Drepung Monastery (, "Rice Heap Monastery"), located at the foot of
Mount Gephel, is one of the "great three"
Gelug
file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India)
The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous' ...
monasteries of
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
founded by Je Tsongkhapa. The other two are
Ganden Monastery and
Sera Monastery
Sera Monastery ( "Wild Roses Monastery"; ) is one of the "great three" Gelug gompa, university monasteries of Tibet, located north of Lhasa and about north of the Jokhang. (The other two are Ganden Monastery and Drepung Monastery.)
The origin ...
. Drepung is the largest of all Tibetan monasteries and is located on the Gambo Utse mountain, five kilometers from the western suburb of
Lhasa
Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China.
Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...
.
Freddie Spencer Chapman reported, after his 1936–37 trip to Tibet, that Drepung was at that time the largest monastery in the world, and housed 7,700 monks, "but sometimes as many as 10,000 monks."
All three were re-established in exile in the 1950s in the state of
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
in south-west India. Drepung and Ganden are in
Mundgod and Sera is in
Bylakuppe
Bylakuppe (བྷ་ཡ་ལ་ཀུཔེ།) is a region in Karnataka which is home to the Indian town Bylakuppe and several Tibetan settlements, established by Lugsum Samdupling (in 1961) and Dickyi Larsoe (in 1969). Bylakuppe is the l ...
.
History
Drepung Monastery was founded in 1416 by Jamyang Choge Tashi Palden (1397–1449), one of
Tsongkhapa
Tsongkhapa ( Tibetan: ཙོང་ཁ་པ་, '','' meaning: "the man from Tsongkha" or "the Man from Onion Valley", c. 1357–1419) was an influential Tibetan Buddhist monk, philosopher and tantric yogi, whose activities led to the format ...
's main disciples, and it was named after the sacred abode in South India of Shridhanyakataka.
Drepung was the principal seat of the
Gelugpa school and it retained the premier place amongst the four great Gelugpa monasteries.
[Dowman (1988), p. 67.] The
Ganden Phodrang
The Ganden Phodrang or Ganden Podrang (; ) was the Tibetan system of government established by the 5th Dalai Lama in 1642, when the Oirat lord Güshi Khan who founded the Khoshut Khanate conferred all spiritual and political power in Tibet t ...
(''dga´ ldan pho brang'') in Drepung was the residence of the Dalai Lamas until the
Great Fifth Dalai Lama constructed the Potala. Drepung was known for the high standards of its academic study, and was called the
Nalanda
Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...
of Tibet, a reference to the great Buddhist monastic university of India.
Old records show that there were two centres of power in Drepung: the so-called lower chamber (Zimkhang 'og ma)
associated with the Dalai Lamas-to-be, and the upper chamber (Zimkhang gong ma) associated with the descendants of Sonam Drakpa, an illustrious teacher who died in 1554. The estate of the Dalai Lamas at Drepung Monastery, called
Ganden Phodrang
The Ganden Phodrang or Ganden Podrang (; ) was the Tibetan system of government established by the 5th Dalai Lama in 1642, when the Oirat lord Güshi Khan who founded the Khoshut Khanate conferred all spiritual and political power in Tibet t ...
, had been constructed in 1518 by Gendun Gyatso Palzangpo (1476–1541), retrospectively named and counted as
2nd Dalai Lama. The name of the Tibetan government established by the 5th Dalai Lama came from the name of this estate.
Penchen Sönam Drakpa (1478-1554 CE) in 1535 succeeded
Gendün Gyatso (1476–1541) on the Throne of Drepung, both of them being major figures in the history of the Geluk tradition. By the time Sönam Drakpa was appointed to the Throne of Drepung (Drepung Tri), he was already a famous Geluk master. He had already occupied the Throne of Ganden (
Ganden Tri) and was considered the most prolific and important Geluk thinker of his time. His successor was none other than
Sönam Gyatso (1543-1588 CE), the lama who would receive the official title of the Third Dalai Lama (Talé Lama Kutreng Sumpa).
Before his death in 1554, Sönam Drakpa established his own estate, the Upper Chamber (Zimkhang Gongma), which was named because of its location at the top of Drepung, just below the Ngakpa debating courtyard "Ngagpa Dratshang".
Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center attributes the following ''Name variants'' to Penchen Sönam Drakpa: "bsod nams grags pa
rimaryName paN chen bsod nams grags pa
itle khri 15 bsod nams grags pa
rimaryTitle rtses thang paN chen bsod nams grags pa
itle
gzims khang gong ma 01 bsod nams grags pa
itle this last one referring to the Seat of the Upper Chamber established in 1554. According to TBRC his successors referring to the estate of the Zimkhang Gongma were Sonam Yeshe Wangpo (1556–92), Sonam Gelek Palzang (1594–1615) and
Tulku Dragpa Gyaltsen (1619–1656) - closely connected to the famous story of
Dorje Shugden
Dorje Shugden (, Wylie: ''rdo rje shugs ldan'', ), also known as Dolgyal and Gyalchen Shugden, is an entity associated with the Gelug school, the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Dorje Shugden is variously looked upon as a destroyed ...
. (Some say that Drakpa Gyeltsen was Sönam Drakpa’s second reincarnation, but usually he is considered to be the 4th incarnation of Panchen Sonam Dragpa). It seems to be commonly accepted that Dragpa Gyaltsen was the fourth holder of the ''gzims khang gong ma'' incarnation line. According to Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center ''gzims khang gong ma 04 grags pa rgyal mtshan'' has been his "primaryTitle". Since the search for his reincarnation has been banned, he has been the last one.
Chapman reported that in the late 1930s Drepung was divided into four colleges, each housing monks from a different locality: "one being favoured by
Kham
Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...
pas, another by
Mongolians, and so on." Each college was presided over by an abbot who had been appointed by the late
13th Dalai Lama.
Drepung is now divided into what are known as the seven great colleges: Gomang (sGo-mang), Loseling (Blo-gsal gling), Deyang (bDe-dbyangs), Shagkor (Shag-skor), Gyelwa (rGyal-ba) or Tosamling (Thos-bsam gling), Dulwa (‘Dul-ba), and Ngagpa (sNgags-pa). It can be a somewhat useful analogy to think of Drepung as a university along the lines of
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
or
the Sorbonne in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, the various colleges having different emphases, teaching lineages, or traditional geographical affiliations.
According to local sources, today the population at the monastery in Lhasa is about 300 monks, due to population capping enforced by the Chinese government. However, the institution has continued its tradition in exile with campuses in South India on land in
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
given to the Tibetan community in exile by Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...
. The monastery in India today houses over 5,000 celibate monks, with around 3,000 at Drepung
Loseling and some 2,000 at
Drepung Gomang. Hundreds of new monks are admitted each year, many of them refugees from Tibet.
The
Ganden-Phodrang-Palace situated at Drepung Monastery was constructed by the
2nd Dalai Lama in 1518 and declared his chief residence/governmental palace until the inauguration of
Potala Palace
Potala Palace ( Tibetan: པོ་ཏ་ལ་ཕོ་བྲང Chinese: 布达拉宫) is the name of a museum in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China, built in the ''dzong''-style. It was previously a palace of t ...
by the 5th Dalai Lama.
Recent events
Almost half of the older monastic buildings was destroyed after the Chinese arrived in Lhasa in 1951. The chief buildings including the four colleges, the Tsokchen, and the Dalai Lamas' residence were preserved.
The first reported demonstration during the
2008 Tibetan uprising anniversary was on 10 March 2008, when a group of 300-400 monks from Drepung monastery marched to
Lhasa
Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China.
Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...
's center demanding religious freedom and the release of Drepung monks arrested a year earlier. Chinese police blocked their route, and a sitting protest began. Reportedly, some monks were thrown to the ground and kicked,
and up to 60 monks were arrested.
Drepung monastery was under siege four days later by Chinese forces, on 14 March 2008. Reports state forces had blocked off water, electricity, food and health facilities in Drepung Monastery and at other monasteries active in the demonstrations, including Ganden and Sera monasteries. As a consequence, monks were suffering starvation.
After the 7 April 2008 foreign press tour by Chinese authorities, 80 monks had disappeared from Drepung
[Nirmala Carvalho, ''More than a thousand monks and many civilians have disappeared since the March crackdown'', 29 September 2009), http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=13322&geo=6&size=A] and two from Labrang had disappeared for speaking out to reporters.
The International Herald Tribune reported that Drepung Monastery reopened in 2013 after being shut for five years.
Gallery
File:Young monks of Drepung.jpg, Young monks debating at Drepung
File:Monks in the great assembly hall at Drepung Monastery, Tibet.jpg, Monks in the great assembly hall, 2006
File:Monks chanting, Drepung monastery, Tibet.webm, Monks chanting, 2013
File:Drepung_Loseling_Monastery_(Karnataka_-_India)_(33561248421).jpg, Thanka
A ''thangka'' (; Tibetan: ཐང་ཀ་; Nepal Bhasa: पौभा) is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala. Thangkas are traditionally kept unframed and rolled up ...
s painted on the walls of Drepung
File:Drepung monastery kitchen.jpg, Monastery kitchen, 2013
File:Ganden Phodrang.JPG, Ganden Phodrang, the Dalai Lama's residence
File:Destroyed buildings at Drepung, 1993.jpg, Destroyed buildings at Drepung, 1993
File:Drepung Loseling Monastery Temple (Karnataka - India) (32877229023).jpg, Drepung monastery in Mundgod, India
Footnotes
References
* Dorje, Gyurme. (1999). ''Footprint Tibet Handbook with Bhutan''. 2nd Edition. Footprint Handbooks. Bath, England. .
* Dowman, Keith. (1988). ''The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide''. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and New York.
*von Schroeder, Ulrich. 2001. ''Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet''. Vol. One: ''India & Nepal''; Vol. Two: ''Tibet & China''. (Volume One: 655 pages with 766 illustrations; Volume Two: 675 pages with 987 illustrations). Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Publications, Ltd. . ’Bras spungs («drepung») monastery: pp. 550, 705, 715, 830, 1004, 1005. bKra shis sgo mang grwa tshang («tashi gomang dratsang»), p. 824; Pls. 196A, 196B; Blo gsal gling grwa tshang («losaling dratsang»), p. 1005; Fig. XVI–4; Mi ’khrugs lha khang («mintrug lhakhang»), p. 824; Pls. 196A, 196B.
External links
Bras-spungs monastery, Tibet, ChinaEncyclopædia Britannica
Official Website of Drepung Gomang MonasteryA multimedia guide to DrepungDrepung Loseling Institute in North AmericaDrepung: An Introduction by Georges Dreyfus (April 10, 2006)The Gomang College home pageTibet Lhasa Drepung Monastery Tour Blog by ChrisDrepung Loseling video tour in 2006, Tibetan settlement in Mundgod, India
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Buildings and structures completed in 1416
15th-century Buddhist temples
Chengguan District, Lhasa
Buddhist temples in Tibet
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Religious organizations established in the 1410s
Buddhist monasteries in Lhasa
Gelug monasteries
Articles containing video clips
Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Tibet
1950s establishments in Mysore State
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