Sera Monastery
Location
No. 1 Sela Road, Chengguan District, Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region
Reasons to visit
Sera Monastery is located at the foot of Sera Uzi Mountain in Duodigou, the northern suburb of Lhasa. It is one of the three major monasteries of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism and the latest one built among the three major monasteries in Lhasa.
Opening Hours
- Open at 7:00, debate begins at 15:00, and the main hall is closed after 17:00
Sera Monastery is located at the foot of Sera Uzi Mountain in Duodigou, the northern suburb of Lhasa. It is one of the three major monasteries of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism and the latest one built among the three major monasteries in Lhasa. It was built in the 17th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1419). There are two theories about the origin of the name of Sera Monastery: one is that a heavy hailstorm fell when the temple was laid and built. Hail is pronounced as "Sera" in Tibetan, so the temple was named "Sera Monastery" after it was built, which means "Hail Temple"; the other is that the temple was built in a place where wild roses are in full bloom, so it was named "Sera Monastery", and wild roses are also pronounced as "Sera" in Tibetan. The full name of the temple is "Sera Mahayana Temple". Sera Monastery is a representative Yellow Sect monastery and one of the six main monasteries of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The temple was built in 1419 by Tsongkhapa's disciple Yiqin Choje Shakya Yeshi with the funding of Langka Sangbu, a nobleman of Liuwuzong. In the early 18th century, Gushri Khan expanded Sera Monastery. It has become one of the six major monasteries of the Gelugpa sect. The main buildings of Sera Monastery include the Tsochin Hall, Maiba Dratsang, Jieba Dratsang, Ababa Dratsang and 32 Kangcuns. Among them, the Tsochin Hall was sponsored and built by Lazang Khan, a descendant of Gushri Khan, in 1709, and is mainly dedicated to Jampa Buddha and Sakyamuni Yeshe. The three Zhaxi are Maiba Dratsang (Medical College), Jieba Dratsang (Hyatid College), and Ababa Dratsang (Tantric College). Sera Monastery has a grand festival called "Sera Bengqin", which means the unique Vajra Blessing Festival of Sera Monastery. It is said that at the end of the 15th century AD, a vajra was brought from India, known as the Flying Vajra, and was later welcomed by Jieba Dratsang Kanbu into the Tenzin Dharma Protector Temple on December 27th of the Tibetan calendar. In the past, according to custom, on the morning of December 27th, the "law enforcer" of Jieba Dratsang rode a fast horse to send the vajra to the Potala Palace to present it to the Dalai Lama. After the Dalai Lama blessed the vajra, it was sent back to Sera Monastery by a fast horse. At this time, the Jieba Zhacang Kanbu took the throne, holding a vajra and knocking on the heads of all the monks in the temple and the believers who came to worship, to show the protection of Buddha, Bodhisattva and Dharma protectors. Every year, tens of thousands of believers come to Sera Monastery to wait for the blessing of knocking on the heads. Sera Monastery has a main hall, three Zhacang (monasteries), and 29 Kangcun. There are more than 5,500 monks at most. There are more than 10,000 Vajra Buddha statues preserved in the temple, most of which are made in Tibet. There are also many bronze Buddha statues brought from the mainland or India. A large number of original colored murals are preserved on the walls of the main hall and the scripture halls of each Zhacang. There are a large number of precious cultural relics and handicrafts in the temple, such as Buddhist scriptures, Buddha statues, ritual instruments, monks' robes, silk, gold and silver wares, etc., which were bestowed by the emperor and brought back by Sakya Yeshi when he returned to Tibet from Beijing. Among them, the colored silk statue of Sakya Yeshi is 109 cm long and 64 cm wide. Although it has been more than 500 years old, its colors are still very bright. More than 200 volumes of Kangyur, Danjur and other books hidden in the Tsokchen Hall are also preserved.
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