View source for Gompa

{{short description|Tibetan Buddhist and Bon religious monastery}}
{{ref improve|date=May 2015}}
{{Tibetan Buddhism}}
[[File:Mustang-Tsarang-42-Gompa Thubten Shedrup Dhargyeling-2015-gje.jpg|thumb|Gompa Thubten Shedrup Dhargyeling, Mustang in 2015]]
A '''Gompa''' or '''Gönpa''' or '''Gumba''' ({{bo|t=དགོན་པ།|w=dgon pa}}<ref>"Five Breathtaking Gumbas Around Kathmandu", ''OMG Nepal'', https://omgnepal.com/five-breathtaking-gumbas-around-kathmandu/</ref> "remote place", Sanskrit ''araṇya''<ref name=Buswell>{{cite book|editor1-last=Buswell|editor1-first=Robert E.|title=Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism.|date=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=0691157863|page=238}}</ref>), also known as '''ling''' ({{bo|w=gling}}, "island"), is a sacred [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] spiritual compound where teachings may be given and lineage [[sādhanā]]s may be stored. They may be compared to [[vihara]]s (bihars) and to a [[university campus]] with adjacent living quarters. Those gompas associated with [[Tibetan Buddhism]] are common in [[Tibet]], [[India]], [[Nepal]], [[Bhutan]], and [[China]]. Bhutanese [[dzong architecture]] is a subset of traditional gompa design.

Gompa may also refer to a shrine room or meditation room, without the attached living quarters, where practitioners meditate and listen to teachings. Shrine rooms in urban Buddhist centres are often referred to as gompas.

[[Image:Thiske.jpg|200px|left|thumb|[[Thikse Monastery]] near [[Leh]] in [[Ladakh]], India, is typical of [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan Buddhist]] gömpa design.]]
[[Image:Dhankar.jpg|left|thumb|200px|[[Dhankar Gompa]], [[Spiti Valley]], India.]]

Design and interior details vary between Buddhist lineages and from region to region. The general design usually includes a central shrine room or hall, containing statues of buddhas, wall paintings, [[murti]]s or [[thangka]]s, cushions and [[Puja (Buddhism)|puja]] tables for monks, nuns, and lay practitioners. Often a library is on a floor above, with additional shrine rooms above. The gompa, or ling, may also be accompanied by other sacred buildings including multiple shrine rooms as at [[Samye Monastery]] in Tibet, and terraces, gardens, and [[stupa]]s.
[[File:Litang-chode-gompa-c04-f.jpg|thumb|Litang Gompa in 2004]]
For practical purposes 'Gompa' in Tibetan Buddhist regions refers to a variety of religious buildings, (generally correlating to what might be described as a church) including small temple buildings and other places of worship or religious learning.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[File:Centre for Buddhist Culture (Gompa Temple).jpg|thumb|Centre for Buddhist Culture (Gompa Temple), Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, is perched atop a hill near Nehru Museum. A grand gate and winding road lead up, giving it a serene feel, set apart from the bustle of the nearby town.]]

==External links==
*[http://www.rangan-datta.info/Likir%20Alchi.htm Article on Likir & Alchi Gompa by Rangan Datta]
*[http://www.rangan-datta.info/Khandosangphuk.htm Article on Tashiding Gompa, Sikkim by Rangan Datta]
*[http://www.rangan-datta.info/West%20sikkim.htm  Travel Article on Gompas of West Sikkim by Rangan Datta]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080905113025/http://www.rangan-datta.info/index.htm Rangan Datta's Home Page]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100401064418/http://wanderingscapes.com/blog/ WanderingScapes: A traveler's account of Ladakh and its Gompas]

{{Buddhism topics}}

[[Category:Tibetan Buddhist architecture]]
[[Category:Buddhist temples]]
[[Category:Buddhist monasteries]]

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