Drepung Monastery

The Drepung Monastery is situated at the foot of the Mountain Gambo Utse, which is 5 kilometers from the western suburb of Lhasa. Known as the most important monastery of Gelugpa in Tibetan Buddhism, it is also one of the 'Three Great Monasteries', along with the Ganden Monastery and the Sera Monastery. The Monastery covers a total area of 250,000 square meters, which allows it to hold 7,700 monks, 141 fazendas and 540 pastures in its heyday. Those numbers contributes its reputation as the largest-scale monastery among the same kind. In the Tibetan language, 'Drepung Monastery' means Monastery of Collecting-Rice. The name comes form the fact that it appears like a heap of rice if you see it from afar.It is a rater complex question to explain the hierarchical organization. Coqen, Zhacang, Kamcun, and Myicun form the main branches. Among the three, Coqen lies in the highest. Then Zhacang belongs to it, and Kamcun is under  Zhacang. And finally, Myicun subordinates to Zhacang. The rules for monks belonging to different branches are quite strict. For instance, monks form one kind of Zhacangs cannot interblend with another branch of Zhacang.



There is a system of education for the monks, too. For Zhacangs, it works in the following way: every year, eight chances are provided to those who want to study the sutra collectively. The time span varies from half a month to a month. Monks are tested before the Kampo to recite sutras and debate with each other. In the end, they would receive the degrees of different levels according to their performance.

A great number of cultural relics that adorn the monastery actually make the Drepung Monastery more superb. The list of those is amazing: statues of Manjushri Bodhisattva, the Sitatapatra, rare sutras and Jamyang Qoigyi's conch shell given by Tsong Khapa. People can see all these respectively on the three storeys the main hall. The statues there are superb. The statues of Tsong Khapa, Kwan-yin Bodhisattva, Manjushri Bodhisattva, Amitayus, and Jamyang Qoigyi are worth seeing. Also, there are flowery murals on walls in other sutra halls, which present the wisdom of the Tibetan people.

Tips for Tourists
1. Admission Fee: CNY 55.
2. Opening Hours: 09:00-17:00;
   Recommended Visit Time: 3 h.
3. Recommended Transportation: taxi, with a cost about CNY 20.

For More Cultural information of Drepung Monastery, please go to Cultural Background of Drepung Monastery

More Photo of Drepung Monastery please go to