Tengboche Works

To give back to our Sherpa community, Phurba (wife of Mingma Sherpa) has commissioned various projects at the Tengboche monastery in the Everest region - Khumbu, Nepal. This project aims to help preserve the fragile culture and religion of the indigenous Sherpa people. Tengoche is one of the most sacred monasteries in the Sherpa community and is the gateway to Mount Everest. 

Tengboche is one of the most sacred monasteries in the Sherpa community and thus is the spiritual and cultural center of the Khumbu region.  It is surrounded by Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Nuptse, Mt. Ama Dablam, Mt. Tamserku, Mt. Kangtega, Mt. Kwangde, and Tawoche.  It is the gateway to Mount Everest at a height of 3,800m. 

Tragically in 1989, Tengboche Monastery was completely burned down due to electrical mishap.  With donations from the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation, the Himalayan Trust, the American Himalayan Heritage Foundation and other donors, the Monastery was rebuilt and opened in 1993. 

Although the monastery structures, as well as interior of the main rooms and quarters have been rebuilt, there are still several rooms which have not been completed.  Phurba Sherpa (wife of Mingma) has provided funding for the religious painting of the Guru Rimpoche room of the Monastery.  The sketchings on the wall have been initiated by a skilled Tibetan monk, and the project is still currently underway.

Restoration of Buddhist Art

Sketching on the walls of the room have been started	Close up of sketches	Building the altar for Guru Rinpoche statues

©Pictures taken October 2007 by Dawa Sherpa

Rebuilding the Entrance Gate

Project 2: Rebuilding the entrance gate to Tengboche Monastery.  

Gateway to Tengboche

Every village in the Himalayan region has a religious entrance gate to welcome guests and to ward off evil spirits and bad luck.  The gateway into Tengboche is particularly important with thousands of visitors from all around the world passing through each year, as it is half way to Mt. Everest base camp. 

Tengboche entrance gate was built around the 1940s, or earlier.  The traditional slate roofing and the mud walls of the entrance gate has been worn down by weather and age, and is in bad condition.  The religious and cultural paintings inside the gateway have also deteriorated due to leaks in the roof.  As a cultural restoration project, the Greater Himalayas Foundation will fund the entire rebuilding of a new entrance gate to Tengboche.  It will be redesigned by a traditional artist, and is being overseen by a monk from the Monastery.  The gateway will also serve as a memorial to Mingma in memory of his contribution to Sagamartha (Everest) National Park and his dedication to the Sherpa people.

The current entrance gate to Tengboche Monastery	The paintings on the wall of the current gate	Phurba discussing with a monk how to rebuild the gate

©Pictures taken October 2007 by Dawa Sherpa

Pictures of the new Tengboche Gate

Prayer wheels will be put inside the gateway.	The monk who overses the Gateway construction.

Phortse Village Gomba

Phortse is a small and culturally well preserved village, and one of the most remote areas in the Khumbu valley. A British gentleman helped raise funds to build the village a gomba (small monastery), and the villagers themselves provided the labor work. 

In October 2006 after the tragedy, Phurba (wife of Mingma) visited several villages in the Khumbu region.  When she met the villagers in Phortse, their first request was to help fund for religious artwork inside the Monastery.  The villagers asserted that they are more than willing and dedicated to do any of the labor work in building and setting up the monastery, but said they have neither the skills nor the funds for the religious artworks. 

With such a touching proposal, Phurba has agreed to personally fund this project through the Greater Himalayas Foundation.  The paintings will be started this Spring 2008 by skilled religious artists and hopefully complete by the end of the year

Khunde Mani wall & Chorten

Mingma was born and spent his childhood years in the village of Kunde, in the Khumbu region.  As a cultural project, as well as a memorial of Mingma, a small chorten will be constructed along the path between Khumjung to Kunde. 

A chorten is a very old architectural and sculptural form of art, religion, and culture.  Its’ structural designs symbolize nature’s elements - earth, water, wind, and fire.  The very top of the chorten is capped by a sun and moon, representing truth.  Chortens are built with the belief that they will benefit all sentient beings, including nature.  The presence of a chorten is also believed to foster harmony, peace, and well being.

Alongside the chorten, we will restore old mani walls.  Mani walls are made of slate stones/rocks with Tibetan inscriptions.  The mani stones in Khunde date back to the 1600s, and were voluntarily hand carved by local community members.