The Chinese authorities in Meldrogungkar has temporarily closed down Pangsa Monastery in Meldrogungkar County, Lhasa municipality, Tibet Autonomous Region (“TAR”) in Tibet according to credible information received by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD).
Pangsa Monastery belongs to the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery’s chief relic is a mummified reliquary body of the highly realized Yogi Jampal Gyatso. Je Tsongapa Chenpo (1357-1419), the exalted master and the founder of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism brought the holy reliquary statue of Yogi Jampal Gyatso from his birthplace, Tsonga in Amdo Province along with him when he came to Lhasa, during the 14th century. Since then the reliquary statue of Yogi was housed in the Pangsa Monastery as a chief relic.