Duddulling retreat center

Dudduling was founded by Zorik Dugarov and Basarov Petr Yampilovich in 1995. This purpose-built retreat centre was set up to provide ideal conditions for the study and practice of Dzogchen Teachings. It lies on the slopes of Mount Shuluta in the Khizhinga region of Buryatia,50km from the region's main town and 250km from the city of Ulan-Ude .

At the beginning of the XX th century, the first – and only – Nyingmapa Monastery in Russia was located here but was destroyed in the 1930s during the Stalinist persecution of Buddhists. The monks of the monastery practised the Longchen Nyingtik Teachings and had an extensive library, part of which is now kept by the Dzogchen Community in Palbarling.

The name Dudduling was given to this place by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche in the autumn of 1995.

Since then, work has continued on the building of a large Gompa and between 1997-98 the first stupas were built, one on the site of the ruined monastery's main Gompa and another on the site of a destroyed stupa. A large new Kalachakra stupa was also erected.

In 2000, the whole of Mount Shuluta, including the land belonging to the retreat centre, was declared a National Park for Nature and Culture and is under state protection as an archaeological monument. In 1997, Dorjo Dugarov found an archaeological treasure here dating back to the Early Bronze Age, nearly two thousand years before AD.

In May 2003 several of the buildings on the retreat centre's land were damaged by fire and the Dzogchen Community is now planning to begin rebuilding the main Gompa as well as several cabins for personal retreat, a library and a hotel.