Druk Ralung 

Druk Ralung, 4750m
We offered Tshokhor at Druk Ralung on the day it received its first snowfall...
12th October, 2023..
How did Druk Ralung get its name?
Legend has it that a shepherd of Nyangtod Village ( Located near the highway) notices that, when he gazes at this flock of sheep and goats at the monastery’s location, a white female-Goat always leaves the flocks. So, out of curiosity, he followed that goat and saw it was sprinkling milk on a rock. When he went to rock for a closer look, He saw the syllable “Ah Hung “ self arose on the rock. Later the stone was an offer to Lingchen Repa when he came to the Village. After hearing about the incident, Lingchen built a cave and meditated here on the site. Since then, the place called Ralung ( prophesied by the goat).
In the year 1193, the Gyalwang Drukpa Tsangpa Gare Yeshi Dorje built the monastery called Shedrub Chokhor Ling Monastery at Ralung following the prophecy of his protective deity. Since then, Ralung Monastery became the chief seat of the Dukpa lineage of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism.
It was from this monastery the religious leader Nawang Namgyel fled Tibet for Bhutan in the year 1616. He reshaped the country identity and named the country of Bhutan as Druk after the Drukpa Kagyu.
The remote monastery of Ralung is one the most important sites for travellers from Bhutan visiting Tibet for a Pilgrimage trip and a very beautiful and off the beaten destination for avid travellers. The monastery is located at 4740 meters above sea level and 8 kilometres off the beaten from the main Friendship Highway between Nagartse and Gyantse.