Pe har is believed to have stayed at Samye for seven centuries, moving eventually under the reign of the

fifth Dalai Lama Ngag dbang blo bzang rgya rntsho (1617-1682) to his present residence at the Nechung
monastery near Drepung. The way and manner in which he reached his present abode are being explained
by a legend. There are again several versions of this tradition. Some of these have already been published
previously. We shall reproduce here four versions, which had so far remained unrecorded and which differ
somewhat from the accounts given previously.
After residing at Samye for many centuries, Pe har is supposed to have moved to the monastery of Tshal
gung thang (chos 'khor g/ing)" or shortly Gung thang, an establishment of the rNying rna pa sect lying on the
bank of the Kyichu (sKyid chu)" river, about half a stage to the east of Lhasa (tHa sa). During his stay at
Tshal gung thang, Pe bar began to quarrel with a learned priest of this monastery named Bla rna zhang Bla
rna zhang tshal ba according to the' Dzarn gling rgyas bshad-, who for some reason had taken a strong
antipathy towards this dharmaphala. It thus happened that, when a new monastery was built under the
direction of Bla rna zhang, the latter ordered the painters, who were designing the frescoes inside the new
shrine, not to paint a single picture of Pe har.
The god, angered by this insult, decided to take revenge and, assuming the form of a boy," began to assist
the painters in their work in a most obliging way. The artists were very pleased with their young helpmate,
and when their work neared completion, they asked the boy how they could reward him for his help. The
boy then replied that his only wish would be that they should paint somewhere on a wall of the shrine the
small figure of a monkey holding a burning incense-stick in its hand.
The painters readily complied with this strange request. One night, after all the work in the temple had
been finished, Pe haT slipped into the shape of the painted monkey, and with the burning incense-stick he
set the whole sanctuary on fire. Infuriated by the destruction of the shrine, Bla rna zhang performed a special
magic rite and thus succeeded in bringing Pe haT into his power. He compelled then the dharrnaptila to enter
a rgyal rndos, a thread-cross made for deities of the rgyal po class. Having caught the god in this contraption,
the lama locked the thread-cross in a box, which he threw into the nearby Kyichu river. The box was
quickly swept away by the current, and when reaching the neighborhood of Drepung, one of the four abbots
of this greatest Tibetan monastery espied the casket which was just drifting past. As he recognized by
means of his supernatural powers that Pe har had been imprisoned in this box, he ordered a priest to pull it
out of the water and to bring it immediately into the monastery. The lama succeeded in retrieving the
casket, but while carrying it became overwhelmed by curiosity and lifted its lid. At once the imprisoned
dharrnaptala escaped, and assuming the shape of a beautiful white dove flew to a nearby birch (gro ba shing),
where he vanished. Later the Nechung monastery was built around this tree. Pe har began to manifest
himself from now on at this place, assuming possession of the body of a priest, who was eventually
appointed to the office of a state oracle by the fifth Dalai Lama.

A second account has it that the fifth Dalai Lama himself, while staying one day at Drepung, saw from the
window of his room the box in which Pe har was imprisoned drifting down the Kyichu river. He ordered
the abbot of the bDe yangs college of Drepung to run down to the stream to pull the casket out of the water
and to bring it into his presence, but he strictly prohibited the abbot from opening the box, whatever might
happen. The priest succeeded in recovering the object from the river, but while carrying it towards the
monastery his load grew gradually heavier and heavier. Becoming curious, the abbot lifted the lid of the
box a little, but at this moment a pidgeon flew out of the casket and headed for a nearby tree. Frightened,
the abbot ran back to the monastery to report his mishap to the Dalai Lama, who reproached him severely
when hearing what had happened. He then ordered a shrine to be built around this tree and out of this first
edifice in the course of time a whole monastery developed.

According to a third account Pe har moved to his present residence to fulfil a promise he had made to one
of the chief disciples of Tsong kha pa and the first abbot of Drepung, 'Jam dbyangs chos rje bkra shis (1379-
1449), whom the dharmaplala is supposed to have assured that he would protect this great monastery which
at that time was being built (1416).

A tradition, which an official of the Tibetan Government claimed to be the correct version about the origin
of the Nechung monastery, relates that not Pe har personally had moved from Samye to Tshal gung thang,
but only his "emanation", the "chief minister" rDo rje grags [dan. The latter had hoped to become an
important and honoured protective deity of this monastery; and he began therefore to manifest himself at
Tshal gung thang, causing various apparitions before the eyes of the lamas. The monks were, however,
rather displeased with the troublesome dharmaplala, and instead of inviting him to take up his residence at
their monastery, they abused him calling him a 'dre ngan, an evil spirit. Finally, as even insults did not
suffice to drive him away, they exorcised rDo rje grags ldan, forcing him to enter a wooden box which they
threw then into the river. After the box had been opened by a lama, who had recovered it from the water
and was carrying it towards Drepung monastery, r Do rje grags ldan escaped and vanished in a tree, around
which later on the Nechung shrine was built. Its priests after some time decided that, since they had already
the "chief minister" of the sKu lnga group dwelling in their shrine, they had better invite the head of this
group of dharmaplilas as well. Pe har complied with their request and moved soon afterwards from Samye
to Nechung.

As regards the versions of the legends which had been recorded by other authors, we may mention shortly
that according to Waddell> an inhabitant of Tshal gung thang became possessed by Pe har, and after he.
had fallen into a death-like state was laid into a box, which was thrown into the Kyichu. The box was
eventually recovered from the water by monks from Drepung, and after the box had been opened, a flame
shot out of it and then vanished in a nearby tree, while the man lying in the casket recovered his senses and
was brought by the lamas to their monastery. Lastly, after Pe har's shrine had been built, this man became
the deity's first medium at its new abode. - According to another account Pe har, after escaping from the
box, jumped on a nearby tree shouting "Nechung, Nechung" (gNas chung = "small place"). From
this exclamation the name of the new monastery is supposed to have been derived.29