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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. As
such, it is one of the six main monasteries of this Yellow-Hatted
sect along with Drepung, Sera and Ganden in Lhasa and Kumbum and
Labrang in Amdo.
It wasn't until the Fifth Dalai Lama declared his teacher
-the abbot of Tashilhunpo - to be the manifestation of Amitabha
(Buddha of the Western Paradise) that this monastery rose to its
current prominence. This abbot was named the Great Scholar Lama,
or Panchen Lama, and the lineage of the Panchen Lamas was thereby
instituted at Tashilhunpo. With the consolidation of national
power by the Gelug sect, this monastery became the monastic and
political center of the western Tsang region. During the period
between the Fourth and Sixth Panchen Lamas, Tashilhunpo graduated
from Lhasa's political partner to its rival for power.
Contemporaneously, it was developed and expanded to a level of
architectural grandeur befitting its political, economic and
spiritual significance.
The antagonism between the Gelug centers in Lhasa and
Shigatse came to a head in a dispute in the 1920's between the
Ninth Panchen Lama and the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. Tashilhunpo,
during this period of political dissolution in China, felt
sufficiently strong to refuse the Tibetan central government's
demands for tax revenue. As a consequence, the Panchen Lama had to
flee to China, where the Tenth Panchen Lama likewise spent most of
his life. Although the monastery was disbanded in 1960 by the
Chinese authorities, it has now been revived with 800 monks
studying for the traditional geshe exams.
At its height, the labyrinthine Tashilhunpo monastery had
over 4000 monks resident in its four tantric colleges, each headed
by its own abbot. (It was these four abbots who, after the death
of the Panchen Lama, were responsible for the search for his
reincarnation.)
Its important relics
include a 26 meter golden statue of Maitreya (Buddha of the
Future), commissioned in 1914 by the Ninth Panchen Lama. This is
in the fine Chapel of Maitreya, a tall red building with gold roof
located at the complex's northwest corner. The Palace of the
Panchen Lamas to its east was in fact the original residence of
the first Dalai Lama. The Kudhung Lhakhang houses the tomb of the
Fourth Panchen Lama (d. 1662), this elaborately decorated with
silk and brocade hangings and a wall mural depicting 1000 Buddhas.
The Kesang Lhakhang is the largest portion of the Tashilhunpo
complex. At its center is a spacious courtyard, serving as the
venue for religious festivals and ceremonies as well as for other
cultural events.
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