Ganden Monastery

Monks debating at Ganden in Karnataka, India

Ganden Monastery (Tibetan: དགའ་ལྡན་, Wylie: Dga'-ldan, ZYPY: Gandain) is one of the 'great three' Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet, located at the top of Wangbur Mountain, Tagtse County, 36 kilometers ENE from the Potala Palace in Lhasa, at an altitude of 4300m. (The other two 'great monasteries' are Sera Monastery and Drepung Monastery.) Being the furthest from Lhasa of the three university monasteries, Ganden traditionally had a smaller population with some 6,000 monks in the early 20th century. It was the original monastery of the Geluk order, founded by Tsongkhapa himself in 1409, and traditionally considered to be the seat of Geluk administrative and political power. The Ganden Tripa or 'throne-holder of Ganden' is the head of the Gelukpa school.

Ganden Monastery consisted of two colleges, Jangtse and Shartse, meaning North Peak and East Peak respectively. The three main sights in the Ganden Monastery are the Serdung, which contains the tomb of Tsongkhapa, the Tsokchen Assembly Hall and the Ngam Cho Khang the chapel where Tsongkhapa traditionally taught. The monastery houses artifacts which belonged to Tsongkhapa.

The Ganden Monastery was completely destroyed following the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959, and since the 1980s has been re-building.

The Ganden Monastery has been re-established in Karnataka, India by the Tibetan population in exile. The Ganden Monastery is located in the Tibetan settlement at Mundgod. This settlement of Tibetan refugees is the largest of its kind in India and was first established in 1966, from land donated by the Indian government.

In the Tibetan settlement near Mundgod are the Ganden and the Drepung Monastery. In 1999 there were in total about 13,000 residents. The Tibetan settlement consists of nine camps with two monasteries and one nunnery. They have established a credit bank for farms, an agricultural institute and a craft center. Modern technology and communication technology are being introduced. The curriculum of the Ganden Monastery remains similar to the teachings of the pre-1959 Ganden Monastery.

The Ganden Monastery Colleges Jangtse and Shartse have also been reestablished in India. They are named The Ganden Jangtse College and The Gaden Monastery. The are located in Karnataka.

External Links

This article about a building or structure in China is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This Tibet-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.