Kumbum Monastery Travel Guide

Kumbum Monastery (Te'er Monastery) is our country Lamaism (Tibetan Buddhism) Gelugpa (Yellow Sect) founder Tsongkhapa birthplace. Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism is one of six major monasteries; it covers an area of ??about 600 acres, it is the center of activity of Tibetan Buddhism in northwest. It is also a  national key cultural relics protection units. Monastery  first built early Ming Dynasty Jiajing thirty-nine year(AD 1560), there are 400 years history till now.

There are three specialties in Kumbum Monastery - mural,barbola and Butter Sculpture .

In the Monastery, almost all halls have murals inside. Some of these murals painted directly on the wall or on top of the pillars, but more murals are drawn on the curtain, hanging in and around the hall.Mural style is lamaism,most of the stories are from Gelug Sect Lamaism scriptures.

Kumbum Barbola is an original tibetan art by Kumbum Monastery, but the technology has been lost. The colorful silks were cut  to various shapes according to the needs, such as Lamaism statues, flowers, birds etc., enrich with wool or cotton, and then embroidered on the curtain; the borbola is just like relief. Because of workmanship, it takes several years to finish a large Kumbum barbola. Now, there are 12 large barbolas in the monastery, they are priceless.

Butter Sculpture is a unique and magical art in Tibet. The butter sculptures in Kumbum Monastery tell us a classic story from Lamaism scriptures.The butter affected by the temperature very easily, so the sculpture could only retain a year.