Mount Kachkanar and Shad Tchup Ling Monastery. Sverdlovsk Buddhist monks (Shad Tchup Ling) The only Buddhist monastery in the Urals
60 years ago on the outskirts Sverdlovsk region, around the iron ore deposits, the city of Kachkanar and its mining and processing plant arose. In the mid-90s, in the mountain forests, just a few kilometers from the quarry, a graduate of the Buryat datsan founded Buddhist monastery whose construction is still ongoing. A few years ago, the plant (owned by Evraz Group, 31% of which is owned by Roman Abramovich), announced a new development zone, a monastery falls within its boundaries. So the interests of the Buddhist community and the metallurgical corporation crossed - and according to the law they should not be resolved in favor of the monastery. And while the Buddhists are arguing with the authorities of the plant and the bailiffs, life goes on on the top of the mountain.
Throughout the year, The Village photographer Anna Marchenkova recorded how Shad Tchup Ling lives, and who finds shelter where the temperature drops to minus 40 in winter. We tell the stories of people who are building a Buddhist monastery on the outskirts of the Urals.
Dokshit and its peak
In Russia, Buddhism is the traditional religion of three peoples - Buryats, Tuvans and Kalmyks. All of them profess Tibetan, or northern, Buddhism, and the main Buddhist center of the country is located in Ulan-Ude. In the same place, at the Ivolginsky datsan, the Buddhist University operates and the residence of the main Buddhist of Russia is located. Every year, two dozen novices - huvaraks - are recruited to the university, and for five years they study Buddhist philosophy, oriental medicine, Tantrism and meditation techniques, Buryat and Tibetan languages. As in a secular university, graduates receive diplomas of higher education, as well as religious ranks: men become lamas, women become khandams.
Now in Russia there are a little more than half a million practicing Buddhists, monasteries and temples operate in Kalmykia, Buryatia, Tuva, Irkutsk, the Trans-Baikal Territory, Moscow and St. Petersburg. The only monastery in the Urals where the Buddhist religion has never been traditional, in the spring of 1995, former military sniper Mikhail Sannikov began to build.
In 1981, under a contract, he went to serve in Afghanistan, where he destroyed caravans with weapons from Pakistan. After the service, in the early 90s, Mikhail entered the tantric faculty of the institute at the Ivolginsky datsan, from where he left with a new name - now the lama's name is Sanye Tenzin Dokshit. The teacher, Pema Jang, instructed Dokshit to build a monastery in the Urals - and he chose the place himself. In 1995, the lama climbed Mount Kachkanar, and on no man's land, not far from the local GOK, he began to build a Buddhist center. The future monastery at the Ural height of 887 meters Dokshit called Shad Tchup Ling, or "Place of Practice and Realization."
Stupas in the snow
At the top, the lama built the first house with his own hands: he burned meter-long boulders on fires, stabbed them with a sledgehammer, wired electricity, built a lift for heavy loads on a steep slope. Here he brought the first students - after 22 years they turned the wild mountain plateau into a Buddhist complex of several living rooms, a yoga room, a library, a workshop, warehouses and ritual premises.
There is no actual monastery on the territory of the complex yet, but there are already places of worship - Buddhist stupas. On the spot between the rocks, the community members built a large and small stupa of Awakening, the stupa of Parinirvana, laid the foundation of the stupa of the Descent from Heaven Tushita. In total, in the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, there are eight types of stupas associated with different stages of the life of the Buddha. They differ in architectural details in the middle part: the Parinirvana stupa has the shape of a bell and symbolizes the perfect wisdom of the Buddha, the Descent stupa is distinguished by a large number of steps. It is the stupas that unillusionably protect Shad Tchup Ling, because they are objects of cultural heritage.
Only Dokshit and a couple of his followers remain permanently on the top of Kachkanar. In summer, 13-15 people live in a small community, in winter - half as many. Faces change, and so does the reason why people are here. Students on academic leave and in search of themselves, former military men and aspiring Buddhists, rise to the top. The way up begins at the western entrance of the plant - the parties observe tacit neutrality, and therefore the path takes a few meters into the forest to the left of the checkpoint. In the summer you walk six kilometers on gravel, two more - on the roots of mountain pines, moss and kurumnik; in winter, along the trodden path, it turns out to walk even faster. Kachkanar, where 40 thousand miners live, remains far below. Almost 300 kilometers to the west is Yekaterinburg.
Community members keep a logbook in LiveJournal and page"VKontakte", answer the general mobile. The journal records the work done during the day, the names of those who live here permanently, the number of tourists who came to last days. They also leave notes there for those who are going upstairs and want to help the monastery - they ask to buy carrots and cereals, salt, matches, light building materials like self-adhesive film. Occasionally, social networks announce fees for something large, like solar panels.
Danil
Seven years ago, Danil traveled 500 kilometers on a bike to get to Kachkanar. He is the llama's oldest student and never interacts with tourists. A lot has changed here since he came to the top.
“Even in my youth, I wanted to get rich and started playing on the stock exchange, doing online trading. He liked to analyze financial processes, adored adrenaline. I dreamed of earning a lot of money, going somewhere to the sea, sitting at a laptop, drinking juice, and in the evening going to the teacher and talking about the meaning of life.
One day I was sitting at the computer and realized that I was getting dumber. God, I'm 30 years old, I'll sit at the monitor for another 10-20 years - and nothing will change. I started looking online for someone to inspire me and I came across a biography of Lama Dokshit. I got on my bike and rode.
Seven years ago I knew nothing about Buddhism. It was difficult for me to accept this worldview, I did not want to agree that the essence of life is suffering. He said that he was happy - he was afraid that if I accepted, I would really suffer.
Over the years, I became a different person, became sad, I guess. Previously, it was so pleasing to go to clubs, alcohol, girls and purchases that spoke of high status - but now I realized that there is no point in chasing this, because there will always be little. I destroyed everything that made me happy before, but I did not find what would make me happy now. And I’m going to go further: take a monastic vow and leave for Mongolia or India to continue my search.”
Shad Tchup Ling without monks
For 20 years, Lama Dokshit has been building a monastery with his own hands and accepting new followers, whom he teaches Buddhist practice and diligent work. But while construction continues on the top of the mountain, the community remains secular - Buddhist monks are forbidden to engage in physical labor. If every one of those who chop a stone or grow vegetables in a garden between rocks becomes a monk, life in Shad Tchup Ling will stop. And as long as there are no monks at the top, the “Place of Practice and Realization” cannot be called a monastery.
There is almost an army routine in the community. Life glimmers in a narrow room with a stove and linoleum. During the day, the kitchen attendants prepare a simple soup of cereals and carrots here, and in the evening, in the heated room for the night, the lama's students spread tourist foams and sleeping bags to get up at six sharp and start the everyday whirlwind of meditations and work. To stay in the monastery, you just need to ask permission from Dokshit and be prepared for hard physical labor. During the construction season, work on the summit continues until eight in the evening - with breaks for Buddhist practice, lunch and dinner. A bathhouse is heated here twice a week, and on weekends they meet groups of tourists who sleep interspersed with novices or in tents at a distance from the monastic dwelling.
A typical morning in August, when it's already freezing on the summit: after two hours of practice, the girls break the ice on a small pond and scoop up water to make breakfast and tea. In the yoga house, novices grind the moss, being careful not to damage the spores. They are needed in order to sprinkle them with a five-meter sculpture of a dragon, assembled from moss and a polymer mesh. In the spring, the dragon will turn green. Over the summer, novices built a gym, installed solar panels, and erected a Buddha statue over the reliquary where the monastery's shrines are kept. In the last days of August, men cover the statue with white paint.
By November, the construction season is over, and the students, who have decided to spend the winter on the mountain, melt snow and ice, get water, take care of chickens and cows, prepare food for the dogs guarding the approaches to the monastery, chop wood and collect brushwood. Girls are busy sewing and preparing tea: each Buddhist community has its own secret recipe - in Shad Tchup Ling, for example, they love Ivan tea. There are fewer tourists; in winter, novices devote themselves to practice and prayer.
Travelers come and go - someone stays for a week, someone for six months. Satima lived here the longest, during her few years at the top she sewed thousands of colored flags, patchwork quilts and light fleece suits for students. Now Satima is studying in India to become the first nun from the top of Kachkanar in the spring.
Those wishing to study Buddhism, the lama teaches under the program "Discovery of Buddhism". The student writes a statement, and for three months remains under the gaze of the lama, strictly observing the rules of the community. After that, it is customary to ask Dokshit for refuge and perform 111 thousand prostrations - a Buddhist practice that should help the student cleanse himself of vices and develop virtues in himself. In Shad Tchup Ling, prostration is performed on special boards, wearing gloves: the one who performs the ceremony lies down on the board, and then rises and stands with his feet where his face was just before. A hundred thousand prostrations take weeks and months, followed by a conversation with a lama. And if Dokshit believes that the student has not completely cleared his mind, he continues to work on himself in a special house for retreats, reading mantras alone for days and receiving food from other members of the community. After the conversation is repeated.
Maksim
A big, bearded and smiling guy at first does not want to tell why he is in the monastery. “You see, I had problems. But it is not important. The main thing is that now everything is fine, ”he says and leaves to clean the snow. The next time he decides to talk in the workshop, where he worked all day.
“Life went upside down after the army. I served the prescribed two years and agreed to serve under the contract, signed the report. It was September 2004. The next day I was taken to the liberation of the school in Beslan.
Those who went through the attack, protecting the hostages, do not receive any psychological assistance. But something had to be done about these memories. I needed to calm down. I started with heroin and tried every drug available. After three years of service, he returned to his native Kachkanar as a drug addict.
Addiction made me violent. This is understandable in war: if you don't kill, they will kill you. But even after my return I did not consider people to be people. I perceived my parents as a source of money, and I silently beat the strangers who told me rudeness to a pulp. They were taken to intensive care, and they wrote a statement against me. Then everything repeated again.
One day I left the house and realized that there was nowhere to fall further. Here, in Kachkanar, everyone knows about the monastery, and out of desperation, I went up the mountain. When I told Lama Dokshit about everything, he replied that he would think about what could be done. And silently gave work, as well as to everyone who decides to stay. So, while I was working, it was like I was turned 180 degrees. Could not get drugs - got rid of addiction, and suddenly began to communicate with people. It is still strange to me that my mother again speaks to me in a loving voice - such as if I was a child, and she puts me to bed.
Valya does not answer the lama, she thought. Vale 31, born in Perm, worked as an accountant in Moscow. She has suffered from psoriasis for most of her adult life.
“Before, the rashes were all over the face. I was embarrassed to go out to people: ugly, unaesthetic, and always pestering everyone with questions. Psoriasis appeared when I had a fight with my parents and left home. They say that genetic predisposition is to blame, but no one in my family was sick. I'm the only one unlucky.
In Moscow, I worked terribly hard. I was so tired of the routine that I moved out of the rented apartment, gave away all my things and went traveling - I wanted to find a cure for psoriasis. Lived in India for two years. Salty water and the sun gave a cosmetic effect, the disease went inside, but did not disappear. When I returned to Russia, exacerbations began again. Here, on the mountain, I want to cure my head, because any disease is psychosomatic. Here I will recover myself - and I will help others.
I came here in a deep depression, and now no worms come into my head. It’s too beautiful here for heavy thoughts: I go out into the yard, look around, and happiness rolls over.”
The dog barks - the caravan moves on
For the past two years, the monastery has been under threat of demolition. In the bowels of the mountain on which it is located, there are deposits of titanomagnetite ore. Eight kilometers below, explosions rumble every day: after a ten-minute siren, two short beeps sound, and clouds of crushed rock rise into the air. When the resource of the Western quarry is exhausted, Evraz will need a new deposit - the very one next to which the Buddhist stupas of the Shad Tchup Ling monastery stand. The complex falls into the sanitary protection zone of a new quarry, where any construction is prohibited.
Mikhail Sannikov began construction illegally, and therefore the enterprise has the right to expel uninvited guests from its territory. Lama Dokshit repeatedly tried to legalize his buildings, negotiated with the administration of the city and the plant, but in February 2017, the Bailiff Service issued a decree on the demolition of the monastery. Then the authorities and public figures stood up for the Buddhists, including the musician Boris Grebenshchikov, and the bailiffs, because of the washed out road, could not hand over the decision to the lama for a long time. Along the way, it turned out that the construction equipment needed for demolition is unlikely to climb the steep slope to the top. The question hung in the air, and life on the mountain goes on.
From time to time there is a new twist in the conflict. For example, a month ago, State Duma deputy Andrei Alshevsky submitted a request to the administration of the governor of the Sverdlovsk region about how the group for the preservation of the monastery works. In response, the administration sent a letter with the results of an examination conducted by the St. Petersburg State Museum of Religion. They said that the religious organization on the top of Kachkanar is illegitimate, because it does not have a charter, and cannot yet be considered as a monastery, because it does not have the required number of monks.
In response to the results of the examination, the residents of Shad Tchup Ling shrug their shoulders. After the news about the examination, they contacted the main specialist of the museum, and it turned out that the specialist did not know about the study. In the spring, the first nun of the monastery, Satima, will return from India, and then others will be trained. The dog will bark and the caravan will move on.
Every morning we are born again. And what we do today will be of the greatest importance.
Siddhartha Gautama
I continue the story about interesting people. Yes, the story will mainly be about the only mountain Buddhist monastery in Russia, but the monastery is the work of a specific person.
So, spring, Sverdlovsk region, Kachkanar, the mountain of the same name.
01.
I found information about the monastery by accident while preparing a spring trip to the Urals. Sensible visit reports can be counted on one hand, mostly some articles about litigation with the Kachkanar GOK and rumors of imminent demolition. So it was necessary to take hands in legs and go before it was too late.
02.
Mount Kachkanar stands next to the city of the same name, more precisely, the city is located at the foot of the mountain. The mountain is so-so, far from Elbrus, only 887.6 m. We had to go to this height.
03.
The most difficult of the entire ascent was to pass the GOK checkpoint. The mountain turned out to be on the territory of the enterprise. I asked the guard if it was possible to go up the mountain, she replied that it was possible, but it was necessary to agree with the management, it is in the city, but they do not work today (Saturday), and this is not a quick matter. But since we have come from afar, she is simply obliged to tell us that their work is difficult, the territory is huge and it is simply impossible to keep track of everything. Here, at the barrier, she sees, but over there, behind the bushes, three meters away, she is no longer there. They say that there is a path there, and further along the road, the main thing is not to get under the BelAZ. After thanking the guard and loudly expressing our regret at the inaccessibility of the monastery due to bureaucratic delays, we went behind the bushes.
04.
Well, then on an excellent road we climb up the mountain. Along the way, you can stop at a couple of viewing platforms, even climb lighting towers. The quarry is active, so there is something to look at and you need to look at both.
05.
A straight old road goes uphill from the second observation point, we follow it. Rising, literally in an hour you cross several natural belts. Children should be taken here on excursions, rarely in such accessibility it is possible to show changes in nature so clearly.
06.
Finally, you come to a small clearing. If you go straight, you will get to the Camel rock and the alpine lake.
07.
The lake is so-so. It will probably be more fun in summer, but in May there was still ice on it. Fishermen still sit on people of this thickness in the spring
08.
And to the right, simply fantastic (for the end of spring) deposits of snow begin, along which a chain of old tracks is visible. We follow them. Step to the side and fall through almost to the waist.
09.
There is a thick layer of snow underfoot, and streams murmur under the snow. They are perfectly audible and you don’t want to fall into them at all. After a few hundred meters, right in the forest, a large stack of boards and a sign in the style of "Traveler, throw away your belongings, leave your fatigue and help in the construction of the monastery." We helped, yes.
10.
The last spurt along the kurumnik, we jump on slippery stones and, behold, the monastery. To be honest, there were fears not to catch him in place.
11.
The monastery is being built, from fully finished buildings, perhaps, only the stupa of Awakening. Through the gates, drums and information board, we finally get inside.
12.
We are clearly happy
13.
No, really happy. A man came out to the barking of dogs and led us inside to dry off after swimming in the snow and drink tea. "Drink tea" is probably the most used phrase at the top.
14.
This concept is not invested in the tea party itself, although it certainly will certainly be, but rather, conversations and gatherings. Oriental is such an option, it's Asia.
“And where are you from? Where can I see the pictures then? Live? Is he still alive?!”
Soon they had a logbook shadtchupling
15.
Having warmed up, we go out for reconnaissance. This is an amazingly beautiful place! I love mountains, even small ones. There is something primitive in them, revealing the subconscious in a person.
16.
A long time ago, Mansi lived on these lands. They did not live on the mountain itself, but it was considered a place of power and was used to perform religious rites.
17.
When the Russians came to these places, they became interested in local deposits. According to rumors, Demidov himself wanted to buy the whole mountain from the Mansi, but something did not grow together there.
18.
Then a platinum fever passed through these places, but quickly ended. The GOK was founded in the late 50s of the last century, at the same time the city of Kachkanar was founded on the southern slope of the mountain.
20.
The idea of building a monastery came to its founder in 1995. The creator was Mikhail Vasilyevich Sannikov, very interesting person. Born into a military family, he himself commanded a sabotage and reconnaissance group in Afghanistan for several years.
21.
He was discharged from the army due to disability with the rank of captain, worked as an orderly in the morgue, as a cook in the river fleet, and graduated from the Nizhny Tagil Art School as an external student.
22.
In the late 80s, at the age of 27, Mikhail decides to go to study at the Ivolginsky datsan. Entered and took the monastic name Tenzin Dokshit. I went to Mongolia and after graduation I wanted to move there to live. But fate decreed otherwise.
23.
To be quite precise, his teacher Pema Jang ordered otherwise. The young lama Dokshit was ordered to build a Buddhist datsan in the Urals. The logic is simple: there are Buryat temples in the east, Gunzechoinei in St. Petersburg in the west, datsans of Kalmykia in the south, and empty in the middle. There are no Buddhist temples in the Urals. And in order to stand out completely, the temple must stand on top of a mountain.
24.
We chose Kachkanar, a mountain on the border of Europe and Asia. As I said, this place has long been known as a place of power. And the name of the monastery was given to Shad Tchup Ling - "place of practice and realization" (or "Place of study and realization", as you like). Construction began on May 15, 1995, and Tenzin Dokshit alone built the first years.
25.
The first buildings were almost completely wooden and the fire that happened in 1998 destroyed everything rebuilt. Lama and his few students had to start all over again.
26.
After a walk on the mountain, we drink tea again.
27.
Michael is an excellent conversationalist with a peculiar sense of humor. In general, if you talked with a Buddhist who was a military man, a pathologist and a riverman, and even with a good education and encyclopedic knowledge in various fields, then you will understand me
For some reason, I always remembered the "Golden Calf"
“Have you read about the conference on disarmament? - one pique waistcoat addressed another pique waistcoat. - Speech by Count Bernstorf.
- Bernstorf is the head! - answered the asked waistcoat in such a tone, as if he was convinced of that on the basis of a long acquaintance with the count. Did you read Snowden's speech at the electoral meeting in Birmingham, that Conservative stronghold?
- Well, what to talk about ... Snowden is the head! Listen, Valiadis, he said to the third old man in Panama. What do you think about Snowden?
- I'll tell you frankly, - Panama answered, - Don't put your finger in Snowden's mouth. I personally wouldn't put my finger on it.
And, not in the least embarrassed by the fact that Snowden would never let Valiadis put his finger in his mouth, the old man continued:
- But whatever you say, I'll tell you frankly - Chamberlain is also a head.
The pique vests lifted the shoulders. They did not deny that Chamberlain is also a head. But Brian comforted them most of all.
- Brian! they said passionately. "That's the head!"
28.
No, in fact, I was ready to listen to Mikhail Vasilyevich for a whole day, or even two. He told why smoking filter cigarettes is more harmful than just cigarettes, how pipe tobacco differs from cigarette tobacco (he loves to smoke), the story of the Russians coming to these lands and what happened before, how ore is mined and why the Kochkanar GOK wants to evict them from here and much more.
29.
I learned a lot of new information, but I never got an answer to my questions about the plans of the monastery, where the money for the construction comes from and why there are no documents for the land. With Buddhist frankness, the lama answered me that we are what we think; that the monastery is not the main thing, the main thing is the process; and money is like with food: if it is taken orally according to the needs of the body, then food becomes food, and since the body is alive, then there is food. Excellent tax answer, you can use
30.
After tea and conversations break for work. On that day, they made a shed-shed for all sorts of household needs.
31.
Handy people have gathered here, and whether you like it or not, you will inevitably learn to work with your hands. All sorts of mechanisms were assembled around the district and used in the economy. Just like that, no one will drag such weights up the mountain.
32.
A couple of years ago, there were fewer problems with the delivery of building materials, products, and, in general, with movement. From GOK there was a pass for passage and passage, the car could reach that site with a pointer to the Camel.
33.
Since then, the policy of the plant has changed dramatically, and even on foot, the monks pass the checkpoint illegally. There is also a path on the north side of the mountain, but it is only suitable for transporting anything in winter.
34.
Then, with the help of dogs or a snowmobile, building materials are thrown. By and large, there are two seasons in the monastery: winter is the time for the delivery of building materials and study, summer is the time for construction and study.
35.
Up here, there is no electricity, no running water, no steam heating. No official permits, no documents. One on one with the outside world.
36.
The territory of the monastery, in fact, like the whole mountain with all the lakes, camels, a monument to Gagarin and a mass hiking trails Kachkanar GOK wants to finally close. The basin is expanding, the development of a new deposit is being started, and there is a risk that the mountain may collapse from explosions.
37.
Shad Tchup Ling is the only mountain Buddhist monastery in Russia, the Kachkanar GOK is developing the only vanadium deposit in Russia. It's hard to argue with money, the plant produces 55 million tons of iron ore per year.
38.
In addition to the monastery, we can also lose a mountain, as happened with one of the Sterlitamak shikhans. In 2015, the GOK is going to launch production at a new field at the very foot of the mountain.
39.
One of the main postulates of Buddhism is that everything in this world is changeable and impermanent.
40.
But back to the monastery. We came there for a couple of hours, as a result, we stayed for a bath, dinner and an overnight stay. Where does that come from on this stone peak?
41.
Although the month of May is still in the yard, the schedule is still winter. Study, trips for building materials, tea. No one is standing over the students with a stick, just if you came here, it means you want to study, but in order to survive you have to do housework.
42.
This should be the monastery at the end of construction. Dogs provide the main assistance in transporting building materials. The guys say that they suffered with them until they understood what to do so that they would drag the sled in the right direction. Well, the dogs seem to understand what they want from them. But all the same, there are times when the whole bunch breaks off to the side and flies away wherever your eyes look, dragging the sled with it.
43.
Mikhail says that the level of students is different. someone with higher education, and someone needs to pull up the school course. There are books in the library for every taste, that's for sure.
44.
According to the schedule, from among the monks are appointed on duty for the household, a work order for a construction site, someone goes to the city on business or for groceries. In general, as in the army.
45.
In the subsidiary farm chickens, goats, cows, dogs. Everyone needs to be fed and cleaned up after everyone.
46.
Some even milk.
47.
This is a vegetable garden. They say they even grow something. Mikhail graduated from the Perm Agricultural Institute in a year and probably knows some secrets of how to grow potatoes on stones. As I say, a very interesting and versatile person.
48.
There is no electricity, the light is from a kerosene stove, but there is LED lighting powered by a car battery. A laptop also works from it, and the battery is charged during the day, when the gas generator is started for work.
49.
Local water, rain. It is collected in a natural reservoir, and taken as needed. In winter, it all freezes to the bottom and you have to melt the ice and snow.
50.
As the lama says, they drink not for the first year, horns-hooves are not branches, so everything is fine. It was difficult in dry years. It was summer, when there was no rain for several months and we were without water.
51.
This is how it lives unique place. It is clear that not everything is legal, it is clear that outwardly it looks more like a labor community, but I would very much like the GOK to find an opportunity to leave the monastery and the mountain alone.
52.
We wish the monks good luck and strength of mind. As far as I know, now, six months later, the situation is unchanged.
And here again the restless head and walking legs again carried me through the countryside of the Fatherland. My eighteen-year-old daughter and friend Denis volunteered to go with me. Our path this time was already a little further than usual - although rich Perm region on the sights, but they also come to an end sometime. No, of course, you can watch a lot more, but here priorities and Wishlist come into play. And they gravitate more and more to large spaces and mountains. In a word - to scale.
This time was chosen aside Sverdlovsk region: almost on the border with Perm region there is city of Kachkanar. He is glorious Kachkanar Mining and Processing Plant (Evraz Holding), which in its vicinity is mining titanomagnetite ore.
View of the monastery from the height of the northern peak of the mountain
What can be seen in Kachkanar
and on the way to it?
Most of the sights are concentrated in the area of the same name. the mountains: the mountain itself with its rocks on top, a mountain lake at the place where the stone was mined, Buddhist monastery and stele to Gagarin. At the foot of the mountain, on the way to the top Western quarry of Kachkanarsky GOK. Also if you go to the side Perm Territory, then 40 kilometers from Kachkanar you can visit mountain.
But more about everything below. Since there was a lot of photographic material, with all my desire, I could not cram the unpushable and show all these objects without loss in one report. Therefore, there will be three parts - one about the monastery, and the second - about other sights Kachkanar, well, the third one is about Mount Kolpaki.
How to get there?
get to Kachkanar not difficult - Kachkanar located 280 km from Perm and 260 from Yekaterinburg. Didn't check the road from Ekata, but from Perm the road is quite, albeit very winding.
GPS coordinates
58.77678, 59.38694
Shad Tchup Ling Monastery on the map
How to climb to the top?
We have chosen more long route- from Western Quarry. The reason for this is simple - only by following this path you can see for yourself Western Quarry.
To get to the starting point of this route, you need to drive through the city, turn in the direction Western Career, cross the dam and soon you will see the checkpoint of the company Evraz. Feel free to leave the car there, turn into the undergrowth on the left and bypass the checkpoint. After that, you can safely go back to the road to continue the path without fearing anyone. The road is gentle and carefully smoothed by graders. After about 2.5 kilometers you will reach a fork - on the right there will be viewpoint with views of the quarry, and the road to the monastery turns left. On this road, you need to go for about 4 km without turning anywhere to a fork with a tree decorated with ribbons. To the right there will be a road to the monastery, and straight ahead to a mountain lake and rock camel.
For those who do not want to trample on white legs, I can offer a life hack on how to shorten the walking distance by 6-7 kilometers. Find out the phone number of the pass office at the KGOK reception, contact it and get the necessary passes for the tourist purpose of the visit. I did not check it myself (because the day before was a day off), but according to the reports of the method, it works. On a four-wheel drive car with a normal clearance, you can get to a fork with a "ribbon" tree - in some places, closer to the top, there is still snow on the road.
Shad Tchup Ling Buddhist Community
Story Shad Tchup Ling(in Tibetan pronunciation "Shaddubling", Tib. bshad sgrub gling; "Place of study and implementation") is directly related to the personality of his lama - Sanye Tenzin Dokshit (Mikhail Sannikov) who, at the direction of his teacher Pem Janga (Darma Dodi Zhalsaraeva) in mid-May 1995 arrived at Mount Kachkanar and laid the first stone of the monastery there.
For 22 years of existence on the harsh stones of the mountain, the monastery (a small reservation regarding this below) under the supervision of Lama Dokshit gradually rebuilt. Its current state is far from admirable - it is striking that despite the heroic efforts of followers, the lack of resources affects literally everything and construction is moving very slowly. However, over the past year, the monks have erected a number of important objects, including a large buddha statue. As far as I understand, in order for the community to have the right to be called a monastery, it must build 8 stupas - half have already been created, and the monks intend to finish the rest in 2017.
To support the community, it is good manners when visiting to bring building materials or food. To find out the most relevant things, it is better to call the community in advance and clarify the information with the guest attendant. No one obliges you to anything, but just keep in mind that you are just a curious guest within these walls. We took with us a drill for a perforator and sweets for tea.
In addition to tourists, the community is also hospitable to pilgrims, detailed information available .
In my opinion, the monastery looks most beautiful in winter, when wind and frost cover everything in a thick layer of frost. However, to see all this magnificence, you will have to work hard - the many kilometers uphill skiing is thorny.
Why go so far and climb so high?
Guests of the community on the approaches to the summit are met by a kurumnik 
The most famous Buddhist prayer is Om mani padme hum. 
To get to the monastery you need to go through the main gate.
The doors of the gate have colorful painting. Wind, humidity and cold are quite merciless even for modern acrylic paints.
Symbiosis of stone and spirit. In such harsh conditions, every natural shelter is used. 
Mortar 
The attendant on duty conducts a tour for tourists 
Mortar 
In the loopholes of the rocks you can see the expanse of the Ural parma 
Inner courtyard of the monastery 
After the tour, we were invited to drink tea, and the child also took up help in making mantra plates. 
The day was a success - in the late afternoon the clouds dispersed and we enjoyed the picturesque rays of the sun 
At the foot of the cliff monks take water 
Main buddha statue Video
A small video from the series “what I see with a sweat” - do not pay attention to my scratched face - I was in such a hurry to get ready the day before that I drove into the box in the head while loading the shmurdyak.
What to see nearby?
Stay on the line - there are two more promised notes ahead: about herself and Mount Kolpaki.
