Tour Guide, Lhasa, China
| 2 mins read
Samye Monastery - The First Monastery in Tibet
Samye Monastery was built in 762 when the great Tibetan emperor Trisong Detsen ruled Tibet. With the basic terms of Buddhism – Buddha, scriptures and monks – it is the first official Buddhist monastery in Tibet. For over 1,200 years of history, it is one of the most influential monasteries in Tibet. In this monastery, there was a famous debate about Buddhism between ancient Indian Buddhism and Chinese Buddhists. Sitting on the north-facing southward, and covers more than 25,000 square meters with a shape of a big oval, this monastery was built according to the description of the universe in Buddhist scriptures. Being famous for its featured architectural structure which combines features of Tibetan, Chinese and Indian, Samye Monastery symbolizes the center of the universe for tourists to explore the ancient heart of the Tibetan Buddhist world.
Samye Monastery means “unexpected and full of surprise” in Tibetan and its construction history is quite legendary. In the late 8th century, Trisong Detsen presided over a debate at Samye between Indian Buddhists and Chinese Zen Buddhists concerning which type of Buddhism should prevail in Tibet. The Indians won.
And in 762, Trisong Detsen built this monastery and took 12 years to complete in 775. During the construction period, he was eager to know the layout of this monastery, later the Padma Sambhava showed him the image from the palm, Trisong was so surprised about the grandiose building and shouted out the word “samye”, which was the origin of Samye Monastery and it was the first monastery in Tibet. Since then, the monastery has come under the influence of various sects, such as the Nyingma, Sakya, and Gelug traditions.
Facing south, Samye Monastery was built according to the Mandala design in Tibetan Buddhist Culture, in the layout of the central temple symbolizes the legendary Mount Meru, the center of the universe. Although it was rebuilt many times of destructions, the construction pattern still kept the beginning style, which can be reflected by the main 3-storey Wuzi Hall.