The Tashilhunpo Monastery is located at
the foot of the Niseri Mountain to the south of Shigatse City in the Tibet
Autonomous Region.
The Tashilhunpo Monastery, meaning "Heap of Glory", was commissioned in
1447 by Gedun Drub, the nephew of the founder of the Gelug sect, who was
retroactively entitled the First Dalai Lama.. The 4th Panchen Lama, Lobsang
Choekyi Gyaltsen, launched a massive expansion on the temple. From then on, it
gradually became the center for successive Panchen Lamas to hold religious and
political activities.
With tall halls and pavilions, the temple has 14 big or small golden roofs
with dark green tiles. There are four tantric colleges. Inside the halls, there
are many frescoes with different styles and distinctive features. The dagobas of
the deceased Panchen Lamas are well preserved, and they are all made of silver.
The body of the dagobas is inlaid with precious brilliant and dazzling stones.
The golden statue of Buddha in the Hall of Amitabha is 26.8 meters high.
In addition, there are many precious cultural relics such as statues of
Buddha, scrolls of Buddhist paintings, embroideries, sacrificial vessels and so
on preserved in the temple. Large numbers of gold and jade seals, imperial
written orders and the seal of Prime Minister of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)
are also treasured up in the temple, and they are of great significance for the
research into the ancient culture in Tibet and the history of the relationship
between the Tibetan and the Han people.