Tibetan and Himalayan Library - THL

Location and Layout

One of the areas of ruins at NenangGnas nang.

Nenang Nunnery (Nenang GönpaGnas nang dgon pa) is located at the end of a valley east of Negodong Nunnery (Negodong GönpaGnas sgo gdong dgon pa). It takes about one hour to walk there from NegodongGnas sgo gdong. A stream runs through the valley. Workers (mostly Chinese) use the valley as a quarry from which they harvest stones that are used in the LhasaLha sa construction industry. There is considerable environmental damage to the ṇenangGnas nang Valley as a result of the stone quarrying that takes place there.

The site has a long-standing association with Padmasambhava (Pema JungnéPadma ’byung gnas). One of the mountain peaks at the site, for example, is called Glorious Copper-Colored Mountain (Zangdok PelriZangs mdog dpal ri), the name of Padmasambhava’s celestial palace. There are also two large caves at NenangGnas nang that are identified as Padmasambhava’s meditation caves (druppuksgrub phug). A series of caves on the mountainside opposite the hermitage (ritröri khrod) are identified as the caves of the Sixteen Arhats (Neten ChudrukGnas brtan bcu drug) .

The site is in such a state of decay that, apart from identifying the assembly hall (dukhang’du khang) and caves, it is impossible to say much about the original layout of the hermitage.