Toling

Tholing stands above the upper Sutlej in western Tibet, amid the barren cliffs and ravines of Guge. Its monastery was founded by the royal patron Yeshe Ö around the end of the tenth century and became a major centre in the revival of Buddhism in Tibet. The translator Rinchen Zangpo and the Indian teacher Atisha were associated with its early history. Its temples preserve the legacy of a tradition nourished by contacts across the Himalayas.

Guge's rulers continued to support religious institutions through the centuries, and Tholing remained an important monastic centre. In the seventeenth century the kingdom was drawn into conflict with Ladakh: Ladakhi forces overthrew the ruler of Guge around 1630. Later, in 1679–80, forces of the Lhasa government drove the Ladakhis from Guge. Tholing's position on the Sutlej placed it within a country whose religious and political ties reached both across the mountains and eastwards into Tibet.