A path leads down from the roadside through the village and down a hillside where there is a small monastery named Nyanang Pelgye Ling Monastery, or Phelgyeling which is built around the cave. The monastery's assembly hall has the statue, in height, of Shakyamuni Buddha in the center. The monastery used to be a Kagyupa but later was converted to a Gelugpa by the 5th Dalai Lama. Later, Phelgyeling Monastery was affiliated with the Gelugpa Sera Monastery in Lhasa.
Description of the cave
Milarepa's Cave, which overlooks the entrance to the hidden valley of Lapchi Gang, is entered from the gompa's vestibule. The path is flanked by pilgrim's offerings of decorated stones and sweet-smelling herbs and wild flowers growing all around. The cave itself is kept as a shrine by two monks, guarding a statue of Milarepa enclosed in a glass case. In the cave is an impression in the rock attributed to Milarepa's sitting meditation posture and a hand print said to have been created when Milarepa helped Rechungpa, his student, use a boulder to prop up the ceiling. There are images of Milarepa, Tsongkhapa, and Shri Devi, a protectress whose mule is said to have left a footprint in the stone when she visited Milarepa in a vision. Restoration work within the cave and the monastery was undertaken by artists and craftsmen from Nepal and was financed in the 1970s by the Chinese government.
In art
The cave and the Pelgye Ling temple were the subject of Richard Gere's artistic photo work, Milarepa's Cave, Nyelam Pelgye Ling Temple, Tibet.
Associated caves
There is also a cave associated with Milarepa in Nepal on the Annapurna Circuit at approximately just outside Manang. It is credited to have been the residence of the famous Saint Milarepa during his stay in modern-day northern Nepal. This site also includes a holy spring, gompa, and bow from the local archer who met and tried to kill Milarepa. In the classical songs of Milarepa, , the chain of causation and compassion. In local tradition, this is the site of this famous tale. beyond the gompa, with locals praying from the edge of a glacial moraine in direct line of sight of the cave as its approach is on a steep scree slope. There are many more caves associated with Milarepa in Nepal. A remarkable one is close to Lar in the Tsum Valley at the border with Tibet, 28.52°N / 85.08°E, alt 3330 m. It features the print in rock of Milarepa's foot. It can be visited and there are two shrines on the site. Buddhist presence in this valley developed around Milarepa's time, as the gompa in Dephu Donma monastery, up the valley, dates back to the 12th century AD.
