It is situated 5 kilometers’ distance to the western suburb of Lhasa at the foot Mt. Ganpoi Uze. Drepung Monastery was built in 1416 by Jamyang Choje, a disciple of Tsongkapa, the founder of Gelugpa Sect. The monastery, occupying an area of 250,000 square metres with a fixed number of 7,700 monks, is the largest monastery in Tibet.The monastery is not only a place of worship and meditation but is more important as one of Tibet’s great University Monasteries. The first Dalai Lama studied here as did many of his successors. Many of Tibet’s great leaders studied there and even today it remains influential. The monastery keeps plentiful historical relics, Buddhist scriptures, arts and crafts.
