Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MONASTERIES IN TIBET
The great Gelugpa monasteries of Drepung, Sera and Ganden, collectively known as the
densa chenmo sum,once operated like self-contained worlds. Drepung alone, the largest
of these monasteries, was home to around 10,000 monks at the time of the Chinese
takeover in 1951. Like the other major Gelugpa institutions, Drepung operated less as a
single unit than as an assembly of colleges, each with its own interests, resources and ad-
ministration.
The colleges, known as tratsangor dratsang,were (and still are) in turn made up of
kangtsang(residences). A monk joining a monastic college was assigned to a kangtsang
according to the region in which he was born. For example, it is thought that 60% of
monks at Drepung's Loseling College were from Kham, while Gomang College was dom-
inated by monks from Amdo and Mongolia. This gave the monastic colleges a distinctive
regional flavour and meant that loyalties were generally grounded much deeper in the
colleges than in the monastery itself.
At the head of a college was the khenpo(abbot),a position that was filled by con-
tenders who had completed the highest degrees of monastic studies. The successful ap-
plicant was chosen by the Dalai Lama. Beneath the abbot was a group of religious leaders
who supervised prayer meetings and festivals, and a group of economic managers who
controlled the various kangtsangestates and funds. There was also a squad of huge
monks known as dob-dobs,who were in charge of discipline and administering punish-
ments.
In the case of the larger colleges, estates and funds were often extensive. Loseling Col-
lege had over 180 estates and 20,000 serfs who worked the land and paid taxes to the
monastery. Monasteries were involved in many forms of trade. For the most part, these
holdings were not used to support monks - who were often forced to do private business
to sustain themselves - but to maintain an endless cycle of prayer meetings and festivals
that were deemed necessary for the spiritual good of the nation.
Sights
Sera Me College
BUDDHIST, CHAPEL
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MAP
