
At present, there are many local Tibetan prayer flag sellers who also run up to the high mountains to tie the flags for the buyers for their good luck and good omens. The surrounding is full of colorful prayer flags and meditation caves all around with a breathtaking view of the valley and some beautifully shaped stupas.
If you want to know more about Drak Yerpa or are planning to visit Tibet, you can contact us at [email protected]. We offer the Drak Yerpa day tour and the Lhasa day tour so we could arrange the best trip for you.