Songzanlin Monastery (Part I) || You're really having a blast!

Address: No. 3, Niwang Road, Jiantang Town, Shangri-La City, Yunnan Province Ganden Songzanlin Monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan Province and is also one of the famous large monasteries in the Kham area. It is also the center of the Gelug (Yellow) sect of Tibetan Buddhism in the Sichuan-Yunnan region and holds a pivotal position throughout the Tibetan area, earning it the nickname 'Little Potala Palace'. The monastery is built against a mountain and resembles an ancient castle, embodying the pinnacle of Tibetan artistic architecture and is also known as the 'Tibetan Art Museum'. The monastery is also known as Guihua Monastery and is located 5 kilometers from the town of Zhongdian. It is a group of ancient castle-like buildings on the scale of an old town. Construction began in the year 1679 (the 11th year of the Tibetan calendar, the year of the Earth Sheep) and was completed in 1681 (the year of the Iron Rooster). The Fifth Dalai Lama personally bestowed the name 'Ganden Songzanlin'.