Top Things to do in Dranang County
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9 Sights & Landmarks in Dranang County That You Shouldn't Miss
Discover the best top things to do in Dranang County, China including Samye Monastery (Sangye Si), Qingpu Ashram, Minzhulin Temple, Zhatang Temple, Kangsong Sangkalin Palace, Songka Stone Pagoda, Nangselin Manor, Zhisang Palace, Zhama, Sangye Scenic Attraction.
1. Samye Monastery (Sangye Si)
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 61 reviews
Samye Monastery, Tibetan’s first monastery and first college, locates in Shannan Region. It was constructed by the King Trisong Detsen of the Tubo Kingdom, and the monastery was also presided over by the Buddhist master Padmasambhava or Gulug Rinpoche. Detsen took part in the foundation ceremony and later he ordained seven descendants of blue blood to cultivate the monastery. They were called ‘Seven Enlighten Disciples of Samye’. Since then, Buddhism has widespread within Tibetan plateau. Samye was destroyed several times by civil war, fire and earthquakes respectively. Today, only partially of its original 108 buildings survive or have been rebuilt.
Reviewed By alokshukla78 - Cupertino, United States
It is not easy to visit Samye monastery as a foreigner. You must have an "alien" pass in addition to the Tibet permit. You need to personally visit police headquarters of nearby county along with your tour guide to acquire this pass. Although it was finally a simple enough exercise, yet for the first time it comes across as intimidating. This being our first travel outside of Lhasa was especially made special by the sight of Yarlung Tsangpo or Brahmaputra as it is called in India. This was our first time in our lifetime to see mighty Brahmaputra river in all its majesty. Samye is now easily accessible through road. In the pass it required a boat ride across Brahmaputra to visit the monastery. Monastery itself was calm and had a serene experience about it. Burnt during cultural revolution, it has pretty much been revived to its former glory. It has three floors - each inspired by a different architecture - Chinese, Tibetan and the top floor being Indian. It has a nominally functioning restaurant with Ok food. We found local Tibetans playing a version of Indian chaupad game with loud voices and engaged mannerism. The visitor traffic was mild, and one can visit Samye at leisure. While the ground floor is accessible to all, first and second floor require one to climb very steep stairs. Samye itself has many age-old Buddhist artifacts, statues, ornaments and a major collection of manuscripts. At least a couple of Tibetan Lamas walked to us with a humble “Namaste” grateful for the undying cultural ties between Tibet and India. Whenever I go back to Tibet, Samye is on my list of things to visit again. I still feel the calmness and serenity that radiated out of Samye.
2. Qingpu Ashram
3. Minzhulin Temple
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 5 reviews
Founded by Rigzin Terdak Lingpa in 1676, Mindrolling Monastery is one of the six major monasteries of Nyingma School in Tibet. In Tibetan language, Mindrolling means ‘Palace of Perfect Emancipation’. It is located in Zhanang County, Shannan Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. In 1718,the Monastery faced a heavily damage by Dzungar Mongols, then it was rebuilt during the period of the Seventh Dalai Lama, Kelzang Gyatso (1708 – 1757). Terdak Lingpa’s daughter and son supervised its reconstruction together. For nearly 300 years, the Mindrolling is used as the Monostic University that trained Nyingma scholars and yogis over Tibet. At Mindrolling, learners need to focus on learning Buddhist scriptures, astronomy, Tibetan lunar calendar, rhetoric and Traditional Tibetan medicine and so on.
