Sanga Monastery is a small

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

monastery located in the town of Dagzê in Dagzê County, Lhasa, Tibet.

Location

Sanga Monastery is located in the center of the old city of Dagzê. The temple grounds cover about , and the building covers . The

Lhasa River The Lhasa River, also called Kyi Chu (, ), is a northern tributary of the Yarlung Tsangpo River in the south of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The Yarlung Tsangpo is the upper section of the Brahmaputra River. The Lhasa River is subject to ...

can be seen from the rear of the monastery. Diagonally above the monastery on the hillside are the ruins of a hilltop fort. This is the ruin of Dagtse Dzong, or Dechen Dzong. ''Dzong'' means "fort".

History

The monastery was built by

Je Tsongkhapa Tsongkhapa ('','' 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 formation of the Gelug school of Tibetan B ...

in 1419. It is part of the

Gelug 240px, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Bodh_Gaya.html" ;"title="Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya">Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous")Kay, David N. (2 ...

sect, and is under the jurisdiction of

Ganden Monastery Ganden Monastery (also Gaden or Gandain) or Ganden Namgyeling or Monastery of Gahlden is one of the "great three" Gelug university monasteries of Tibet. It is in Dagzê County, Lhasa. The other two are Sera Monastery and Drepung Monastery. Ga ...

. At its height there were one hundred monks in residence. During the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated go ...

the temple lost many artifacts, and buildings were destroyed. In November 1986 the monastery was re-opened after repairs. In 2012 there were over thirty monks in residence. That year a bathhouse was installed for the first time. The monastery has a greenhouse. File:Sanga Monastery roof - Dhvarja.jpg, Roof of Sanga Monastery File:Dhvaja, roof of Sanga monastery.jpg, ''

Dhvaja Dhvaja (Sanskrit also ध्वज; ) , meaning banner or flag, is composed of the Ashtamangala, the "eight auspicious symbols". In Hinduism Dhvaja in Hinduism or vedic tradition takes on the appearance of a high column (dhvaja-stambha) erec ...

'' (Victory banner), Roof of Sanga Monastery File:Lobsang Gyatso.jpg, Statue of the

5th Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was the 5th Dalai Lama and the first Dalai Lama to wield effective temporal and spiritual power over all Tibet. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being a key religious and temporal leader ...

, Lobsang Gyatso

References

Sources

* * * * {{Buddhist monasteries in Tibet Buddhist monasteries in Lhasa (prefecture-level city) Buddhist temples in Tibet Gelug monasteries Religion in Lhasa Dagzê County