Dranang Monastery

Dranang monastery is also called Dratang monastery, and just 2 kilometers away from Zhatang down which the monastery is located.

Dratang Monastery was founded in AD 1081 by Drapa Ngonshepa, one of the thirteen wise men of Zhanang County, and is the ancestral monastery of the Drapa sect founded by Drapa Ngonshepa.

Located in Zhatang Town, Zhanang County, this Sakya pa Tibetan Buddhist monastery is approximately 47 kilometers from Shannan City.

Dratang Monastery is one of the earlier constructions in Tibet, featuring unique style wall paintings that are not found elsewhere in Tibet except for the remnants at the same period in the Shalu Monastery. These precious historical artifacts hold great value for researching early Tibetan wall paintings, external influences, attire, and more.

Features

Dratang Monastery, originally named “Ngadan Dratsang,” where “Ngadan” means “five existences.”

These “five existences” are in comparison to the Samye Monastery, referring to five major advantages that the Samye Monastery lacks:

1. The width of the lower-level prayer corridor in the main hall of Dratang Monastery is wider than that of Samye Monastery (with an additional arch, approximately 0.9 meters wider).
2. The middle-level prayer corridor is adorned with wall paintings of a thousand buddha statues.
3. The lower level of the main hall symbolizes the Dragon King Drosi Gyan.
4. The middle level of the main hall symbolizes the Southern King Yo-gyanchen.
5. The upper level of the main hall symbolizes the Medicine King Rewala.

In “Debther Ngonpo: How Tibetan Buddhism Emerged and Spread in the Snowy Land,” it is documented: “In his seventies, around the year AD 1081, Dratang Monastery was founded by Drapa Ngonshepa. By the time of his passing, the main structure of Dratang Monastery was mostly completed. The remaining construction work was then carried out by Drapa Ngonshepa’s two nephews. In AD 1093, Dratang Monastery was officially completed, taking a total of thirteen years to construct.”

Brief

Dratang Monastery originally belonged to the “Lumei Sect,” a branch of the Sakya Pa

In the mid-11^th century, Dratang Monastery was recognized as an ancient monastery of the Kadam Sect.

By the mid-13^th century, the Sakya Dynasty ruled over all of Tibet, leading to the increasing power of the Sakya pa’s monasteries. Many monasteries of other sects were converted to the Sakya pa, including Dratang Monastery

In the 17^th century, during the invasion of Tibet by the Mongolian Jungar tribe, Dratang Monastery suffered severe damage.

In the 1930s, during the regency of the 5^th Reting Rinpoche in Tibet, Dratang Monastery underwent comprehensive renovations. The second and third floors of the main hall were demolished and rebuilt, and some pillars on the first floor were replaced.

In the 1940s, Tibetan government officials from the Kashag Regime visited the Zhanang area to investigate the operation of the monasteries, enforce discipline, and expel monks with families from the monasteries.

In the 1950s, after the democratic reforms in Tibet, Dratang Monastery became the seat of the People’s Government of Zhanang County.

During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, all the subsidiary buildings of Dratang Monastery were demolished. Only the ground floor of the main hall remained, which was used as a grain warehouse for Zhanang County for a long time.

It wasn’t until the summer of 1984 that the ground floor of the main hall was still being used as a grain warehouse by Zhanang County.

In the early 1990s, the grain was cleared from the central Buddha hall of the main hall, and the ground floor of the main hall entered the maintenance phase.

After 1995, the restoration of Dratang Monastery began, and the protection of the murals in the central Buddha hall of Dratang Monastery was also implemented by the local government.

In 1996, Dratang Monastery was designated as a key national cultural heritage site.

Architectures

The architecture of Dratang Monastery is constructed according to the layout of the Tibetan Buddhist esoteric Mandala.

Originally consisting of three concentric walls – inner, middle, and outer, the inner and middle walls were polygonal and used to have numerous ancillary buildings, most of which are no longer extant.

During the time of Drapa Ngonshepa, the outer wall was circular, but after his passing, his successor altered the northern section, causing the outer wall to become elliptical with a perimeter of 750 meters. Consequently, the main hall of Dratang Monastery is not positioned at the exact center of the outer wall but slightly off-center.

The main gate of the wall was originally located to the east, aligned with the main entrance of the main hall on the central axis. A moat was constructed outside the wall for defense purposes.

Within the polygonal inner wall, besides the main hall, there used to be several ancillary buildings: monks’ quarters, balconies, and Lhadrang to the east; Drolma Lakhang and Dunku Lakhang to the west; Gongbu Lakhang and Dundzen Lakhang to the south; and Avalokiteshvara Hall to the north.

Inside the middle wall, there are structures such as the summer chanting hall, storerooms, and kitchens.

Between the middle and outer walls, there are additional prayer halls and stupas. Some of the original bricks and glazed tiles of the stupas remain, showcasing high artistic value through animal and floral patterns despite the absence of inscriptions or symbols on them.

Main Hall

The Main Hall faces east, with an irregular “十” shape floor plan. Originally three stories high, only one story remains today as the other two were destroyed during the “Cultural Revolution” in the 1960s.

On the upper corners of the front walls of the Main Hall, there are exquisitely carved half-body wooden lions with fierce expressions.

The ground floor of the Main Hall consists mainly of a porch, a scripture hall, a Buddha hall, a corridor, and a hidden chamber.

The porch of the Main Hall has two square pillars, covering an area of 34.2 square meters (17.1 meters long from north to south and 2 meters wide from east to west). The murals depict the Four Heavenly Kings, the Buddha of Amitayus, the Happy Buddha, as well as animals like deer and elephants.

Unusually, there are small doors on both sides of the porch of the Main Hall.

The main door of the Buddha hall on the ground floor is a triple-arched wooden door, 6 meters wide and 5.8 meters high, with iron wire mesh in the middle of the door panels depicting Bodhisattvas and the Four Heavenly Kings, and three pairs of bronze lions inlaid above. The lintel is supported by brackets carrying the roof.

The Main Hall has 28 columns, mostly octagonal cypress wood columns with elaborate carvings on the tops.

Surrounding the Main Hall, there is a circumambulatory corridor with walls adorned with murals depicting primarily the Jataka tales of Shakyamuni Buddha, followed by images of a thousand Buddhas, the Buddha of Amitayus, donors, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, the Four Heavenly Kings, wrathful deities, mythical creatures, and more. The wrathful deities are particularly distinctive, depicted with red faces, long white beards, bare upper bodies, wearing short skirts tied around their waists, and holding various symbolic objects.

Inside the Buddha hall, the main statue is a clay sculpture of Sakyamuni Buddha, flanked by clay statues of the Eight Disciples and two Heavenly Kings. The statues are surrounded by murals, most of which are early works.

The Sakyamuni Buddha statue is 3.4 meters tall with a 1.4-meter-high lotus-shaped seat, and flame pattern on its head and a waistband-style backlight that reaches 3 meters at its widest point, coated with a layer of gold powder. Above the flame pattern are depictions of the “Peng-Luo”, consisting of seven divine images including a giant bird, conch shell, Makara fish, lotus, pillar, vase, and Bodhisattvas, with a graceful and vivid design. The Eight Disciples statues, each 3.5 meters tall, have peach-shaped halos 1.35 meters high surrounded by flame patterns in red, blue, and green circles with a black and white beaded band inside. The backlights of the two Heavenly King statues are flame patterns, 4.1 meters high, with the right side having sparse flames and the left side dense flames.

The Buddha hall houses many precious murals, divided into 10 groups, all depicting the Buddha preaching, with a focus on different hand gestures of Sakyamuni. The figures surrounding him are Indian, West Asian, and Chinese monks, depicted in a style typical of the period when the monastery was built. The paintings include images of Sakyamuni and various male and female figures adorned with flowers, lions, and more.

These murals, dating back to the late 11th century, are considered by Tibetan scholars to be the best-preserved and earliest examples of murals from the second dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism within Tibet.

Sutra Hall

The Sutra Hall is located outside the central Buddha Hall, with a 3-meter wide entrance adorned with two round bronze elephants on each of the two large doors.

The Sutra Hall has a width of 30 meters and a depth of 36 meters, supported by 20 pillars in octagonal (14 pillars) and square (6 pillars) shapes, all standing at a height of 3.9 meters, with 6 pillars reaching up to 6.7 meters, making its area several times larger than the central Buddha Hall.

The octagonal pillars are adorned with images of Vajrapani, Manjushri Bodhisattva, lotus flowers, and scroll patterns; while the square pillars are intricately decorated with lotus flowers, jewels, scroll patterns, dragons, and lions, presenting a rich and colorful display.

The wall paintings in the Sutra Hall are divided into upper and lower sections. The lower part consists of the wall paintings around the Sutra Hall, most of which are no longer preserved, except for the well-preserved ones on the left and right sides of the Sutra Hall entrance, depicting the Four Heavenly Kings, Amitayus Buddha, Maitreya Buddha, and female Bodhisattva figures.

The upper wall paintings refer to the murals on the west, south, and north walls of the Sutra Hall courtyard, featuring portraits of prominent figures from the Sakya pa and other important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, all facing towards the central Buddha Hall in groups of three.

The west wall paintings include images of Vajrapani Bodhisattva, Padmasambhava, and Drapa Ngonshepa; while the south and north walls depict images of masters from various sects of Tibetan Buddhism.

The murals around the Sutra Hall courtyard primarily showcase renowned figures from the Sakya pa in groups of three, each in unique poses.

On both sides of the Sutra Hall, there are secret chambers: the one on the left is 18 meters wide and 30 meters deep, while the one on the right has been destroyed.

How to get to there

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Dranang Monastery is about 50 kilometers from Tsetang county, and 115 kilometers from Lhasa

There is no bus to the monastery, but there are buses that connect Lhasa and Tsetang passing through Dranang county quite often, it is convenient to take bus and get off at Dranang county from which you can take local minibus to this site, or walk for about 2 kilometers from the bus stop to this monastery

The simplest way is by taxi or chartered vehicle, which may cost RMB 50.00 – 60.00 per person for a one way journey from Tsetang to here by a 7 seats minivan