Thupten Samphel Ling Gompa

This 587-year-old gompa is one of the most important Gompa in the Bara Gaon region (12 villages). If you do the maths right then you will come to now it was established in 1429 by a renowned Sakya Scholar, Tenpa Gyalsten of Tibet. What you probably won't know is that till the 18th century, the monastery housed nearly 100 monks from 12 different surrounding villages, but as of now the number has decreased drastically with only a few senior monks, too old to leave. This gompa also goes by the name Red Gompa (no points for guessing the reason behind it). The altar of the monastery displays bronze icons of Sakyamuni Buddha flanked by his disciples Sariputra and Maudgalanya. The entrance to the gompa has the traditional wheel of life and the four Guardian King's painting. Yellow colored Vaisravana (Namthose in Tibetan, also known as Jambhala) is the guardian of the north and holds a victory banner in his right hand and a mongoose in his left hand. Blue colored Virudhaka is the guardian of the south and holds a sword. Red colored Virupaksa is the guardian of the west and holds a stupa in his left hand and a serpent in his right. White colored Dhritarashtra is the guardian of the east and holds a stringed musical instrument similar to a mandolin. The main statue is that of Sakyamuni Buddha in his earth witness posture. There are other smaller statues of Guru Rinpoche and Avalokitesvara as well. You can even see masks hanging on the pillars that are similar to the ones that Heath Ledger's Joker uses in the bank robbery scene in the movie 'The Dark Knight'. Right in front of the gompa there is a hostel that houses children. This hostel runs with the help of donations from people like you. If you are feeling generous, this should be a worthy cause.