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AGompa orGönpa orGumba (Tibetan:དགོན་པ།,Wylie:dgon pa[1] "remote place", Sanskritaraṇya[2]), also known asling (Wylie:gling, "island"), is a sacredBuddhist spiritual compound where teachings may be given and lineagesādhanās may be stored. They may be compared toviharas (bihars) and to auniversity campus with adjacent living quarters. Those gompas associated withTibetan Buddhism are common inTibet,India,Nepal,Bhutan, andChina. Bhutanesedzong architecture is a subset of traditional gompa design.
Gompa may also refer to a shrine room or meditation room, without the attached living quarters, where practitioners meditate and listen to teachings. Shrine rooms in urban Buddhist centres are often referred to as gompas.
Design and interior details vary between Buddhist lineages and from region to region. The general design usually includes a central shrine room or hall, containing statues of buddhas, wall paintings,murtis orthangkas, cushions andpuja tables for monks, nuns, and lay practitioners. Often a library is on a floor above, with additional shrine rooms above. The gompa, or ling, may also be accompanied by other sacred buildings including multiple shrine rooms as atSamye Monastery in Tibet, and terraces, gardens, andstupas.
For practical purposes 'Gompa' in Tibetan Buddhist regions refers to a variety of religious buildings, (generally correlating to what might be described as a church) including small temple buildings and other places of worship or religious learning.
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