List of Tibetan monasteries

This list of Tibetan monasteries is a listing of historical and contemporary monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism within the ethno-cultural Tibet itself and elsewhere. Tibetan monasteries are works of architectural, pictorial, decorative and landscape art.^[1]

Name	Location	Tradition	Established	Destroyed	Note
Alchi	Ladakh	Gelug	11th century
Badekar Monastery	Bugat, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region	Gelug	1749
Chagri Monastery	Bhutan	Kagyu	1620
Chaksam Cho Ri	Chushul, U-Tsang		14th century	Destroyed in 1959	from Chaksam Bridge diagram made in 1878
Dorje Drak	Lhoka	Nyingma	1400, 1720, 1960s in India	1717, 1960s	One of the six "Nyingmapa mother monasteries."
Drepung	Lhasa	Gelug	1416		Home monastery of the Dalai Lama and founded by Jamyang Choje. Drepung was historically the largest monastery in Tibet as well as the largest in the world until the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China
Drigung	Lhasa Prefecture	Kagyu	1179, 1980s	1960s
Drongtse Monastery	Tsang
Dzogchen	Kham	Nyingma	1684		One of the six "Nyingmapa mother monasteries."
Ganden	Lhasa Prefecture	Gelug	1409	1959, 1966	Seat of the Ganden Tripa. Founded by Tsongkhapa in 1409.
Gonchen Monastery	Kham	Sakya	1729
Gongkar Chöde	Lhokha	Sakya	1464
	Tsang	Gelug	1433 and 1475		^[2]
Hemis	Ladakh	Drukpa	1672
Jokhang Temple	Lhasa	Gelug	652	Severely Damaged by People's Liberation Army in March, 1959	Lhasa main temple. Said to have been built by King Songtsen Gampo in 647; a major pilgrimage site.
	Tsang	Jonang	14th century
Kardang	Lahaul	Drukpa	12th century		Main monastery in Lahaul.
Karma Gön Monastery	Kham	Kagyu	1147		Seat of the 1st to the 7th Tai Situpa
Katok	Garze	Nyingma	1159		One of the six "Nyingmapa mother monasteries".
	Ü	Nyingma	mid-8th century
Key Monastery	Lahaul and Spiti district, Himachal Pradesh	Gelugpa	11th century
	Lhokha	Nyingma	16th century
	Lhokha
	Western Tibet
Kirti Gompa	Amdo	Gelug	1472
Kumbum Monastery	Amdo	Gelug	1583
Labrang Monastery	Amdo	Gelug	1709		Was founded in 1709 by the first Jamyang Zhaypa, Ngawang Tsondru.
Lhuntse Dzong	Bhutan	Nyingma	1654		The 14th Dalai Lama arrived at Lhuntse Dzong on 26 March 1959, on his way to exile in India.
	Amdo	Gelug	1646^[3]
Menri	Ü	Bön	1405	1386, 1966
Menri Monastery	Tsang
Mindrolling	Lhokha	Nyingma			One of the six "Nyingmapa mother monasteries."
	Penpo				^[4]
	Amdo
Namgyal Monastery	Lhasa
	Ngaba, Amdo
Narthang Monastery	Tsang
Nechung Temple	Lhasa
Ngor Temple	Ü	Sakya	1429	1959^[5]
Nyethang Drolma Lhakhang Temple	Ü
Pabonka Hermitage	Lhasa	Gelug	7th century		Independent before 1959, has belonged to Sera since 1980.
Gyantse Palkor Chöde Monastery (Palcho Monastery)	Tsang	Gelug, Sakya, Kadam	1428
Palpung	Derge	Kagyu	1727		Founded by the 8th Situ Panchen, Seat of the Tai Situpa and Jamgon Kongtrul.
Palyul	Palyul	Nyingma			One of the six "Nyingmapa mother monasteries". Other branch "Namdroling Monastery" established by Penor Rinpoche in India, in 1963
Pemayangtse Monastery	Sikkim	Nyingma	1705
Pomda Monastery	Baxoi
Punakha Dzong	Bhutan	Drukpa			Winter home of the Central Monk Body
Ralung Monastery	Tsang
Ralung		Drukpa			Seat of the Gyalwang Drukpa
Ramoche Temple	Lhasa
Rato Dratsang	Karnataka	Gelug			Formerly on the outskirts of Lhasa, but now re-established in south India.
	Ü
Reting	Ü	Gelug
Riwoche	Kham	Kagyu			Seat of the Taklung Kagyu lineage.
Rongbuk		Nyingma	1902
	Amdo
Rumtek Monastery	Sikkim	Kagyu	18th century
Sakya Monastery	Tsang	Sakya			Seat of the Sakya Trizin.
Samye Monastery	Ü		775 - 779
Samye		Nyingma			First monastery in Tibet, established by Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita. Heinrich Harrer in 1982 flew over "Samye; it was totally destroyed. One can still make out the outer wall, but none of the temples or stupas survives."^[6]
	Lhokha				^[7] 1950 photo of Sekhar Gutog (sras mkhar dgu thog) monastery in Lhodrag by Hugh Richardson. Founded by Milarepa in the 11th century^[8]
Sanga Monastery	Lhokha
Sera	Lhasa	Gelug			One of the largest monasteries in Tibet, containing numerous colleges. Founded by Chöje Shakya Yeshe. [[:\|Photo of smashed statues pieces at Lhasa's Sera Monastery destroyed by the Communist Chinese after 1959 flight of the 14th Dalai Lama to exile in India.]]
Shalu	Tsang	Sakya
Shechen	Kham	Nyingma			One of the six "Nyingmapa mother monasteries".
Simbiling Monastery	...
Spituk	Ladakh	Gelug
Surmang Monastery	Kham	1988
Surmang			Kagyu		Seat of the Trungpa tülkus.
Tabo	Spiti	Gelug			Largest monastery in Spiti.
Taklung Monastery	Ü
Taktsang Monastery	Dzoge, Amdo
Tamzhing Monastery	Bhutan	Nyingma	1501
Tashichho Dzong	Thimphu	Drukpa			Houses the Central Monk Body in summer.
Tashilhünpo	Tsang	Gelug			Seat of the Panchen Lama. Founded by Gyalwa Gendün Drup.
Tawang Monastery	Tawang District, Arunachal Pradesh	Gelug	1681		The monastery is the second-largest in Asia.^[9]
Thikse Monastery	Ladakh	Gelug	15th century
Tholing Monastery	West Tibet
Tibet Institute Rikon	Rikon, Switzerland	Nyingma			Since 2007, the monastery comprises representatives of all four great traditions : Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug.
	Tsang
Tradruk Temple	Lhokha	Gelug			The largest, oldest and most important monastery in the Yarlung Valley. Said to have been built by King Songtsen Gampo.
	Lhokha
	Nagchu
	Western Tibet
	Lhokha
	Amdo
Tsozong Gongba		Nyingma
	Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh				Current residence of the 14th Dalai Lama.
Tsurphu	Ü	Kagyu			Seat of the Gyalwa Karmapa.
	Rebkong, Amdo
Yarchen Gar		Nyingma	1985		Largest monastery in the world +10000 monks.
	U-tsang	Gelug	18th century		"Yarlung Sheldrak is a monastic community that first developed around a Padmasambhava meditation cave, possibly as early as the eighth century. It was converted to the Geluk tradition in the nineteenth century."^[10]
	Tsang
Yerpa		Gelug	600–700	1959	Famous meditation site of King Songtsen Gampo and Padmasambhava; 300 monks lived here in 1959.
Yonghe Temple	Beijing	Gelug	1700s		National centre of Lama administration during Qing dynasty
	Tsang				^[11]

Gallery[]

Samye Monastery in Dranang
Ganden Monastery in Lhasa with some ruins visible from destruction by the Communist Chinese after 1959 flight of the 14th Dalai Lama to exile in India.
Sera Monastery in Lhasa
Drepung Monastery in Lhasa
Tashilhunpo in Shigatse

References[]

^ "Tibetan Buddhist Art". www.metmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
^ Berzin, Alexander (1991-09-01). "A Brief History of Gyumay and Gyuto Lower and Upper Tantric Colleges". Study Buddhism. Original version published in "Gelug Monasteries." Chö-Yang, Year of Tibet Edition (Dharamsala, India), (1991). Archived from the original on 2016-06-04. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
^ "{title}". Archived from the original on 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
^ Berzin, Alexander (1991-09-01). "A Brief History of Nalendra Monastery". Study Buddhism. Original version published in "Sakya Monasteries." Chö-Yang, Year of Tibet Edition (Dharamsala, India), (1991). Archived from the original on 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
^ Carnahan, Sumner; Rinpoche, Lama Kunga (1995). In the Presence of My Enemies : Memoirs of Tibetan Nobleman Tsipon Shuguba. Foreword by Lobsang Lhalungpa. Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light Publishers. pp. 18 and 19. ISBN 9781574160444. OCLC 947820220. (page 18 photo caption)- "Ngor Monastery, 1956, before destruction by Chinese Communists." and (page 19 photo caption)- "Ngor Monastery, 1980. The monastery was destroyed by the Chinese during the 'Cultural Revolution.' "
^ 1912-2006., Harrer, Heinrich (1985) [1984]. Return to Tibet: Tibet After the Chinese Occupation. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140077742. OCLC 13856937.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Berzin, Alexander (1991-09-01). "A Brief History of Drug Sang-ngag Choling Monastery". The Berzin Archives. Original version published in "Kagyü Monasteries." Chö-Yang, Year of Tibet Edition (Dharamsala, India), (1991). Archived from the original on 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
^ Richardson, Hugh (1950), English: Sekhar Gutog (sras mkhar dgu thog) monastery in Lhodrag near the Bhutan border founded by Milarepa in the 11th century. The famous nine-storeyed tower can clearly be seen on the left. Harvested crops may be seen in the field in the foreground., archived from the original on 2015-11-23, retrieved 2018-01-14
^ "Tawang monastery | Tawang District, Government of Arunachal Pradesh | India".
^ "Yarlung Sheldrak". Treasury of Lives. 20 January 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-01-21.
^ Berzin, Alexander (1991-09-01). "A Brief History of Yungdrungling Monastery". The Berzin Archives. Original version published in "Bön Monasteries." Chö-Yang, Year of Tibet Edition (Dharamsala, India), (1991). Archived from the original on 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2016-06-06.

External links[]

Monastery List for Tibet, Mapping Buddhist Monasteries Wiki
Monastery list with coordinates

[1] "Tibetan Buddhist Art". www.metmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2018-10-24.

[2] Berzin, Alexander (1991-09-01). "A Brief History of Gyumay and Gyuto Lower and Upper Tantric Colleges". Study Buddhism. Original version published in "Gelug Monasteries." Chö-Yang, Year of Tibet Edition (Dharamsala, India), (1991). Archived from the original on 2016-06-04. Retrieved 2016-06-06.

[3] "{title}". Archived from the original on 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2017-03-30.

[4] Berzin, Alexander (1991-09-01). "A Brief History of Nalendra Monastery". Study Buddhism. Original version published in "Sakya Monasteries." Chö-Yang, Year of Tibet Edition (Dharamsala, India), (1991). Archived from the original on 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2016-06-06.

[5] Carnahan, Sumner; Rinpoche, Lama Kunga (1995). In the Presence of My Enemies : Memoirs of Tibetan Nobleman Tsipon Shuguba. Foreword by Lobsang Lhalungpa. Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light Publishers. pp. 18 and 19. ISBN 9781574160444. OCLC 947820220. (page 18 photo caption)- "Ngor Monastery, 1956, before destruction by Chinese Communists." and (page 19 photo caption)- "Ngor Monastery, 1980. The monastery was destroyed by the Chinese during the 'Cultural Revolution.' "

[6] 1912-2006., Harrer, Heinrich (1985) [1984]. Return to Tibet: Tibet After the Chinese Occupation. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140077742. OCLC 13856937.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[7] Berzin, Alexander (1991-09-01). "A Brief History of Drug Sang-ngag Choling Monastery". The Berzin Archives. Original version published in "Kagyü Monasteries." Chö-Yang, Year of Tibet Edition (Dharamsala, India), (1991). Archived from the original on 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2016-06-06.

[8] Richardson, Hugh (1950), English: Sekhar Gutog (sras mkhar dgu thog) monastery in Lhodrag near the Bhutan border founded by Milarepa in the 11th century. The famous nine-storeyed tower can clearly be seen on the left. Harvested crops may be seen in the field in the foreground., archived from the original on 2015-11-23, retrieved 2018-01-14

[9] "Tawang monastery | Tawang District, Government of Arunachal Pradesh | India".

[10] "Yarlung Sheldrak". Treasury of Lives. 20 January 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-01-21.

[11] Berzin, Alexander (1991-09-01). "A Brief History of Yungdrungling Monastery". The Berzin Archives. Original version published in "Bön Monasteries." Chö-Yang, Year of Tibet Edition (Dharamsala, India), (1991). Archived from the original on 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2016-06-06.

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