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Shigatse - Tibet
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Shigatse: Shigatse
(altitude 3,900 meters) lies some 274
kilometers to the west of Lhasa and is
Tibet’s second largest city. The highway
runs alongside the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra)
river passing through narrow gorges and
broad river valleys. Farmers plowing their
fields with yaks, sheep grazing on the vast
plains, awesome sand dunes and rocky hills
in the distance are the scenic rewards of
this journey. The Tashilhunpo Monastery,
built in 1447 by the first Dalai Lama, is
Shigatse’s most important cultural and
religious site. the main chapel here contain
images of Shakyamuni (the present Buddha),
white and green taras and embalmed bodies of
past Panchain Lamas. |
| Places
of interest in and around Shigatse |
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Tashilumpo Monastery:
Founded in 1447 by Dendun Drup, the first Dalai
Lama. Tashilumpo is the largest monastery in
Ulterior Tibet, and one of the four main monasteries
of the Gelugpa Sector. It covers nearly 300,000
square meters It is the seat of the Panchen Lama who
is second to the Dalai Lama in Tibetan Buddhist
hierarchy. The 05 the Dalai Lama declared that his
teacher, then the Abbot of Tashilumpo, was a
manifestation of the Buddha Amitabha and the fourth
in line of incarnate Lamas who would henceforth be
referred to by the title of Panchen Rinpoche,
Tashilumpo has one of the world’s largest statues
(26 m. high) gilded bronze statue of Maitriya, of
the future Buddha. |
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Shakya Monastery: Lies 143km to the southwest
of Shigatse. Shakya monastery, the center of the
Shakya order of Tibetan Buddhism, was founded in
1073 by Knochok Gyalpo. During the rule of the
Shakyapa the priest patron relationship between
Tibet and China was established. Shakyapa rulers
reigned over Tibet for nearly a Hundred years from
13th-14th century. Many of its priceless images,
frescos, statues holy scriptures remaining today
date back to the time of its founding. |
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