Brief information on Songzanlin Lamasery  

Located at the foot of the Foping Mountains, Songzanlin Lamasery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist lamasery in Yunnan Province and one of the 13 famous monasteries of Tibetan Kham. The Lamasery was built in 1674 with the auspices of the Fifth Dalai Lama and Emperor Kangxi. Occupying an area of 33.3 hectares, Songzanlin was built in the style of Potala Palace in Lhasa; hence it has another name "Small Potala Palace".
The monastery is built like a group of ancient castles and consists of two lamaseries, Zhacang and Jikang. The gilded copper roof endues the monastery with strong Tibetan features, additionally the 108 (an auspicious number in Buddhism) columns downstairs feature the monastery with the characteristics of Han nationality. The main hall in the monastery is magnificent which could accommodate 1600 monks chanting sutra. On both sides of the main hall are wonderful frescos, depicting Buddhist tales and legends. The inside-halls are composed of exquisite cloisters which are all decorated with beautiful sculptures and delicate frescos.
The monastery is full of treasures including statues of the Fifth Dalai Lama, eight golden statue of Sakyamuni, and many golden lamps, Tibetan lections, silver censers etc.
The monastery is located in the region with an altitude of 3,300 meters high. In addition, it snows even in August, and has a long rainy period from June to September. So the best season to visit the lamasery is spring and summer.

*You can download the bilingual note to show it to a taxi driver or someone else to find your way to Songzanlin Lamasery if you plan to visit Songzanlin Lamasery and have language problems.

   

Address: Shangri-La County
Transportation: Buses: No. 3 from Shangri-La County
Others:Recommended time for a visit: 2 hours