Tashi Lhunpo Monastery:

The Tashi Lhunpo Monastery is associated with the Gelugpa order and is one of the six great Gulugpa institutions along with Drepung, Sera, Ganden in Lhasa, Kumbum and Labrang in Amdo. It is probably the largest functioning monastic institution in contemporary Tibet and is an impressive place to explore, which sprawls on the slope of Mt. Niser southwest of Shigatse. The main relics enshrined in the chapel is a giant 26-meter high sculpture of the Maitreya Buddha, which is said to be the biggest bronze image in the world. A total of 6,700 ounces of gold and 115,875 kilograms of copper were used for the construction of the image. There are funeral stupas of the 1^st Dalai Lama, the founder of the monastery and those of the 1^st to 10^th Panchen Lamas. It covers an area of about 300,000 square meters with a floor space of about 30,000 square, meters. Painted in red and white, the buildings in the monastery stand closely together in terraced rows, offering a grand and majestic view. The monastery was founded in 1447 by Gendun Drup, the 1^st incarnation of Dalai Lama and one of the principal disciples of the Founder of the Yellow order, Tsongkhapa and was then enlarged consistently by different generations of Panchen Lama until it acquired its present dimensions. Gendun Drup was the first abbot of the monastery and in 1600 at the invitation of the monastery, the 4th Panchen lama became the 16th abbot of it, thus made the monastery abode of the succeeding Panchen Lamas ever since.

Shalu Monastery:

Shalu literally means, “sprout”, the origin of the name is derived from a story that goes as the following. In the year 1087 A.D. Sherab Jungne, an eminent monk, nourished the intention of building a monastery. So he came to consult his master for the choice of a site. The Master told him, “I shall use my walking stick as an arrow and shoot it into the air. Wherever it lands may it be the ideal site for your monastery.” The “arrow” happened to land on a newly-sprouted sapling and the monastery was thus named Shalu. Though much smaller in size compared to its massive counterparts in Lhasa, it is far older than any of them. Sherab Jungne founded Shalu in the 11^th century.

Sakya Monastery

The Sakya Monastery is divided into the south and the North two parts. Kung Gung Chokyigyalpo started the construction of the monastery in 1073 with the order from Paspati. It is of typical Yuan Dynasty style resembling castles. There are a lot of historical articles in the monastery, among them are found a lot of the imperial certificates, gold signets, crowns, costumes bestowed by the Yuan Dynasty emperors. There are also a lot of statues of Buddha, ritual articles, and articles of lecterns of handwritten scriptures in gold powder or cinnabar. It has over 10,000 volumes of Tibetan books on astronomy, medicine, calligraphy, and history.

*Sakya monastery is divided into two main parts: the north and south. The north part was constructed under the guidance of Kunchok Gyalpo who founded the Sakya sect in 1073. In 1268, the south part of the monastery was built by Sakya Zangpo to fulfill Drogon Phakpa’s wishes. In addition, there is the Dolma Lakang (Tara chapel) founded by the great translator Bariwa in the monastery, is the holy Tantric cave called “Kha u”. Around the monastery are the eight hot springs of Sakya emperors. The main statue of the monastery is Shakyamuni. Moreover, the buddha’s three main represent: Statue (his body), Scriptures (his speeches) and stupas (his mind) and a lot other valuable cultural relics are offered in the monastery. Therefore, Sakya monastery is called “the second Dunkhang”

Dza Rongphu Monastery:

It is situated at 4920m elevations, the monastery at Dza Rongphu and its accompanying hermitage retreats were introduced to the world in the 1920s through the accounts of the British mountaineering teams climbing Everest. Their descriptions of this secluded monastic hideaway, where “Every animal that they saw in the valley was extraordinarily tame,” could have been the inspiration for the lamasery of Shangri-la in James Hilton’s well-known novel “Lost Horizon”. Today the retreat cells are abandoned and only one of the seven monasteries and nunneries that once thrived in this remote valley is now functioning. According to Trulsik Rinpoche, the Rongphu area was first established as a religious site 250 to 350 years ago. The first gompa, a Buddhist nunnery, was established about 200 years ago. By the 1950s there were nearly 250 residents, most of them nuns. The two largest Ani gompas, Changchup Tarling and Rongchung, are now in ruins along the ridge side past Dza Rongphu. Most of the nuns fled to Nepal in 1959 with Trulsik Rinpoche. The present Dza Rongphu monastery is on the site where the Lama Ngawang Tenzing Norbu originally founded the Nyingmapa gompa, Do-ngak Choling in 1901 to 1902. This is the real name of the monastery; Dza Rongphu is actually the cave retreat farther up the valley where Guru Rinpoche meditated.