11 Monasteries around Kathmandu Valley

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There are many Monastery, Buddhist temple, and stupa around Kathmandu valley some of them are listed below:

1. Kopan Monastery
2. Swayambhunath Stupa
3. Thrangu Tashi Choling Monastery
4. Shechen Monastery
5. Namobuddha monastery
6. Seto Gumba
7. Bouddhanath Monastery
8. Charumati Stupa
9. Seto Machhendranath Temple
10. Tharlam Monastery
11. Shree Ghah Gumba

Kopan Monastery

Kopan Monastery is located in Kathmandu Nepal. Kopan Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery near Boudhanath. In this monastery, the consecration ceremony is held with Lamas or monks in an auspicious day and the thangkas and Mandalas are purified with perfume and incense. The painting will be inscribed with holy mantras and consecrated by a qualified Lama from the monastery.

This is an outside view of the monastery. Visitors from all over the world come here to attend courses and enjoy the spiritual atmosphere of the place for study and practice.

Kopan is committed to helping all beings develop their full potential of infinite wisdom and compassion as taught by our founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe, and spiritual director Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

This is the inside view of the monastery. It is the home of 360 monks, lamas, teachers and workers. The monks come from all areas of Nepal and Tibet with ages ranging from seven to sixty years old. They have devoted their lives to the study and practice of the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni, with special emphasis on the teachings of Lama Tsong Khapa, the founder of the Gelug Lineage.

Kopan Monastery is affiliated with the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), an organization devoted to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service. FPMT provides integrated education through which people’s minds and hearts can be transformed into their highest potential for the benefit of others, inspired by an attitude of universal responsibility.

Swayambhunath Stupa

Swayambhunath stupa one of the most sacred stupas in Nepal given nickname as “Monkey Temple”. Swayambhunath is considered by Buddhists to be among the most important pilgrimage places in the world.

In Swayambhunath stupa, the consecration ceremony is carried by monks and lamas. It was described by Kathok Situ Chökyi Gyatso as “a sacred shrine of universal value for the people of the Indian subcontinent, unsurpassable for accumulating merit and good fortune.” Trulshik Rinpoche said that the Swayambhunath Stupa carries the blessings of thousands of Buddhas and that it will continue to be blessed by all the Buddhas of the current eon.

According to the Seventh Dalai Lama, this very stupa is the source of all the happiness in the world. The significance of this has led the Newar Buddhists of the Kathmandu valley to revere the site, while Buddhist practitioners from both India and Tibet have been gathering here for centuries, to pay homage.

The site thus provides an intimate point of connection between the well-being of the buddha-dharma throughout South Asia and its flourishing in Tibet as well.

Thrangu Tashi Choling Monastery

Thrangu Tashi Choling, located close to and facing the Great Stupa of Boudhanath, was founded by Thrangu Rinpoche is 1979 when construction began.

The ancient stupa is a major pilgrimage site for Buddhists, one of the most important holy places in Nepal and is also the largest Tibetan settlement outside Tibet.

There are many monks under the age of eighteen and most of these boys are from rural areas of Nepal, particularly the mountain areas bordering Tibet. Some come from Tibet, India, and Bhutan. In the monastery, they study and practice Buddhism, philosophy, rituals, and reading and writing Tibetan as well as English.

From an early age, they learn to develop the good habits and discipline that will serve them and others throughout their lives. These days, the monastery is the center of monastic life for nearly 250 monks. They receive training in ritual practices, study Dharma and learn to read and write in Tibetan and also learn English.

Young Monks in Thrangu Tashi Choling Monastery.

This is an outside view of the monastery. 

Stupa at Boudhanath

Shechen Monastery

Shechen Monastery is one of the six primary or “mother” monasteries of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. It was originally located in Tibet but was destroyed in the late 1950s during the Cultural Revolution and was rebuilt in Nepal in 1985.

Shechen is dedicated to the flourishing of Tibetan Buddhist spiritual and cultural activities, and to fulfilling the vision and projects of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.