Tashilhunpo Monastery
The Tashilumpo Monastery is the largest temple in the town of Shigatse. Located on the southern slope of the Nyima Mountain to the west of the Shigatse city and coversing an area of nearly 300,000 square meters, Tashilhunpo Monastery is one of the Six Big Monasteries of Gelugpa in Tibet and the biggest Tibetan Gelugpa Buddhism monastery in back Tibet area (Shigatse area). The Tashilumpo Monastery is the traditional seat of successive Panchen Lamas, and the second highest ranking tulku lineage in the Gelug Tibetan Buddhism hierarchy after Dalai Lama. Therefore lots of pilgrims travel to the Tashilumpo Monastery for a pilgrimage journey. As the seat of the Panchen Lama, Tashilhunpo was founded by the First Dailai Lama in 1447 and was expanded by the Fourth and successive Panchen Lamas. There are now nearly 800 lamas. The Tashilumpo Monastery was listed as a key cultural relics by the central Chinese government on March 4, 1961.
The Tashilumpo Monastery occupies an area of 150,000 square mters, surrounded by over three kilometers long walls perching along the topography of the Nyima Mountain and enclosing 57 buildings which amounts to over 3600 rooms in the monastery. The main structures found in the Tashilhunpo Monastery are The Maitreya Chapel, The Panchen Lama's Palace and The Kelsang Temple. One can find the world’s biggest statue of sitting Maitreya Buddha inside the Maitreya chapel which can be divided into five floors. The statue which was handcrafted by 900 craftmen in 9 years, stands 26.2 meters (86 ft) high and is decorated with gold, copper, pearl, amber, coral, diamond and other precious stones. The best image in the Tashilumpo Monastery is the statue of Maitreya, the largest one in the world. Address: West of the Shigatse city. Admission Fee: CNY 55 Openning Hours: 09:00 to 17:00 (closed for lunch from 12:00 to 14:00) Contact Number: 86- 10-85968802
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