Kutsapterenga Monastery

This gompa doesn't exactly lie in Samle but you can visit this beauty on the way to Dhumba after crossing the Dhumba lake. It doesn't lie on the trail either, you will have to turn towards the west and climb along a ridge after crossing the Dhumba lake. Not many gompas have the bragging right of having a spectacular view and yet Kutsapterenga gompa will have a faint smirk on its face every time we mention that. The monastery is built on the top of a remarkable hill looking down towards the villages of Marpha, Syang and Jomsom. From the vicinity of this gompa, you can clearly see the magnificent Dhampus Peak, Sangdachhe Himal, Nilgiri Himal and Tilicho himal ('himal' is 'mountain' in Nepali). If you go towards the edge then you can also see the beautiful Kali Gandaki valley, Syang and Marpha villages amongst many other jewels of Mustang. The gompa is a knoll in the middle of a bowl surrounded by mountains on all sides. Inside the gompa, the main deities include statues of Buddha Amitabha, Padmasambhava and Avalokiteshvara. The wall is beautifully decorated with paintings of various wrathful deities and a masterpiece of the 1000 armed form of Avalokiteshvara. A faint light enters from the roof of the gompa giving the gompa a mesmeric touch. This Nyingmapa monastery was founded in the end of 17th century by Urgen dPal bZang to whom "Five Treasures" had been given by his Guru, bDud'-dul rDo-rge, the rTer-ston (Treasure discoverer). There is also a legend about this monastery that Padmasambhava himself established this gompa in the beginning of 9th century. The local name of the monastery "Five treasures of Bodily Representation" is derived from this exact story. The wall paintings that you see were largely repainted by Thakali painters.