Ganden Monastery, Tibet

Ganden Monastery is located on the top of Mount Wangpori at an altitude of 3,800 meters on the south bank of the Lhasa River in Dagze County, east of Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region. Ganden Monastery was built in 1409. It is the first of the six major monasteries of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It was personally planned and built by Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug sect in 1409. During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Shizong of the Qing Dynasty named the temple "Yongtai Temple". Origin of the name: The full name of the temple is “Zhuo Gandan Namba Jeweilin”, where “Zhuo” refers to Zhuoriwuqi Mountain, and “Ganden” is the transliteration of Tibetan, which means “Tushita Heaven”, which is the world taught by the future Buddha Maitreya, and “Namba Jeweilin” means the victorious temple, hence the name of the temple. Ganden Monastery was completely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Only the statue of Tsongkhapa has been successfully preserved by local villagers. It is also the only remaining cultural relic of the original Ganden Monastery. Almost all the buildings we see today were rebuilt after the reform and opening up, and are listed as national key cultural relics protection units. #China #ChinaTravel #Tibet #Buddhism #Temple #Mountain #Gelugpa