Ganden Monastery
Chinese:甘丹寺Gāndānsì
ALTITUDE: 3500M(11482FT)
LOCATION:Wangbo Ri Mountain,south bank of the Lhasa River in Dagze Country, Lhasa
TYPE:Religious temple; Historical architecture
SEASON : All year round
HISTORY : More than 600 years
Ganden Monastery is in Dagzê District, 40 kilometers (25 mi) northeast of Lhasa. It’s one of the “great three” Gelug University monasteries of Tibet. The other two are Sera Monastery and Drepung Monastery. It is the most typical one among the six major monasteries of Gelugpa as it was founded in 1409 by Je Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug sect. So it’s also the ancestral temple of Gelugpa.
Ganden Monastery is at the top of Wangbur Mountain, Dagzê County at an altitude of 4,300m. Wangbur Mountain is like a lying giant elephant, carrying a large-scale complex of buildings covered with the mountain, which fully reflects the traditional Tibetan Buddhist monastery architecture in accordance with local conditions. From the kora route around the monastery, there are dramatic views over the valleys that surround it.
Its full name is Ganden Namgyal Ling (dga’ ldan rmam rgyal gling). Ganden means “joyful” and is the Tibetan name for Tuṣita, the heaven where the bodhisattva Maitreya is said to reside. Namgyal Ling means “victorious temple”. This is the world enlightened by the future Buddha Maitreya.
History
Ganden Monastery was founded by Je Tsongkhapa Lozang-dragpa (1357–1419) in 1409. Tsongkhapa built Ganden’s main temple, with large statues and three-dimensional mandalas. He often stayed at Ganden and died there in 1419.
After the master passed away, his eldest disciple Gyeltsabjey succeeded Tsongkhapa’s robe, called the first Ganden Tripa. Tripa means “throne-holder of Ganden” and the head of Gelug school. Its religious status is second only to the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama.
The monastery was destroyed after 1959 but has been partially rebuilt since 1980. Another monastery with the same name and tradition was established in Southern India in 1966 by Tibetan exiles.
In 2008, over 500 monks, who refused to adhere to the ban against the protective deity Dorje Shugden, enforced by the Dalai Lama’s government in exile, were expelled from the Ganden Monastery in Mundgod, Karnataka, and founded in its immediate neighborhood the Shar Gaden Monastery, officially opened in October 2009. As a result, the Dokhang Khangtsen, the biggest division of Gaden Shartse Monastery, where most of the departing monks came from, ceased to exist.
