Nea-chos or Riga-cho is the name of the lamasery destroyed by fre. Tt Sceuiples the oldest site in Tachlentu, and dates back some three hundred years. There are differences of opinion as to the correct derivation of the name, one meaning the 'Ave doctrines' another the five offerings' with two further explanations, namely, the offerings to Riga' and' the doctrine Riga' (Ngawang Lozang being the name of the fifth Dali Lama.) The story Is somewhat as follows: Norbu. Zangbo, a Tibetan merchant, was sent from Lhasa by Ngawang,'the fifth Dalai, to trade with China. With him hho carried some loads of Nambu.
Tibetan native cloth, and returned with several loads of famous Chinese tea, Norbu Zangbo was thus the! frst Tibetan merchant to introduce tea to the land of the lamas and the quantity consumed yearly has never ceased to grow. When Norbu arrived at what is now Dardzendo or Tachienlu, there was no vestige whatever of habitation (the old city of Tachienlu Wes a few. hundred yards above the present one) and 30 he erected his tent' on the left! bank of the stream.
Being a religious man, and carry-Ing his religion with him, he set to work and erected an idol-house at what fs now named Sa-gar-o, which may be rendered, "The He of the White Earth." there being at this point, considerable calcareous deposit from the hot sulphur springs above. The geology of the place substantiates the name Sa-gar-fo, there being a white-earth head protrading from the mountain side just above the spot where the lamasery Ngachos is situated. Norbu. being a devotee of Neawang, his royal master, he named the lamasery fon the Chinese border Ngachos, to represent the teaching of Riga, or Ngacho, meaning. "An Offering to Riga." Whatever explanation is accepted, and these are not the only ones, history records that the lam-ascry was erected by Norbu Zangbo during the reign of Ngawang Lo-tang who had become king as well pope of the land of the lamas. And this is the building that went up in smoke on the morning of March 29.
Lost During a period of over thre hundred years the lamasery has grown in wealth and influence. Like all lama institutions in the land of! the lamas the lamasery was not only a religious house where men worshipped Idols of wood and stone, but was also a store-house of untold wealth, accumulated from generation to generation. When des troyed it was reputed to be worth tone million rupees in books, a ments, ornaments, and pictures. Unfortunately, practically nothing was saved from the burning buildings.
The sacred books, the Ganjur and the Denjur, the lama's bible, printed fin gold and silver, went up in. smoke. The Ganjur alone is made up of one hundred and eight ponderous volumes and occupies considerable space in a temple, the Ganjur being frequently on one side of an enormous idol of Sangjaa and the Denjur on the other. tempt whatever was made to save these books or any other valuables! in the buildings. A large canvas depicting the great lama reformer. Drang-ka-ba, was destroyed with hundreds of other historical paintings. Valuable Tibetan rugs, extending the length of the whole building, were also lost. These, with the treasures of hundreds of years bestowed from time to time on the Tamasery by the devotees of lamaism, were totally destroyed.
'Apparently the fre got a tremendous grip on the main temple before anyone was astir in the lamasery 'Then the ery fre' rang through the! buildings, throwing the hundred lamas into a state of wild panic. Tt was a rush for life, as the lamasery: is approached through a long nar~ row opening from the main street. The drabas grabbed what they could of their own belongings and rushed
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.