Tashilhunpo Monastery 扎什伦布寺

About Tashilhunpo Monastery

Founded in 1447, it became the traditional seat of the Panchen Lamas, whose memorial stupas form an important part of the complex. The huge gilded Maitreya image gives the monastery another distinct focus, while narrow routes between the halls reveal the scale of the monastic settlement. The outer pilgrimage path and large thangka wall connect the buildings to the hillside. Choose the open halls first, then add an exterior section if conditions allow.

Luosang Qujie (罗桑曲结), abbot from 1601 to 1617, renovated and enlarged the buildings and established a prayer festival and tantric college. These institutions enabled monks to undertake those activities locally. Following severe damage during the Cultural Revolution, a new shared funerary stupa for the Fifth through Ninth Panchen Lamas was begun in 1985 and consecrated on 22 January 1989. A separate shrine for the Tenth Panchen Lama was completed in 1993.

The complex faces south and occupies 230,000 square metres, enclosed by walls with a circumference of more than 3,000 metres. Low white buildings with flat roofs stand towards the front, serving as residences and smaller study units. Taller red-walled buildings with golden roofs rise behind them, housing shrines, scripture halls and funerary stupas. The monastery became a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位) in 1961.

What to look for

• The towering Maitreya image and the hall built to contain it.
• The Panchen Lama memorial-stupa area and the large thangka wall above the monastery.

The surrounding area

A separate western urban centre anchored by Tashilhunpo, suitable for a considered extension from Lhasa.

Location & getting there

Getting to Tashilhunpo Monastery

Use Tashilhunpo Monastery on the hillside in central Shigatse as the arrival point.

• Begin at the main visitor entrance; the outer pilgrimage path is a separate hillside extension of the visit.