Tangra Yumco

Tangra Yumco is the largest sacred lake of the Tibetan Bon. It is also the third largest lake in Tibet. It shapes like a sole and is surrounded by mountains in three directions.

Tangra Yumco - Location

Tangra Yumco is located in Xainza County, at the northern foot of middle Gangdise Mountains. It belongs to the worldly famous depopulated zone. There is only one person in every 6 square kilometers. As one of the four largest lakes in Tibet, Tangra Yumco was occasionally mentioned in the legends or fairy tails. Few people know it and there is fewer people had been there.

Tangra Yumco is located in the middle part of Northern Tibet Plateau and not far away from Siling Co. It is a rift lake formed 3 million years ago. It stretches from the northeast to southwest and is about 80 kilometers long from the north to the south.

Tangra Yumco - Brief Introduction

The Daggo Zangbo River originates from Gangdise Mountains pours into Tangra Yumco in the south. The lake is 100 meters lower compared to its heyday, the water in the lake keeps shrinking and salting. There is grand lakeshore with grasslands which is the largest pasturing area in northern Tibet.

Tangra Yumco is near the Ruin of the Zhangzhung Kingdom (an ancient kingdom of western and northwestern Tibet which associated with the Tibetan Bon Religion) and is about 150 kilometers away from Nyingma County. It is one of the three sacred lakes in Tibet (the other two sacred lakes are Lake Manasarovar and Yamdrok Lake). It is a plateau lake style scenic area integrates natural reserves and natural landscapes.

Tangra Yumco - Landscapes

Tangra Yumco enjoys a relatively warm and humid climate since it is surrounded by mountains. The Darggo Mountain in the south of the lake is covered with snow all year around. The religion believers and the tourists would circle the lake from the middle of the eastern bank of Tangra Yumco. The Buddhism believers would circle the lake clockwise while the believers of the Bon would circle the lake anticlockwise.

The palace of the ancient Zhangzhung Kingdom was located at Tangra Yumco for its defensible terrain and favorable climate. Most of the ruins of Zhangzhung Kingdom were collected here. It plays important role in the research of the culture of Bon and Zhangzhung Kingdom.

Darggo and Tangra mean snow-mountain and lake in ancient Zhangzhung. There is a monastery constructed in the cave on the cliff if the lakeshore called Yubon Monastery. It is said that this monastery is the oldest monastery of Bon. There are still Bon believers on pilgrimage to the monastery.

Tangra Yumco - Legend

Tangra Yumco was said to be a devil lake. The fist prince of Zhangzhung Kingdom - the founder of Bon conquered the devil in the lake and then the lake changed to be a sacred lake. Darggo Mountain on the lakeshore has seven peaks covered with snow all around the year. The seven peaks looked like seven giants who guarded the Tangra Yumco.

The landscapes of the lake and mountains are praised as sacred landscapes by people. Tangra Yumco and the mountains are also praised as sacred lake and sacred mountains of Bon.