Twenty-four great sacred places
Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia is now 14 years old
Our Encyclopedia recently received a wonderful opportunity for a major renewal on its 14th birthday . After many years of growing our Encyclopedia had become bit slow and sometimes even decided not to answer when people knocked on the door.
A very big thank you and blessings to Dmytro Rudiy (rudiy.nl) for his great work in upgrading the server, website and all of the infrastructure and helping make TBE fast and reliable again for everyone!
We kindly ask our readers to help us cover the cost of this important upgrade and also help with the ongoing costs of keeping the Encyclopedia alive and freely available.
or card
Every little donation helps and every one is deeply appreciated. 🙏🙏🙏
OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM 🙏🙏🙏
May blessings shower down on all of yous 🙏🙏🙏
Twenty-four great sacred places (Wyl. gnas chen nyer bzhi)
According to the Hevajra Tantra[1] these are:
- Jālandhara
- Oddiyana
- Paurnagiri
- Kamarupa
- Malaya
- Sindhu
- Nagara
- Munmuni
- Karunyapataka
- Devikota
- Karmarapataka
- Kulata
- Arbuta
- Godavari
- Himadri
- Harikela
- Lampaka
- Kani
- Saurasta
- Kalinga
- Kokana
- Caritra
- Kosala
- Vindhyakaumarapaurika
Other Traditions
Other sources, such as the sadhana of Yumka Dechen Gyalmo from the Longchen Nyingtik, give a different enumeration of these twenty-four sacred places. They abide on the vajra-body inherent in every sentient being, which is symbolized here by the body of Vajrayogini. These twenty-four are divided in three groups:
a) Eight celestial abodes (Skt. khagacharya; Wyl. mkha' spyod):
1) The crown of the head is Jālandhara, 2) in between the eyebrows is Pullīramalaya, 3) the nape is Arbuta, 4) the urna (the hair at the center of the forehead) is Rāmeśvara, 5) the right ear is Oddiyana (Skt. Oḍḍiyāna), 6) the left ear is Godāvarī, 7) the eyes are Devikota, and 8) the shoulders are Malava.
b) Eight earthly abodes (Skt. gocharya; Wyl. sa spyod):
9) the throat is Lampāka, 10) the underarms and kidneys are Kāmarupa, 11) the two breasts are Odra, 12) the navel is Triṣanku, 13) the nose-tip is Kosala, 14) the palate is Kaliṅga, 15) the heart is both Kaṅcika and 16) Himalaya (Himavat).
c) Eight underground abodes (Skt. bhugarbha; Wyl. sa 'og gi gnas brgyad):
17) the genitals are Pretapuri, 18) the anus is Gṛhadeva, 19) the thumbs and the big toes are Maru, 20) the thighs are Saurashtra, 21) the calves are Suvarṇadvīpa, 22) the sixteen other fingers and toes are Nagara, 23) the knees are Kulata, and 24) the ankles are Sindhu.
Footnotes
- ↑ see Snellgrove 1959, 1:70. Quoted in Matthieu Ricard, The Life of Shabkar, p. 605.
Further Reading
- Elizabeth English, Vajrayogini—Her Visualization, Rituals, and Forms, Wisdom Publications, 2002
- Matthieu Ricard, The Life of Shabkar (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2001), pages 342-343, note 10.
- Ngawang Zangpo, Sacred Ground: Jamgon Kongtrul on "Pilgrimage and Sacred Geography," (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2001).