Ganden Monastery
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Ganden Monastery (Tibetan: དགའ་ལྡན་; Wylie: Dga'-ldan; ZWPY: Gandain) is one of the 'great three' Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet, located on Wangbur Mountain, Tagtse County, 47 kilometers from Lhasa. The other two are Sera Monastery and Drepung Monastery. Being the furthest from Lhasa of the three university monasteries, Ganden traditionally had a smaller population with some 6,000 monks in the early 20th century. However, it was the original monastery of the Geluk order, founded by Tsongkhapa himself in 1409, and traditionally considered to be the seat of Geluk administrative and political power. The Ganden Tripa or 'throne-holder of Ganden' is the head of the Gelukpa school (and not the Dalai Lama as is widely misunderstood).
Ganden Monastery consisted of two colleges, Jangtse and Shartse, meaning North Peak and East Peak respectively.
The monastery was completely destroyed following the Chinese invasion of Tibet, and since the 1980s, a small part is being re-built and in use. Ganden has been re-established on a much larger scale in Karnataka, India by the Tibetan population in exile.
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