Shelkar Explained

Shelkar
Official Name:Xêgar
协格尔
Other Name:New Tingri / Shegar / Shekar
Native Name:ཤེལ་དཀར་
Settlement Type:Town
Pushpin Map:China Tibet
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:China
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Tibet Autonomous Region
Subdivision Type2:Prefecture
Subdivision Name2:Shigatse Prefecture
Subdivision Type3:County
Subdivision Name3:Tingri County
Population As Of:2000
Population Total:8767
Timezone:CST
Utc Offset:+8
Coordinates:28.6583°N 87.1222°W
Elevation M:4330

Shelkar or Shekar,[1] (Tibetan: Tibetan: ཤེལ་དཀར་, "white crystal") also called New Tingri, is the administrative centre for Tingri County, Shigatse Prefecture in southern Tibet Autonomous Region.

Location

The town lies 7 km off the Friendship Highway between Lhatse and Tingri, at an altitude of about 4,300 metres (approx. 14,107 feet), at the southern foot of 5,260 m high Gyatso La. It is approximately 60 km north-west of Mount Everest and just over 50 km from the Nepali border in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Landmarks

Shelkar is famous for the Shelkar Chode Monastery, a Gelug monastery which was completely destroyed but is being restored. Despite being founded in 1266 by a Kagyu lama, it has been a Gelugpa monastery since the 17th century, and formerly had some 400 monks. Although, destroyed by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution, the assembly hall has been rebuilt, and there is an active branch monastery in Boudhanath, Nepal.

The old Shekar Dorje dzong, or fort, is above the new town and used to enclose Shekar Chode. The ruins of the old Dzong are located on the hill behind the monastery.[2]

Gateway to Everest

The early British expeditions to Mount Everest in 1921, 1922 and 1924 all stopped at Shelkar Dzong on their way from Darjeeling to the northern side of Everest.[3] [4]

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: The assault on Mount Everest, 1922. Bruce. Charles Granville. Mount Everest Expedition (1922). 1923. Longmans, Green. Snell Library Northeastern University. New York. 338 (Index). 220914742.
  2. Web site: Shelkar.
  3. See Howard-Bury, Charles and Leigh-Mallory, George Herbert (1922) Mount Everest: the reconnaissance, 1921 Longmans, Green and Company, New York, pages 96 and 120,,
  4. Anderson, Ken "George Mallory to Sherpa Tenzing - Conquering Mighty Everest", accessed 23 August 2010