Labrang Temple/Labrang Monastery

Labrang Temple/Labrang Monastery

Visiting a Buddhist temple is a must if you want to get to know Tibetan culture. The over 300-year-old Labrang Temple is the largest temple of Tibetan ethnic group in south Gansu province and one of the six Tibetan Buddhism Gelugpa monasteries. Labrang Temple has contributed a lot in preserving and teaching Buddhism. Tibetan culture is also well protected here and in the surrounding areas, which is the same as it was hundreds of years ago. The Labrang Temple (Labulengsi) is a propitious place in the hearts of the Tibetan people; it stands by the Daxia River and faces the Dragon Mountain.

 

The architectural layout of the Labrang Temple is Tibetan in style, and the construction pattern is a combination of both Han and Tibetan styles. The temple's buildings are all made out of elegantly carved wood, stone and earth. The monastery consists of 18 resplendent halls, six prestigious Buddhist institutes (the Institute of Esoteric Buddhism, the Higher & Lower Institute of Theology, the Institute of Medicine, the Institute of Astrology and the Institute of Law), and about 500 bedrooms for both the living Buddhas and ordinary monks. There are two halls that stand out here, the Main Hall and the Shouxi Prayer Hall.

The Main Hall bears a horizontal wooden board inscribed with three large Chinese characters, Jue hui si, meaning a temple where self discovery is made. On religious occasions, the hall may hold up to 4,000 people for prayer. Of the six prayer halls in the Labrang, the Shouxi Prayer Hall is the largest in size, with a total of six stories rising to 20 meters. Housed within, is a mammoth statue of Sakimonia. The entire hall, with a golden dragon on its roof and silver lions on its walls, is the most grandiose structure here. The White Towers in the northeast and in the northwest stand as symbols of whole construction.

The Labrang Temple boasts tens of thousands of Buddha statues of made of gold, silver, copper, and aluminum. There are also statues made of ivory, sandalwood, jade, crystal and clay. These Buddha statues are all lifelike with kind-looking faces, which instill you with a real sense of beauty. In addition, the monastery possesses many Buddha hats and other Buddhist treasures adorned with pearls, jadeite, agate and diamonds.