Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

1126 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
High medieval · Buddhist · India

Dhankar Gompa

धनकर गोम्पा

Dhankar, Spiti, Himachal Pradesh · 32.0906°, 78.2119°

Vairochana, in a four-fold image of figures seated back to back (Gelug order)GelugFort monastery on the central Tibetan pattern
Sacred since
1100 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
12th c.
Gelug

History & significance

A fortified Gelug monastery perched above the Spiti valley that served as the valley kingdom's capital in the seventeenth century and the seat of its Nono rulers. It held about ninety monks by 1855, and a new teaching temple was opened here by the fourteenth Dalai Lama on 12 July 2009.

Sthala katha — the legend

The monks hold that Dhankar is older than Tabo and older than the time of Songtsen Gampo, though repeated plundering has left nothing to show for it.

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Related sites

Phugtal Monastery
Zanskar, Kargil · India
early 15th c. (Jangsem Sherap Zangpo)
Rizong Monastery
Rizong, Leh · India
1831 (Lama Tsultim Nima)

Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-27 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Gelug