Tsedang རྩེ་ཐང།

Yumbulhakhang is the first Palace in Tibet. Yet many books and websites say it is the first house in Tibet. But historical records clearly show we have houses in before that. Once when the person from the unknown place was selected to be the king of Yarlung valley, the locals built a palace for him and that is Yumbulhakhang.

According to Tibetan Bon Text, the palace was built in the second century BC for the first king of Tibet, The Nyatri Tsenpo. who is believed to have descended from heaven? but some scholar in India believes a prince from north India has fled to the Mount Kailash region after losing the battle in the Mahabharata war.

Later during the rule of Songsten Gampo’s grandfather Lha Tho Thori Nyantsen time. it is said to have that some Buddhist relic has fallen from the sky on the roof of the Yumbulhakhang. This marks the beginning of the arrival of Buddhism in Tibet. The relics were the Golden Stupa, a jewel and a sutra which no one could read that time. at the same time, the voice from sky announced, “In five generations one shall come that understands its meaning!”.

The Yumbulhakhang then become a shine after the capital was moved to Lhasa. during the reign of fifth Dalai Lama, the shine of Yumbulhakhang was converted into the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

They were the major reconstruction of the palace in 1983. You might interest in visiting the small piece of land below the Yarlung. the land is called Zortang. This is the place where the grains of the Kings are cultivated. It is said that kings would eat grains only from this field. Many Tibetans would bring a sample of soil from this field to their field with the belief of having a good harvest.

Traduk Monastery was built in the Seventh century by Songtsen Gampo. When the Nepalese wife of Songtsen Gampo wants to build a temple for the Buddha statue she brought to Tibet as a dowry. She seeks the help of the Chinese Princess Wencheng in seek astrological predictions on where to build the temple. On her calculations, she found that underneath the Tibet, there is a huge supine ogress and There must be temple build all over the Tibet to hold down the ogress. Songtsen Gampo builds temples for suppressing the focal point of the ogress. with Jokhang on the Heart.

The spot, where the Temple is build was a lake inhabited by a dragon with five heads. Songtsen Gampo using his meditative power called a falcon to defeat the dragon. The Falcon defeats the dragon and drank all the water so that the temple can be built. this legendary story is well explained by the name of the Temple. Tra means falcon and Druk mean the dragon.

The temple was later destroyed during the reign of Lang-Dharma and Mongols invasion. the temple was later renovated and expanded by the fifth Dalai Lama.

The main relics of the Temple is the Thangka of Avalokitesvara embroidered with thousands of pearls. It is said to have made by the Princess Wencheng. this is one of three Thangkha made by her. other relics are the speaking statue of Tara.

While you are Traduk temple you will find lots of stall outside the temple selling products made by Tibetan local Jade.

Samye Monastery in Tsedang its longer Name is called Samye Mingyur Lhunki Drupye TsuklaKhang. The monastery is in the Dranang county in Lhoka prefecture, it lies on the northern side of the Yarlung Tsangpo river.

Samye monastery was built in the mid-eighth century by Tresong Detsen. He invites Santarakita and Padmasambhava from India to revitalize? Buddhism in Tibet. Santarakita was first invited to Tibet but he could not subdue the rebellious Bon practitioners and Later Padmasambhava was invited to do the task. Initially, the Santarakita tries to build a Monastery on the auspicious Samye site. But the walls would always collapse after reaching a certain point. this makes local believe there was a demon nearby making the trouble. Later Padmasambhava was invited and he subdues the demons and the construction was complete with the help of the demon. the construction of the monastery took about three years.

After the constructions of the monastery and subdue of the rebellious Bon practitioner, This gives a new beginning to the Buddhism in Tibet. Later seven boys ordain the monkhood by Padmasambhava. those are the first Tibetan Buddhist monks. The monastery is the first Buddhist institution in Tibet.

The architecture of the monastery is base on the architecture of Odantapuri in modern-day Bihar of India. The monastery where Santarakita belongs. The design represents the three-dimensional mandala of Buddhist cosmology. At the centre of the Tibetan Buddhist universe lies a mythical palace on top of Mt. Meru, which in Samye is symbolized by the main temple (Utse). Surrounding this is a great “ocean”, with 4 great island-continents, and 8 subcontinents.

At the left of the Samye Monastery, there is a stone pillar erected by the Trisong Detsen. Letter on the pillar proclaims Buddhism as a state religion on the Tibetan empire. Before deciding which type of religion should Tibetan follow. King Tresong Detsen, preside a popular Samye Debate between Chinese Buddhist and Indian Buddhist. Indian Buddhist won the debate and hence becoming the principal preacher of Buddhism in Tibet.

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