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Tashilhunpo Monastery

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.

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