Chronicles mention that in the year 1011 the great translator Lotsawa Rinchen Zang-po, then aged 55 years, visited Ladakh. In this particular moment in time, he is said to have laid the foundation stones for three monasteries, including the one of Nyar ma.
Moreover it is reported that the protectress Sri Devi Mahavajra (dPal ldan lha mo rdo rje chen mo) has also been present at that time, which explains why the monasterial site is also called Nyar ma rdo rje chen mo.
The original site consisted of eight temple halls of different size with the gtsug lag khan as its main temple. The most important statue was the one of Buddha Dipamkara, which was surrounded by numerous tantric deities. The length and width of the great temple halls measured 25 feet (gom khru) each, while the walls’ strength amounted to 3 ells (lag khru) and their height to 13 ells. The external wall embracing the site measured 250 feet in length, 2.5 ells in strength and 8 ells in height. Additinally, there were approximately hundred big and small stupas. The Caren were filled with Tsatsas and marked with numerous mantras in the Lantsa script, block prints or similar imprints. In the South and West of this location many figures engraved in stone could be found.In the area of the Northern and Eastern border of the monastery, only an ‘earshot’ away (i.e. approx. 2 miles), a hermitage (mtshams khang) in which Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo is believed to have deepened his realisation, could be found. Not far away there was a well, which is held to have sprung from the force of his blessing. This special site, which was largely built by the great Lama-translator and many other divine lamas, repeatedly played a significant role in early teaching but, nonetheless, still persists – despite later lootings, robberies and demolitions caused by floods, turmoil and wars - in the minds of believers.

Text: Nyarma Society/ Translation from Tibetan: Dr. Andrea Loseries