The origin of the Mindrolling Monastery, which means Place of Perfect Emancipation, can be traced back to 1676, when it was founded by Rigzin Terdak Lingpa, in Tibet, approximately 43 km east of the present Lhasa airport, along the south side of the River Tsangpo.

Considered as one of the Six Mother Monasteries of the Nyingma School in Tibet, its monastic university trained Nyingma scholars and yogis from all over Tibet for nearly 300 years. However, after centuries of its inception, the monastery was severely damaged during Communist invasion in 1959, and following the invasion, Khochhen Rinpoche, along with a small group of seven monks escaped into exile in India in 1965, where they began the process of re-establishing Mindrolling monastery.

Jurme Dogyud Gyatso Rinpoche, who later became renowned as His Eminence Khochhen Rinpoche, was born in 1937 in Gonjo Dodrup in Eastern Tibet.

He studied and mastered Buddhist philosophy, Sutra and Tantra, calligraphy, rituals at the Mindrolling Monastery in Tibet for more than ten years, until the Communist invasion of Tibet in 1959, when he escaped into exile in India at the age of 22, as one of the member entourage of Mindrolling Trichen Rinpoche, while most of the members of this entourage consisted of monks from the Khochhen Monastery in Tibet.

While in exile, the small group of monks, under the leadership of Khochhen Rinpoche, began the process of re-establishing the Mindrolling Monastery in the area. They selected a piece of land near Clement in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, located in the middle of the serene foothills of the Himalayas, where the Mindrolling Monastery, one of the largest Buddhist centres in India, was established by the exiled monks, led by Khochhen Rinpoche in 1965.

Later, the complex of the monastery also housed the Ngagyur Nyingma College or Institute of Advanced Buddhist Studies, one of the largest Buddhist institutes in India, founded by Rinpoche in 1991, introducing a nine-year course for teaching Sutra and Tantra to approximately one hundred monks. Apart from that, the complex also contains the magnificent 220-feet tall Great Stupa, one of the largest in Asia, adorned with intricate murals and statues, Tibetan art, and sacred relics, with its façade embellished with a golden statue of Lord Buddha, stepping down from the heavenly abode to spread the message of love and peace, was inaugurated in 2002, and dedicated to world peace.

Located in a tranquil area in the foothills of the Himalayas, the Mindrolling Monastery, built with the aim to protect the religious and cultural understanding of the Nyigma School of Buddhism, is well-known for its picturesque surroundings, as well as the grandeur it exudes through its exquisite Japanese-style of architecture. Since its inauguration in 1965, it has been visited by a large number of Tibetan Buddhists and has grown steadily to become one of the popular tourist attractions in the city. Well-known for its exquisite architecture, the inner walls of the monastery are decorated with colourful paintings, displaying important events of the life of Lord Buddha. Ngedon Gatsal Ling, the main monastery and Practice Centre of the Mindrolling Monastery, is embellished with colourful pillars, elaborate frescoes, and vibrant windows, where the daily prayers are performed in the magnificent Shrine Room, and monks learn and practice the rituals, lama dances, playing the ritual instruments, and mandala drawing. In the Sanskrit language, the word mandala means a circle, which represents the universe, and in Buddhism, it serves as the aid for meditation, symbolising the wholeness, totality, and infinity. The centre is attached to a corridor, the ceiling of which is also decorated with floral patterns, curvy dragons, and Buddha figurines.

The Great Stupa, located near the monastery, containing a 130 feet tall statue of Lord Buddha, has five floors, containing five shrine rooms, which include the Shakyamuni Buddha shrine room, the Padmasambhava shrine room, and the Mindrolling Lineage shrine room, while the ground floor houses the shrine of Guru Padmasambhava. The first three floors boast ornate golden wall paintings, each representing a narrative, frozen in time, while the fourth floor is equipped with an open platform, offering a breathtaking panoramic view of the Dehradun Valley, open for the visitors only on Sundays.

The sprawling gardens of the monastery, under the fluttering Buddhist flags and tinkling tiny bells, contains a beautiful waterfall with a magnificent sculpture of Saraswati, the goddess of education, arts, music, and the creative arts. Apart from the colossal statue of Padmasambhava, consecrated in March 2017, the garden area also contains several miniature stupas, a Buddhist canteen, a bookstore stocked with Tibetan books, and some souvenir shops, selling Tibetan items.