Tsedang & the Yarlung Area

Tsedang lies 190 km southeast of Lhasa, a four hours drive. It is a large administrative region known in modern times as Shannan. At its heart lies the ancient kingdom of Yarlung, the cradle of Tibetan civilization. Tsedang, its capital, is at the foot of Mount Gongbori, one of Central Tibet’s holy mountains.

Tsetang the birthplace of early Tibetans, sits on the south bank in the middle section of the Yarlung Tsangpo River.

Around 7km south of Tsedang is the Tandruk Monastery which is one of the earliest Buddhist temples in Tibetan history. Built in 641 A.D., it is said that King Songtsan Gampo established the temple to suppress the ogress in order to prosper his kingdom. And later it became the winter palace of King Songtsan Gampo and Princess Wencheng in Shannan. Of all the treasures and relics kept in this monastery, the pearled Tangka -- "Avalokitesvara at his rest" is the most remarkable.
Because the monastery was built by a chalky hill, it was named Sakya, meaning pale earth in Tibetan. When the visitor approaches this massive structure, he will see a great monastery in an imposing square citadel. The outer wall is painted red, white and black vertical stripes, each representing the different manifestations of Buddha, a unique feature of Sakya. The Lakang Qinmu Hall, the main structure in the complex, occupies an area of 5,500 square meters with a height of over 10 meters. Sakya's principal attractions are its northern and southern monasteries on either side of the Trum Chu.
Sakya reached its heyday in the second half of the 13th century, when it was showered with gifts and privileges and given control over all Tibet by Kublai Khan, the Mongolia emperor of China. A separate sect of Tibetan Buddhism, named Sakyapa, also took from here.