Biru

Biru lies in the eastern part of Nagchu, a highland district of pasture, woodland and cultivated valleys. Bon and Tibetan Buddhist monasteries both formed part of its religious landscape. Among the Bon foundations was Sentsa, where around 1440 Kunga Wangden of the Dru family built a temple at the foot of a mountain considered auspicious. In 1732 Biru came under the direct authority of the Qing representatives stationed in Tibet. The area's monasteries continued to connect local patrons and religious teachers with the wider Bon tradition, while the mountain valleys sustained communities of herders and farmers.