The Ganden Songtsen Ling Monastery

Shangri-La is about 200 km from Lijiang, an ancient city inhabited by the Naxi people. Heading north from Lijiang, the scenery changes dramatically with the increasing altitude. The sight of wildflowers bathed in glorious sunshine and cows and sheep grazing on the meadows lightens the heart.

No visitor to Shangri-La should miss the Ganden Songtsen Ling Monastery, known as the soul of Diqing.

Built in 1679, at the order of the fifth Dalai Lama following an augury, it is the largest Tibetan Buddhist shrine in Yunnan province. Rising along a hillside, this majestic complex, with its towering roofs of gilded brass tiles gleaming in the sun, along with vermilion walls, white windows and black curtains standing out against a clear blue sky, evokes a heavenly aura. This design wins it the renown of “minor Potala Palace.”

Ganden Songtsen Ling was significant for the seventh Dalai Lama Kelzang Gyatso. Before the sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyasto (1683-1708) passed away, he predicted, “The white crane will not stay afar. Someday, it will return from Litang.” It turned out that his soulboy was indeed found to be born in Litang, now a county in Sichuan province.

Unfortunately, the boy’s life came under threat due to a Mongolian clan leader who had faked a reincarnation for political gain. The monks had to send the true soulboy to the Ganden Songtsen Ling Lamasery for refuge. As soon as he arrived in Shangri-La, he proclaimed: “This is the land I have been dreaming of. I am indeed blessed to see this land myself.” Years later, he was recognized by Qing Emperor Kangxi as the genuine reincarnation, and formally became the seventh Dalai Lama.

Kelzang Gyatso was deeply obliged to the lamasery and threw his full support behind it. The bronze statues of the fifth and the seventh Dalai Lamas are enshrined in the front and back halls. It was their contributions that developed the lamasery into the most significant Tibetan Buddhist temple in Yunnan.

Ganden Songtsen Ling not only boasts imposing architecture, but also a large collection of antiques such as the eight gold-plated figures of Sakyamuni made in the period of the fifth and seventh Dalai Lamas, palm-leaf manuscripts, and gold butter lamps. The frescos on its winding corridors are also exquisite and stunning.

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