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Gelug (Pa)

Gelug (pa), Way of Virtue, also known as the Yellow Hat sect, is a Sect of Tibetan religion founded by Tsongkhapa (1357-1419). The first Gelug pa monastery was established at Ganden, and Ganden Tripa became the nominal head of Gelug pa, though its most influential figure is the Dalai Lama, whose successive Dalai Lamas ruled Tibet from the mid-17th to mid-20th centuries.

The prime sources for the studies of the Gelug tradition are the Six Scriptures written by Tsongkhapa as follows:

	The Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path,
	The Great Exposition of Tantras,
	The Essence of Eloquence on the Interpretive and Definitive Teachings,
	The Praise of Relativity,
	The Clear Exposition of the Five Stages of Guhyasamaja
	The Golden Rosary;

The three most important centers of the Gelug Pa lineage are Ganden, Sera and Drepung Monasteries:

Ganden Monastery, is one of the 'Great Three' Gelukpa monasteries of Tibet, located at the top of Wangbur Mountain, Tagtse County, 50 kilometers East from Lhasa, at an altitude of 4,750m. Its full name means "Continent of completely victorious happiness" It was the original monastery of the Geluk order, founded by Tsongkhapa in 1409, and traditionally considered to be the seat of Geluk administrative and political power.

Sera Monastery, was founded in 1419, by Jamchen Chojey, a disciple of Tsong Khapa.It located in the foot of the mountain about 5km north of Lhasa, The origin of the name 'Sera' derive from the fact that its original site was surrounded by 'Wild Roses', which in Tibetan language read as "Se" "Ra".

Sera monastery had three main colleges that are "Sera Mey Dratsang" provided basic instruction to the young monks, and was built in 1419.
"Sera Jey Dratsang" - the largest, was built in 1435, reserving for wandering monks. "Ngagpa Dratsang" was for the teaching of the Gelugpa tantras, was built in 1559.

Drepung Monastery, the home monastery of the Dalai Lama, It was founded in 1416 by Jamyang Chojey, a direct disciple of Tsongkhapa, whom is tfounder of Gelug Pa. Drepung Monastery used to house more than 10,000 monks in th early of 20th century; is located at the foot of Mt. Gephel, which is 5 kilometers from the west of Lhasa,

There are other three Gelug Pa monasteries that have particularly important regional influence:

Tashilhunpo Monastery was founded in 1447 by the first Dalai Lama, it is located in Shigartse, the second large city of central Tibet. Tashilhunpo Monastery is the traditional seat of successive Panchen Lamas, who is also the second highest ranking tulku lineage in the Gelukpa tradition.

Labrang Monastery is located in Amdo, nowadays it is called "Xiahe" in Gansu province, It was founded in 1709 by the first Jamyang Zhaypa, Ngawang Tsondru. Labrang Monastery is home to the largest number of monks outside of Tibet Autonomous Region.

Kumbum Jampaling monastery was built completely in 1583, located in a narrow valley about 20km southwest of Xining. The place, where this monastery located, is also the birthplace of Tsongkhapa - the founder of Gelug Pa. It now has now more than thirty temples and a thousand or so houses.

"Kumbum" means "100,000 enlightening bodies of the Buddha". It is named after the 100,000 images of the Buddha Sinhanada which appear on the leaves of the holy sandalwood tree. "Jampaling" means "Maitreya Cloister." This refers to the Maitreya temple built by Rinchen-tsondru-gyeltsen to the right of the precious tree.

The Great spiritual and historical Site of Jorkhang Temple & Samye monastery:

Jokhang Temple, which means the 'House of the Buddha', had been built by King Songtsen Gampo in 647 AD, located on Barkhor Square in Lhasa. It was built to celebrate his marriage with Chinese Tang Dynasty princess Wencheng, who was a Buddhist.

Samye Monastery was the first Buddhist monastery to be built in Tibet, was probably found in 770's under the patronage of King Trisong Detsen, whom invited the two Indian masters of Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita to direct the construction. The monastery is located in Dranang near Tsetang. It was modeled on the design of Odantapuri monastery in what is now Bihar, India.

The central building of Samye represents Mt. Meru, the mythical mountain at the center of the cosmos, around it are four temples called 'ling', which represent the four continents situated in the vast ocean to the north, south, east, and west of Meru. Four great Stupas, in four colors of white, red, blue and green, stand facing the corners of the main temple.