Sera Temple


Located at the southern slope of the Serawoze Mountain in the northern suburb of Lhasa, it is one of the three grand
monasteries of the Gelupa sect. Sera, meaning "merciful hail" is a challenge to Drepung monastery, whose name
means "rice heap" in the sense that hail damages rice.

It was built by Sagya Yeshes, one of the eight disciples of Zongkapa in 1419. Sagya Yeshes went to Beijing twice. In
1409, the Ming emperor sent someone to Tibet to invite Zongkapa to Beijing to propagate Buddhism, but Zongkapa
couldn’t go to Beijing due to his advanced age, so he sent his student Sagya Yeshes to Beijing and Sagya Yeshes
was given the title of “the Great Mercy Prince of Dharma”. After the establishment of the monastery, Sagya Yeshes
went to Beijing again and also spread Buddhism in Mongolia. He was given the title of “Master of the state”, and was
presented with a lot of gifts by the Ming emperor, such as a scripture written in gold, paintings and statues etc. These
treasures are still remaining in Sera monastery.

The monastery is made up of a tsokchen (Great Hall), three tratsangs (colleges that offer specialised studies) and thirty khangtsens (residential
compounds with chapels reserved for monks coming from different areas of Tibet).

The tsokchen is Sera's largest building and the administrative center of the monastery. Built in 1710, the central assembly hall houses a statue of
Sakya Yeshe, the founder of Sera, flanked by sculptures of the Fifth and Thirteenth Dalai Lamas . To the rear of the central assembly hall are four
floors, each filled with chapels dedicated to various gods as well as the monks' quarters.

Sera is famous for its “Buddhism Scriptures Debating”: monks can be seen preparing for monastic exam by staging mock debates in the ritual
way. Some sit cross-legged under the trees, while others run from group to group giving vigorous hand-
claps to end a statement or make a point. Master and dignitaries sit on the raised tiers when a real exam
takes place.
The Sera Bengqin Festival is a grand festival held in the Sera Monastery on Dec. 27 or the Tibetan calendar
. On that day, a Dorne Pestle is carried to the Potala Palace. The Dalai Lama prays to the Buddha to confer
strength and then he blesses the pestle. Following this, the Khenpo of the Ngaba Zhacang will place the
pestle on the monks and followers who believe that the power and support of the Buddha are transferred.
Tens of thousands of believers come to witness this event as it only occurs at the Sera Monastery.