The Sakya Monastery is the ancestral
temple of Sakyapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It was built in the 6th
year (1073) of the Xining reign of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) by Khon Konchog
Gyalpo, the founder of Sakyapa sect of Lamaism. Sakya, meaning "Grey Soil" in
Tibetan since the soil surrounding it is gray; it is the central monastery of
Sakyapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. In the Yuan Dynasty, the fifth Sakya Throne
Holder, Drogon Chogyal Phakpa, known as Phakpa, was appointed as the National
Priest by Yuan Emperor Shizu. He took charge of the Buddhist and executive
affairs of Tibet and initiated the history of monk's reign in Tibet. In the
2nd year (1265) of the Zhiyuan reign of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368),
Phakpa returned to the Sakya Monastery. Three years later, with the subsidy of
Yuan government, the Sakya Monastery commanded a great number of Han, Mongolian
and Tibetan craftsmen to rebuild the Sakya Monastery. It became the political
center of Tibet at that time. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Sakya
Monastery's position was replaced by Kagyu sect. Sakyapa sect only retained its
religious and political power in Sakya region. As a result, the Sakya Monastery
gradually declined and fell into disuse.
The Zhongqu River runs through the temple
and divides it into the southern temple and the northern temple. The northern
temple has been mostly deserted and the southern temple still remains. Its walls
were painted in red, white and grey strips, which represent Manjushri,
Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani respectively. Therefore, the Sakya Monastery is
also called Colored Temple and Sakyapa sect is also called Colored School. The
northern temple looks like a castle with walls as high as 13 meters surrounding
it. It is a square with an area of 15,000 square meters. In the middle of the
eastern side is a gate, on the top of which there is a watchtower. On the west,
north and south, there is also a watchtower respectively. On the four corners of
the wall, there are four turrets. Outside the castle is a lower earthen castle
and outside further is the deep trench. Walls, watchtowers, turrets; earthen
castle and trench form the defensive system of the castle, which was almost
formidable at that time.
The main architectures inside the castle are
the Dajing Hall, the Buddhism Hall and the hall where the Sakya archbishop
lived. They all preserve the style of Yuan architectures. The Dajing Hall is in
the center of the temple and occupies an area of 5,700 square meters. The
columns and walls inside it are all painted dark red. There are 40 columns, each
10 meters high. On the western, northern and southern sides are fresco corridors
while on the eastern side is the hall where Sakyapa Masters are enshrined. To
the north of Dajing Hall is the hall for Sakyapa archbishop, with monks' dorms
on its north and back.
On the shelves of the Dajing Hall and the
Buddhism Hall are displayed various hand-written Buddhist scriptures and books
of Ming and Qing dynasties. It has the largest number of books among all the
temples in Tibet. These scriptures and books are precious materials for research
into the Tibetan history.