drikung kagyu or drigung kagyu (wylie: 'bri-kung bka'-brgyud) is one of the eight "minor" lineages of the kagyu school of tibetan buddhism. "major" here refers to those kagyu lineages founded by the immediate disciples of gampopa (1079-1153) while "minor" refers to all the lineages founded by disciples of phagmo drupa (1110-1170), one of the three main disciples of gampopa. ==first monastery== the first and main drigung kagyu monastery is drigung monastery,a brief history of the drikung kagyu lineage of tibetan buddhism founded in 1179 by jigten sumgÃ¶n (1143-1217) approximately 150 kilometers northeast of lhasa. aside from the drigung valley in Ã, the drikung kagyu has a strong presence in nangqÃªn county in what was kham, in western tibet (including kailash), and in ladakh. tsari and lapchi - two important sacred sites for all tibetan buddhists - also have a strong drikung kagyu presence. among the so-called "four major and eight minor" kagyu lineages, drikung kagyu is one of four kagyu lineages that continue to exist as independent institutions (the other three being the karma kagyu, drukpa lineage and taklung kagyu). ==lhanangpa sect== a sub-school of the drikung was the lhapa or lhanang kagyu, which was influential in western bhutan from the arrival of gyalwa lhanangpa (b.1164) in 1194 down to the time of ngawang namgyal. members of the lhapa tradition built some of the earliest dzongs in bhutan. in 1640 or 1641 members of the lhapa sect were expelled from bhutan together with the nenying kagyu as they had sided with the central tibetan forces against the drukpas during tibet's three invasions of bhutan. ==spiritual heads== from the founding of drikung thil monastery in 1179 to the present day, the drikung kagyu lineage has been led by a succession of spiritual heads ("throne-holders"). one of the two current heads of the lineage, his holiness drikung kyabgÃ¶n chetsang rinpoche,his holiness drikung kyabgon chetsang rinpoche, head of the drikung kagyu lineage of tibetan buddhism, will visit st. petersburg september 14-15, 2010his holiness drikung kyabgon chetsang kÃ¶nchok tenzin kunzang 
Kagyu