Drepung Monastery
China /
Xizang /
Lasa /
World
/ China
/ Xizang
/ Lasa
World / People's Republic of China / Xizang / Lhasa
temple, buddhist monastery
Drepung Monastery was founded in 1416 by Tsongkapa's disciple Jamyang Choeje, and was the seat of the Dalai Lamas before the "Great Fifth" Dalai Lama built the Potala Palace. Many buildings survived the Cultural Revolution but the order now pays a price for its prominent role in the pro-independence demonstrations of 1987. This was a remarkable action, as the monastic college had sided against independence. Today a Public Security Bureau compound sits below the monastery and "cadre monks" keep a close eye on day-to-day activities.
To the left (west) of Drepung's Assembly Hall is the kitchen, where butter tea is prepared in huge wooden vats. The first floor of the Assembly Hall holds a striking statue of Dalai Lama XIII, magnificently lit by filtered sunshine and pungent yak butter lamps. Readings of the scriptures are often held here at midday, at which time visitors can enjoy the spectacle of novices tumbling over one another in the race to fetch tea from the kitchen for their elders. A chapel to the north of the second floor houses a sacred mirror said to cure the facial diseases of those who gaze into it. The most revered image at Drepung is a 15m (49-ft.) tall statue of the 8-year old Maitreya Buddha, designed by Tsongkapa and housed in the northwest section of the building. It is usually viewed from the third floor. You will be offered holy water while at the monastery – cup your right hand above your left, take a sip, and splash the rest on your head.
At 6:00 p.m. Monday 10 March 2008, some 300 monks in their traditional red robes departed the monastery headed for the center of Lhasa. (The occasion being the 49th anniverary of the Tibetan people'e failed uprising against the Mao-ist army of occupation, which resulted in the Dalai Lama's exile, now in it's 50th year.) Chinese troops blocked the monks' path to the city and the monks then held a peaceful sit-in demonstration.
To the left (west) of Drepung's Assembly Hall is the kitchen, where butter tea is prepared in huge wooden vats. The first floor of the Assembly Hall holds a striking statue of Dalai Lama XIII, magnificently lit by filtered sunshine and pungent yak butter lamps. Readings of the scriptures are often held here at midday, at which time visitors can enjoy the spectacle of novices tumbling over one another in the race to fetch tea from the kitchen for their elders. A chapel to the north of the second floor houses a sacred mirror said to cure the facial diseases of those who gaze into it. The most revered image at Drepung is a 15m (49-ft.) tall statue of the 8-year old Maitreya Buddha, designed by Tsongkapa and housed in the northwest section of the building. It is usually viewed from the third floor. You will be offered holy water while at the monastery – cup your right hand above your left, take a sip, and splash the rest on your head.
At 6:00 p.m. Monday 10 March 2008, some 300 monks in their traditional red robes departed the monastery headed for the center of Lhasa. (The occasion being the 49th anniverary of the Tibetan people'e failed uprising against the Mao-ist army of occupation, which resulted in the Dalai Lama's exile, now in it's 50th year.) Chinese troops blocked the monks' path to the city and the monks then held a peaceful sit-in demonstration.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drepung
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 29°40'34"N 91°2'51"E
- Nechung monastery 0.8 km
- Potala Palace 6.8 km
- Chubchang Gompa (Nunnery) 8.2 km
- Phabongkha 8.3 km
- Mogchock Gompa 18 km
- Tra Yerpa 24 km
- Ganden Chökhor 27 km
- Langtang Gompa 28 km
- Tsurphu Gompa 46 km
- Reting Gompa 84 km
- Gunbai Eze (ridge) 3 km
- Linzhouxian Solar Field 4.2 km
- Lhasa 5.7 km
- Underground fuel storage tanks 7 km
- PLA helicopter base 10 km
- military base 11 km
- PLA infantry base 12 km
- Liuwu 12 km
- Manbu 14 km
- Quxu A Solar Field 16 km
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