Atlas of China
Samye Monastery 桑耶寺Sāngyē Sì
4A scenic area · National heritage site · Shannan, Tibet
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Days to budget
- Half a day
- City
- Shannan
- Region
- Tibet
- Type
- Culture
- Listed as
- 4A scenic area, National heritage site
About Samye Monastery
Tibet's first Buddhist monastery, built in the 8th century under King Trisong Detsen with the Indian masters Shantarakshita and Padmasambhava, and the place where the first Tibetan monks were ordained. It is laid out as a three-dimensional mandala of the Buddhist universe: the central Utse hall, mixing Tibetan, Han Chinese and Indian styles, is ringed by four coloured stupas and a circular wall. About 500 metres to the south-west stands Khamsum Sangkhar Ling, a temple founded in the late 8th century whose four-storey main hall is second in size only to the Utse.
How to get to Samye Monastery
About an hour by road from Tsetang, on the north bank of the Yarlung Tsangpo; carry your passport for road checkpoints.
Nearby
- Jokhang Temple & Barkhor 大昭寺与八廓街 50 km
Tibet's holiest temple, ringed by the pilgrim circuit of the Barkhor - Potala Palace 布达拉宫 50 km
The red and white palace of the Dalai Lamas, rising in tiers above Lhasa
Also within 20 km: Songkar Stone Stupas 松卡石塔 (under 10 km), Namseling Manor 朗色林庄园 (10 km), Mindrolling Monastery 敏珠林寺 (20 km), Dratang Monastery 扎塘寺 (20 km).
On the map
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Open Samye Monastery on the map