About the Temple
Pema Köd is regarded as one of the most sacred places in the world, radiating Guru Rinpoche’s blessings, where any accumulation of merit is said to be multiplied many times over. This holy land is described by Ian Baker in his book, The Heart of the World. The new temple is being built in the southern part of the hidden land, located in the extreme northeast region of India, in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, a region untouched by the outside world.
Togden Kunzang Longdrol Rinpoche, Tulku Orgyen Phuntsok’s previous incarnation, was one of the most venerated yogis in Southern Tibet who spent his entire life wandering from retreat land to retreat land. As political turmoil broke out in Tibet, he fled to this part of the hidden land where he spent the remainder of his life. Due to his presence and a growing number of students this part of the sacred hidden land evolved into a retreat land. Togden Rinpoche built a small temple on this land "Deden Tashi Choling," in which he protected important sacred objects and relics from Tibet in statues and stupas enshrined in the temple. This temple has been a significant yogic gathering place ever since.
The reason for its special design:
During his lifetime it was Togden Rinpoche’s aspiration
to build a three-story temple in the style of Guru Rinpoche’s Pureland
Palace, Zangdok Palri. Due to Togden Rinpoche’s advanced age, limited
funds and natural resources, all he could accomplish was the creation of
the Three Kaya statues--Amitabha, Chenrezig, and Padmasambhava--that were
to be placed in each of the three stories of the temple to be built by his
students in the future.
For the benefit of all beings, for the preservation of the
spiritual legacy of this sacred land, and particularly for the fulfillment
of Togden Rinpoche’s
aspiration, it is Tulku Orgyen’s wish to undertake the tremendous task
of constructing the three-story sanctuary that Togden Rinpoche envisioned.
Difficulties and added costs owing to the temple’s
remote location:
In this remote land, they do not have the benefit of easy transportation or construction machinery as it’s understood in the west. Everything has been transported on people’s backs and built by their own hands.
The distance from town to the temple adds considerably to both the cost of building materials and the difficulty in transporting them to the construction site.
Shilapata, where we must go to purchase construction materials,
is three days’ journey on a rugged, primitive road from the nearest
town, Tuting, which is itself a full day's walk from the temple site. Because
porters must be employed in their transportation, the cost of transporting
the needed materials from Shilapata to the temple site, alone, can cost upwards
of three times the price of the materials themselves.
Tulku Orgyen
Pema Kod Project/Vairotsana Foundation
1524 Anacapa St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
805 899-8177