Kumbum Monastery travel information, ticketing info, transportation

Ta’er monastery is another name of Kumbum Monastery which is also called “Little Tower Temple”. It was founded in 1583 in a narrow valley close to the village of Lusar of Huangzhong District in the historical region of Amdo, approximately 20 kilometers southwest of Xining.

Brief

The place where this monastery is located is the birthplace of Tsongkhapa, the founder of Gelug Pa. It now has more than thirty temples and a thousand or so houses there.

Meaning of Kumbum

“Kumbum” is translated as “100,000 enlightening bodies of the Buddha” in Tibetan. It is named after the 100,000 images of the Buddha Sinhanada that appear on the leaves of the holy sandalwood tree. “Jampaling” is translated as “Maitreya Cloister.” in Tibetan. This refers to the Maitreya temple built by Rinchen-tsondru-gyeltsen to the right of the precious tree.

Monk students

There are about 400 monks live and study in his monastery. Among of them, 300 are at the Debate College and the rest are distributed evenly among the other three colleges. Traditionally, the majority of the Kumbum monks have been Tibetans from Amdo. The remainder have been Khalkha Mongols from Inner Mongolia , Upper Mongols from Amdo east of Kumbum or Yugurs from Gansu.

Situation

Kumbum is still a major pilgrimage for Vajrayana believers and scholars. The Arjia tulkus are traditionally given the position of abbot of Kumbum. The Kumbum monastery is still very much a repository of Tibetan culture and art, including various sculptures, statues and religious artifacts.