Sera Monastery

Although sera temple is not as grand and colorful as Drepung temple, it has the most famous Sutra debate ceremony in Tibet. The debate was held in the northernmost debate Hall of the temple. There are so many people watching the Sutra debate that they can take a good place if they arrive early.

Many old murals are preserved in the palaces of sera temple. It's better to bring a flashlight or a headlamp for easy appreciation. In addition, Lhasa's celestial burial platform is on the mountain behind the sera temple. However, the road to heaven burial platform is very hard, and in order to respect the customs of local people, the Tibetan government does not allow tourists to watch.

Although you can't see the sky burial, there is a nearby rock field worth visiting, from which you can take a panoramic view of Lhasa. It is recommended to go when the night falls, because the night scene is more charming at that time. It's on the hillside of serawuzi mountain in duodi township. Drive straight along duodi road. Turn at the intersection of duodi township. At the small bridge across Liusha River, it winds up along the path. The mountain road is narrow and has many sharp turns. Pay attention to safety.

Sera Monastery

Sala temple is one of the six main temples of Gelug Sect in Tibetan Buddhism. Together with Drepung temple and Gandan temple, it is the latest one in Lhasa. Sera temple is a national key cultural relic protection unit. It is located at the foot of serawuzi mountain, 3km away from the northern suburb of Lhasa, surrounded by willow forests. It has been the place where eminent monks and living Buddhas preach Buddhist scriptures since ancient times. There are many small monasteries surrounded by them. To the East and south of the temple are pubujue temple, miqiongreniku temple, gongbasa temple, pabengang temple, Zhaxi Qulin temple, Qusang temple and Gali nun temple. Behind the temple are Zhukang temple Rique, salaqueding temple and so on.

In the 17th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (1419), it was built by jiangqinquejie, a disciple of zongkaba, and was completed in the 9th year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty (1434). Later, Jiang qinquejie was called to Beijing and was granted the title of great benevolent Fawang. After returning to Tibet, he collected the imperial Scripture statues in the temple, which still exist today. In the temple, there are three kinds of warehouses (sutras), namely, stuttering, maiba and ABA. In its heyday, there were more than 8000 monks in the temple, which was slightly smaller than the Drepung temple.

There are tens of thousands of Vajra Buddha statues in sera temple, most of which are made locally in Tibet. There are also many bronze Buddha statues brought from the mainland or India. A large number of original color murals are preserved on the four walls of the main hall and gezhacang Sutra hall. The most famous statue is the "horse head Ming king" statue in the main hall.

Ganzhuer, the first Tibetan Edition of Tibetan Scripture in 1410 of Yongle eighth year in Tibet Autonomous Region, was awarded by Emperor Yongle. It is well preserved up to now, reflecting the jurisdiction of the central government of Ming Dynasty over Tibet.

There is Miaoyin hall in sera temple. The main buildings are tsoqin (assembly hall), jizacang, maizacang, abazacang and 32 Kang villages. The early architecture centered on maizhacang and abazhacang, and then it was renovated and expanded in successive dynasties, so there was no overall plan for the plane layout. However, the architecture of sera temple is dense but not crowded, miscellaneous but not disordered. It adapts measures to local conditions, and the main body is prominent, which reflects the unique style of Gelug temple. It is completely a religious city.

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Main buildings

Tsoqin Hall

The main hall of tsochin is the largest Hall of Sera Monastery, and also the management center of religious affairs of Sera Monastery. In 1710, it was built under the direct support of lazang Khan, a descendant of Gushi Khan (1582-1654), who came to power from 1705-1717. The main hall is located in the northeast of the sera temple. It is four stories high and consists of the square in front of the hall, the Sutra hall and five Lacan (Buddha Hall). The square in front of the hall is covered with rubble, covering an area of about 2000 square meters. The front door of the hall faces due south. The front door is a double row of 10 columns, and the walls of which are painted with four statues of heavenly kings. There are 89 long columns and 36 short columns, covering an area of nearly 2000 square meters. In the center of the Sutra hall, a long column is used to raise the patio for daylighting. The original owner of the temple offered Sakyamuni, but also lost the statue.

After the death of the seventh Dalai Lama (gesangjiacuo), a 5-meter-high gilded bronze statue of Qiangba Buddha was made for the east side. In addition, there are three statues of zongkaba teachers and disciples, gerujiancai sangbu, dojerangjue and other Gelug monks, as well as a Zunsheng tower. The gilded bronze statue of Qiangba Buddha is exquisitely shaped. It sits on the double lion xumizuo, feet on the lotus seat, hands on the wheel of Dharma. It has a perfect face and a serene look. There are three Buddhist halls at the back of the Sutra Hall: the Qiangba Buddhist hall is in the middle, which is for the main statue of Qiangba Buddha in the tsoqin hall. It is tall (about 6 meters high), with the body on the first floor and the head on the second floor. The Qiangba face Buddha Hall is backlit by the combination of round sculptures of divine bird, Capricorn fish, Dragon Girl, etc., with vivid image and exquisite carving. On both sides of the statue of Qiangba, there are painted statues of eight Bodhisattvas (also known as "eight followers of Buddha"), namely Manjusri Bodhisattva, Maitreya Bodhisattva, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Puxian Bodhisattva, Dashi Bodhisattva, void Bodhisattva, dizang Bodhisattva and Jiegai Bodhisattva, and two images of fury.

On the high Sutra shelf near the south wall is a collection of 105 sutras (originally 108) of Ganzhuer, which was presented to Sakyamuni by Emperor Chengzu of Ming Dynasty in 1410. This sutra is the first Tibetan printed version of Buddhist sutra, which occupies an important position in the study of Chinese version and printing history. On the west side of Qiangba Buddha is Luohan hall. In the center of the hall is the Buddha statue of Sakyamuni. On both sides are statues of sixteen Arhats and four heavenly kings, all painted with clay. The 16th arhat was originally a wooden statue brought by Sakyamuni from the mainland, but later came a clay sculpture and placed it in the belly of the clay statue. The statue basically retains the original Ming Dynasty style. On the east side of Qiangba Buddha Hall is the great Weide Hall (jiejilakan), which is mainly used for 11 statues of Vajra and ox head. In addition, there are also statues of Yihu God, bairam (auspicious heavenly daughter), langseduowen heavenly king and other Dharma protectors. On both sides of the hall, there are sutras.

On the second floor of the main hall of tsoqin, there are two monks' houses. In the middle of the rear is the hall of Qiangba's face Buddha. On both sides of the statue are gongrujianzan sangbu pagoda, jiediquji village pagoda and a Zunsheng pagoda. On both sides of the Buddha Hall is the mercy hall, with a very small area. It is mainly used for Avalokitesvara with thousands of hands and eyes, as well as bronze statues such as Tara and six arm diamond. On the third and fourth floors are the living rooms of khenbuchiba (fatai) in the main hall of tsoqin, the places where the Sutra hall and "Raji" (the management organization of Sera Monastery) are public places, and the living rooms of Dalai Lama when he comes to the monastery to lecture. There is a roof truss on the top of the four floors, crowned with a Xieshan style golden roof. On the ridge of the roof are decorated with treasure plates, pearls, inverted buildings, human bodies and sacred birds. Four corners are decorated with the head of Capricorn fish. Under the golden roof, the form of Dougong in the mainland is used to support the eaves, which adds to the religious atmosphere of the hall.

Jizhacang

Jizhacang is the largest ZHACANG in sera temple, with an area of 1702 square meters, second only to the tsoqin hall. It was first built in 1435 by gongjiuluozhen Renqin Seng Ge. Renqin Sangge was a post Tibetan. When he was young, he became a teacher by worshiping Sakya. Later, he learned Xianjiao and mithrism from zongkaba, and built jizacang as the first Abbot according to zongkaba's wishes. Jizhacang, four stories high, has 100 pillars in the Sutra hall alone. Thangkas, umbrellas and draperies are hung all over the hall. The walls around the hall are painted with biographies of Sakyamuni and various statues of Dharma protectors.

There are many pagodas and statues in the north of the hall. There are many pagodas and statues in the north of the hall. From the east to the west, they are the second descending Silver Pagoda, Deqin xibalanbu (famous gexi) pagoda, chiqin luosangzhaxi (Chiba of Gandan Temple), zadiqinjiu qiangbaitrizhen (famous gexi) pagoda, zanbwa luosangjianzan (the 28th Division) pagoda, dazmiwang awanqutan (the first generation of Rezhen living Buddha), the first generation of zadiqusan living Buddha pagoda, and chiqin Dan BA raojie (the second generation of rejuvenated living Buddha) pagoda. Among them are the eighth Dalai Lama (qiangbaijiacuo), the Thirteenth Dalai Lama (tudengjiacuo), the second and ninth Rezhen Living Buddhas, as well as some famous statues of eminent monks and living Buddhas in jizacang. There are five Buddhist halls in the West and north of the Sutra Hall: the third Buddha Hall is located on the west side, which is dedicated to the past, present and future The statue of laisan Buddha and bazai Bodhisattva; the horse head Vajra Hall (Dazhen Lacan), which is built by Luozhen Renqin, founder of jizhacang, and the statues of Yihu God, fury God and other Dharma protectors. There are many ferocious masks on the beams, columns and walls, which are extremely terrifying; the hall of Qiangba Buddha is mainly for Qiangba Buddha, eleven Guanyin and other statues; the hall of zongkaba is mainly for zongkaba master, and there are also statues The Miaoyin Hall (jiashilakan) is located in the northeast corner of the Sutra hall, mainly for Miaoyin bronze statue.

There are two Buddha halls on the second floor of jizhacang: the face Hall (xierakang) on the west side is for the face of jizhacang's God of protection, Ma tougang; the Guanyin Hall (jianre salakang) on the east side is for the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva. There is also a Zunsheng hall on the third floor (longjielacan), and the Buddha statues are no longer available. In the middle of the fourth floor is the bedroom where the Dalai Lama comes to preach, and on both sides are the houses of zacang Kanbu (Abbot) and other administrators.

Maizhacang

Maizacang is an early building of Sera Monastery. Founded in 1419, Sakyamuni was the founder of the temple. It is said that the first hall was destroyed by lightning and rebuilt by Gongqin qiangqupengba in 1761. It covers an area of 1620 square meters. There are 8 long pillars and 62 short pillars in the Sutra hall, which are mainly used for the bronze statues of Shibian nuns. The statues on both sides are the future Buddha, wuliangshou Buddha, pharmacist Buddha, Miaoyin Bodhisattva, three masters and disciples of zongkaba, the seventh Bodhisattva, three masters and disciples of zongkaba, the seventh Dalai Lama, the third generation of living Buddha of cemelin (gongjuedan bejianzan), and papangka living Buddha.

There are four shrines on the north side of the Sutra Hall: the most western one is the Dharma protection Temple (teulakang), which is mainly for the Dharma protection god "tewu". Tewu is placed in the shrine in the hall and only shows his upper body. The door of the shrine is carved with a pair of human skeletons dancing in the clouds, and the door is carved with a pair of human skeletons

Chinese PinYin : Se La Si