Sacred Benri Mountain

Because Gongbu is supposed to be the place where the Ben founder Xinrao cultivated himself and accomplished excellent practice, there are a number of holy relics related to Ben in Nyingchi. The 4, 500 meters high Benri Mountain, for instance, is one of the most important sacred mountains of Ben. From here one can see the Sejila Mountain and the Najiabama Peak from afar. It is said that when Master Lianhuazheng came to Tibet to challenge Ben, he competed his supernatural power here with the Ben leader Arqiongbo. He intended to destroy all the villages and forests by storms and hurricanes when he reached the confluence of the Daya River and Niyang River. In defense Arqingbo used gigantic rocks to fix the tree. Today the leaning trees are evidence of that competition.

Each year during the Shagadawa Festival the pilgrims will come to worship and circle around the holy mountain. In the past seven temples of Ben, i.e. Dazi, Gunqing, Gunba, Dianba, Jiali, Dazuoshuo and Zhongqiong were built around the mountain. On the northern hillside of the holy Benri Mountain there stands a stone tablet carved with the ancient Tibetan characters of the Tubo Period, which is of high historical value. In each August of the Year of Horse, Tibetan Calendar, the disciples of Ben will hold the Horse Year Buddhist scripture Conference here. On both sides of the stone tablet, there is a brown huge holy stone called Jiaqiong (it means roc or big bird). The 35 kilometers long around the holy mountain journey starts from here. This journey can be covered for a whole day and night on foot.

It stands in the southeast of Nyingchi and the north of the Yaluzhangbu River.