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| Drepung Monastery |
| About 8 km to the west of central Lhasa, Drepung was once the world's largest monastery, with a population of around 10,000 monks. The word Drepung literally translates as "rice heap", a reference to the huge numbers of white monastic buildings that once piled up on the hillside. The monastery was founded in 1416 by a charismatic monk and disciple of Tsongkhapa called Jamyang Choje. He was able to raise funds for the project quickly and within a year of completion the monastery already hosted a population of 2000 monks. By the time of the 5th Dalai Lama in the early 17th century, the number of resident monks was somewhere between 7000 and 10,000. Today there are around 600 monks in residence. |
| next : Drigung Monastery |
| Before : Dragon King Pong |
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