Travel Notes II Lhasa Drepung Monastery

The full name of Drepung Temple is "Auspicious Rice Gathers in Ten Directions Zunshengzhou". It is the largest of the six major temples of the Yellow Sect.

Drepung Monastery literally translates as "snow-white rice piled high". Legend has it that Tsongkhapa's disciple Qiangyang Qujie and his eight disciples crossed the Lhasa River in a cowhide boat to come here.

In order to choose the best location to build the temple, he lit three butter lamps in three directions of the mountain. A gust of wind passed by, but only the middle lamp always stayed on.

So this auspicious treasure place was chosen. It now seems that Qiangyang Qujie is quite knowledgeable in the art of finding dragons and tapping acupoints, and is well versed in Feng Shui, which is why Drepung Temple has flourished to this day.

The mother of all buildings in Drepung Monastery is called Qiangyang Lhakhang. It is the first building of Drepung Monastery. The story about this foundation laying is that Qiangyang Qujie lost a stone when he was going down the mountain. When he met a shepherdess, the stone When he stood up, he thought that this was the reincarnation of the Dakini, so he chose this place, which is full of mysterious religious colors.

I entered Drepung Monastery twice because I forgot to bring my ID card the first time. Although Tibetan New Year tickets are free, you still need to swipe your ID card. In order not to come here in a hurry and return disappointed, the little girl in the teahouse recommended me to go to the nearby Naiqiong Temple. Then I asked the children playing on the roadside if there was a road that could be entered without going through the gate. The child pointed to the winding road above. The highway said, just walk up. I don't believe it.

The next day, when I came with my ID card, there was a ticket fee. It was the fifth day of the Lunar New Year and it cost 60 yuan. It was a ticket that didn’t even work with a student ID card. After entering the gate, you have to take a van up the mountain, which costs about 5 yuan per person. After arriving at the temple gate, we finally started climbing. It was such a tired and beautiful paradise.

Buddha Bathing Festival

Walking in Drepung Monastery, apart from the many cows, dogs and cats, another thought is: there are many birds here, some people say they are crows or vultures. Speaking of vultures, some people want to see sky burials. In the three major temples in Lhasa, there is no sky burial ceremony to watch. It is said that it is in the remote Drigung Ti Temple and is not allowed to be watched. If you want to see a sky burial, there is a special sky burial platform in Seda, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan, but it will be surrounded by a curtain, so you can watch it from a distance.

In Drepung Monastery, there is a Buddha Exhibition Festival, also known as the Shoton Festival.

The Shoton Festival is a national festival for the Tibetan people in Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan and other provinces and regions. It is a national intangible cultural heritage. One of .

"Shoton" means yogurt feast. In Tibetan, "Snow" means yogurt seeds, and "Dun" means "eating" and "banquet". According to the Tibetan explanation, the Shoton Festival is a festival for eating yogurt seeds. Because there are Tibetan opera performances and Buddhist exhibition ceremonies during the Shoton Festival, some people also call it the "Tibetan Opera Festival" and "Buddha Exhibition Festival."

Every year in the seventh month of the Tibetan calendar, the grand Shoton Festival is held in Lhasa, and the largest ceremony is held in the courtyard of Ganden Phodrang.

The Shoton Festival originated from Drepung Monastery. Every year from June 15th to June 30th in the Tibetan calendar, all the monks in the monastery must sit in the monastery for the summer according to religious regulations and cannot go out at will to avoid trampling on the newly hatched larvae. During the "Sitting Summer" period, benefactors from the temple come to present yogurt to express their condolences and blessings.

When the fifth Dalai Lama was stationed at Drepung Monastery in Xixi, many Tibetan opera groups came to perform for the monks, thus forming a fixed festival, a festival for offering yogurt and performing Tibetan opera.

The Buddha exhibition platform in Drepung Monastery is the highlight. Every year tens of thousands of believers and lamas come here to pay their respects and worship.

June 30th in the Tibetan calendar is called "Drepung Shoton". In the early morning of this day, a huge satin statue of Sakyamuni Buddha, 30 meters long and 20 meters wide, was hung on the mountainside of Gengpei Uzi. Thousands of golden lights, this is "showing the Buddha" - the opening ritual of the Drepung Shoton Festival.

Then, blue mask and white mask Tibetan opera troupes from all over Tibet will perform Tibetan opera for the Dalai Lama and monks and lay officials in Ganden Phodrang. A solemn and solemn handover ceremony for the post of Tiebang Lama was held. By then, Drepung Monastery will be crowded with people and lively. This is also a major sight in Lhasa in summer.

Although I have never been there in person, I can still imagine the beautiful Drepung Monastery with the magnificent architecture in front of me and the commanding scenery on the top of the mountain. See you again.