Tashilhunpo Monastery

Tashilunpo is associated with the Gelugpa order and is one of the six great Gelugpa institutions along with Drepung, Sera and Ganden in Lhasa and Kumbum and Labrang in Amdo.

The construction of Tashilhunpo (meaning "imminent bless") began in 1447 and was founded by a disciple of Tsongkhapa, Genden Drup who was later named the first Dalai Lama. It was during the time of the 5th Dalai Lama that the lineage of the Panchen Lamas started in the Tashilhumpo. The Great Prayer Hall, the oldest building in the monastery, can accommodate over 2,000 praying monks. The lavish throne of the Panchen, a myriad of Buddhist sculptures and ancient murals are rare treasures of the monastery. Jamkhang, the chapel of Maitreya with a height of 30 meters and a total of seven storeys, is one of the most important buildings in the monastery. Enshrined inside the chapel is a 26.5-meter-high sculpture of Maitreya. Other buildings contain the magnificent funerary stupas of the Panchen Lamas. The Monastery is the largest of its kind in central Tibet.