Drepung Monastery

Drepung Monastery located at the foot of the Mountain Gambo Utse. It is considered one of the 'Three Great Monasteries' (the other two are the Ganden Monastery and the Sera Monastery). Seen from afar, it looks like a head of rice. That is why it was named 'Drepung Monastery' which means Monastery of Collecting-Rice in the Tibetan language.

The monastery was established in 1416 by Tsong Khapa's disciple Jamyang Qoigyi, the first Kampo. The monastery, in its heyday, developed as the richest monastery of Gelugpa and became the mother temple of Dalai Lamas. In 1546, the third Dalai was welcomed as the first Living Buddha into the monastery. The Drepung Monastery houses many cultural relics, such as Statues of Manjushri Bodhisattva, and Sitatapatra found on the first storey of the Coqen Hall, rare sutras on the second storey and Jamyang Qoigyi's conch shell given by Tsong Khapa on the third one. In other sutra halls, there are exquisite statues of Tsong Khapa, Kwan-yin Bodhisattva, Manjushri odhisattva, Amitayus, and Jamyang Qoigyi.

The ground of the monastery is organized on the caves and temples for Jamyang Qoigyi, together with two magnificent white pagodas. The buildings of the monastery are centered on these pagodas, The major buildings are Ganden Potrang (It serves as the main assembly hall) Coqen Hall ( housing vivid statues of Buddha and precious sutras), the four Zhacangs ( They function as the sutra-learning placesor Tantric colleges), and Kamcuns (Kamcuns are the dormitories where the monks usually dine and sleep).


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