Xigaze - Tashi Lhunpo Monastery

(Local Name: Zhashilunbu Si) On the southern edge of town lies the Monastery of Tashihunpo (Mount of Eternal Blessing), built in 1447 and for a long time the place where the Panchen Lamas performed their political and religious tasks.

The complex of buildings, extended several times in the 17th and 18th C and measuring 15ha/37.5acres in area, houses a giant statue of the Buddha which stands 26m/85ft tall and is cast entirely in bronze. The monastery also includes several silvered dagobs (conical shrines) each containing the mortal remains of a Panchen Lama. Note particularly the magnificent wall-paintings in the chapel of the first Dalai Lama.