Palcho Monastery

Chinese name: 白居寺(Bai Ju Si)
Location: Northwest of Gyantse, Shigatse arae, Tibet.
Ticket: Entrance Ticket CNY60.00
Estimated tour time: 1-2 hours
Recommended time to visit: May to Oct.
Nearby attractions: Karola Glacier, Yamdrok Lake,Tashihunpo Monastery, etc.

Palcho Monastery, also called Palkhor Monastery is a typical combined building with stupa and temple, and quite different from other Tibetan monasteries in more aspects, the high red-walled compound in the far north of Gyantse houses Palcho Monastery, founded in 1418.

This was once a compound of 15 monasteries that brought together three different orders of Tibetan Buddhism – a rare instance of multi-denominational tolerance. By housing three sects of Sakyapa, Kadampa and Gelugpa together, it has a hard-won lenient tolerance among the Tibetan sects to balance them well.

As a fusion of Han, Tibetan and Nepali architecture, this monastery is a three-storey flattop building complex, consisting of Temples, Stupas, Zhacangs, Fort walls, Wheel-prayer cloister and more religious sites. Cuoqin Hall of over 500 years’ history, is the main building and center of this monastery for the monk assembly and other Buddhism issues. By combined the three sects, the Buddha statues here has a different style from other temples here.

Architecturally, Pelkhor monastery is a fusion of Han, Tibetan and Nepali architecture.The most striking architecture in the complex, a symbol of Gyantse, is the Bodhi Dagoba, popularly called as the 'Kumbum'. It is a 32 metres high structure, a nine-tier building with 108 gates , and 76 chapels and shrines; out of the nine floors, the first five are square in shape while the rest are circular giving it a pyramidal appearance. It is also given the name “the Ten Thousand Buddha Pagodas”, as it has enshrined about ten thousand figures of Buddhas as images and murals. It has hundred chapels overlapping each other, which is called the 'tower upon tower' structure. The chapels have the finest display of Tibetan art in "vibrant colour and naturalistic style"; in the faces of the murals Chinese images are discerned. Three Buddhist sects namely, Sakyapa, Kadampa and Gelugpa are represe.

Whether you come for Tibetan architecture art or the deep Tibetan religious culture, Palcho Monastery with different Buddhist sculptures, religion murals, monastery architectures can give you more than just you want to explore.