Tashilhunpo Monastery

Tashilhunpo Monastery (Wyl. bkra shis lhun po dgon pa) - the seat of the Panchen Lamas, located in Shigatse.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama writes:

In Tibet, Tashilhunpo Monastery was one of the four great centres of learning of the Gelugpa tradition. The monastery in Shigatsé in U-tsag Province of Central Tibet was founded by His Holiness the First Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Gendün Drup, in 1447, and is the seat of the Panchen Lama, with whom successive Dalai Lamas have a unique relationship.[...]

In 1972, Tashilhunpo Monastery was re-established in Byalakuppe, South India by a few elderly monks who escaped from Tibet after the Tibetan National Uprising in 1959. As a result of new recruits joining over the years, the monastery today numbers more than [350] monks, and the membership is still increasing. The monastery is once again becoming one of the important centres of Buddhist learning.

Khen Rinpoche Kachen Lobzang Tsetan was appointed as the abbot of this monastery in 2005.