Asura cave | Pharping

Pharping, 21 kilometer south from Kathmandu is sacred site of Yanglesho where Guru Padmasambhava attained level of a Mahamudra Vidyadhara. Pharping town is a thriving Newari town that’s ancient Buddhist pilgrimage sites have been taken over by large numbers of Tibetans. However more specifically it is referring to two caves in which Guru Rinpoche is said to have meditated. One is located on the hillside behind and above Pharping, commonly known as Asura Cave or the 'Upper cave of Yangleshö'. The other one is located slightly below Pharping, about a five minute walk outside of town and known as 'Lower cave of Yangleshö' or simply Yangleshö.
Pharping, where Guru Padmasambhava attained the level of a Mahamudra vidyadhara. Yangleshö is thus, according to Katok Rigdzin Tsewang Norbu, considered to be for Vajrayana practitioners as important as Bodhgaya because it is where the second buddha Guru Padmasambhava attained the state of enlightenment. Every year Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche leads several seminars and retreats in Asura Cave monastery in Pharping. Pharping has not only been blessed by Guru Rinpoche, it has been also visited by many great beings, like long term resident Marpa Lotsawa, who practiced, made offerings, ganachakra feasts, aspiration prayers and so on.
Sites to see in Pharping
There are two major practice caves in Pharping blessed by Guru Rinpoche: the Asura cave and the Yangleshö cave. At the bottom of the flight of stairs climbing up to the Asura cave is an old and important Vajrayogini temple, the Pharping Vajravarahi temple. This is one of the four or five Vajrayoini temples of the Kathmandu valley. The others are located in Sankhu, near Swaymbhunath, below the hill of Pashupatinath (Guhyeshwari), and in Chapagaun. They start towards the end of the village, at Ralo Rinpoche's monastery and start by a shrine containing a self-arisen Tara on the side of an image of Ganesha. To the south of the village is the temple of Dakshinkali, one of the four Kalis surrounding the Kathmandu valley. Pharping also has several monasteries, temples and retreat centers, including Chatral Rinpoche's monastery, and the Palyul Retreat Centre, which is the residence of Khenpo Namdrol Rinpoche and home to the Rigpa Shedra.
This location is widely considered the most profound of all sites connected with the activity of Guru Rinpoché. Here, the Mahaguru spent time in retreat in two caves located in what is now the village of Pharping. During the winter months he practiced at the sunny upper Asura Cave and during the hot summer months he retreated to the lower Yangleshö cave. While at the Asura Cave, through combining the practices of Yangdak Heruka and Vajrakilaya, he attained the ultimate fruition of Mahamudra, the Great Seal.
As followers of Buddha Shakyamuni, we make the journey to Bodh Gaya. As followers of Guru Padmasambhava, we make pilgrimage to the caves of Asura and Yangleshö. Masters such as Kathok Rikdzin Tsewang Norbu (1698-1755) have emphasized that these caves are as important as Bodh Gaya for practitioners of the Vajrayana, so vast was the Mahaguru’s attainment here. This extraordinary place, the single most sacred site connected with Guru Padmasambhava outside the land of Tibet, lies just beyond the Kathmandu Valley’s southern rim, not far from the village of Pharping. For centuries, devotees have traveled to the two main caves to offer homage at the place where Guru Rinpoche gained the siddhi of Mahamudra