Rongbuk Monastery

Overview
Rongbuk Monastery, or also called Rongphu Monastery, is the highest temple in the world and a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Nyingma sect. It is located at the northern foot of Mt. Everest in Basum Township, Tingri County, Shigatse Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region. This monastery is 5,800 meters above sea level. Towing in the severely cold climate, it is the highest altitude monastery on the planet, also a vantage point for watching Mt. Everest. Those who have watched 2012, one of the top movies, must be impressed by the temple destroyed by the flood. That temple is the Rongbuk Monastery in Tibet.     
According to Michael Palin, there are totally 30 Buddhist monks and 30 nuns live in the monastery. However, some local people say there are only about 20 nuns and 10 monks, but there used to be about 500 monks and nuns.

History
The Rongbuk Monastery was founded in 1902 by Nyingmapa Lama. The place was originally an area of meditation huts, which had been used by monks and hermits for over 400 years. Therefore, there are a number of hermitage meditation caves: on the cliff walls, around the monastery complex, and up and down the valley. The paths were also lined up by many walls and stones, with sacred syllables and prayers carved on.
The Zatul Rinpoche, who founded the monastery, was widely respected by the Tibetans. However, even as respectful as the Rongbuk Lama, he also viewed the early climbers as "heretics". But on the other hand, he gave his protection to them and offered them with meat and tea, while also praying for their conversion. It was this great lama who gave Namgyal Wangdi the name Ngawang Tenzin Norbu, or Tenzing Norgay, when he was only a child.
In 1974, the Rongphuk monastery was completely destroyed. In the following few years, there were ruins only. We can find some photos shot by journalist Galen Rowell in 1981.

In 1989, a fire destroyed the Monastery's vast treasury of books and costumes, which had been taken for safekeeping to Tengboche.
From 1983, renovation works have been carried out. Some of the new murals are said to be as beautiful as before. People also built a basic guesthouse and a small but cosy restaurant.

Ceremonies
The Monastery was once very active with the teachings at certain times of the year. No matter in history or nowadays, the monastery is a must-go destination for those special Buddhist pilgrimages. The annual ceremonies held here attract spectators from as far as Nepal and Mongolia. Some satellite monasteries across the Himalaya also hold these ceremonies as they were also founded by the Rongbuk Lama. Today a visitor can see the ceremony at the Sherpa Monastery at Tengboche.

From Monastery to the Great Peak
Rongbuk monastery lies by the foot of the Rongbuk Glacier, which is at 5,100 metres above sea level. It is also the highest monastery in the world, only 200 metres lower than the north side Everest Base Camp of Mount Everest. Now people can get to the monastery by vehicles through an undeveloped road. People can drive from the dirt road, which takes 2 or 3 hours from the Friendship Highway, soon after kilometer marker 5145.
For earlier explorers like George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, the only way was to walk for as long as five weeks from Darjeeling, locating in the Indian foothills of the Himalaya.
If you want to reach the highest peak of Mount Everest, you will have to pass through Rongbuk in, and get to your destination through the North Face of the mountain. Some people described it as the most dramatic views in the world, presenting to the visitors with a magnificent view of the Shishapangma, Mount Everest, Cho Oyu, and Gyachung Kang peaks. John Noel, one of the first British explorers to visit the Rongbuk Monastery, described the mountain as follows:
        "Some colossal architect, who built with peaks and valleys, seemed  
         here to have wrought a dramatic prodigy—a hall of grandeur that led to
         the mountain."
George Mallory described the peak as "a preposterous triangular lump", for the peak was often hidden in clouds and mist. Another explorer, Noel Odell, described it as "a glittering spire of rock fluted with snow", with "an imposing head of granite and ice", for it looms large over the Rongbuk glacier, and shines white at its feet.