Spots View

Tashihunpo Monastery

The Tashilhunpo Monastery sprawls on the slope of Mt.Niser,southwest of Shigatse .It covers an area of about 300,000 square meters with a floor space of about 30,000 sqiare ,eters.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 Zhuba, one of the principal disciples of the Founder of the Yellow Sect Zongkaba, and was then enlarged consistently by different generations of panchen Lama until it acquired its present dimensions.Gendun Zhuba was 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. There are many valuable and rare historical articles in the monastery,among them are found a lot of gold and jade signets, and imperial certificates bestowed by Emoerors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties as well as a seal of "Daitu" of the Yuan Dynasty scribed in the new Mongolian language reformed by Basba.They are of great value for the study of history.