Shangrila’s Classic Songzanlin Monastery

Located in the famous Shangrila county of Yunnan Province, the Songzanlin Monastery can be a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and also the largest of its kind in Yunnan. It can also be the most important Tibetan Buddhist monastry in South West China and also the most spectacular tourist attraction in Shangrila.

The Songzanlin Monastery is also known as the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery in addition to being Sungtseling so don’t be confused by these names.

History & Background

The Songzanlin Monastery was built-in 1679 with the Fifth Dalai Lama under the patronage of Emperor Kangxi from the Qing Dynasty. The monastery was relatively untouched from the outside world until the 1930’s if it supported Communist General He Long contrary to the Kuomintang. Despite this support, the monastery was bombed and severely damaged through the PLA throughout the liberation (invasion) of Tibet in 1959. The monastery has not been fully rebuilt and restored until 1983.

Buildings & Grounds

The monastery alongside the Lamuyuan Cuo Lake as well as some villages is often a part with the Songzanlin scenic park. The main part in the monastery is on the top of a tiny hill inside the northern end from the park and is made up of three main buildings, The Main Assembly Hall, the Sakyamuni Temple as well as the Tsongkhapa Temple.

Main Assembly Hall – This building was under restoration when I visited there was no access to the hall. The hall is usually used by monks to accumulate and chant Buddhist scriptures and houses a 9 meter tall statue of Sakyamuni Buddha.

You can check at the hotel to ascertain if the Main Assembly Hall is open but even closed, the Songzanlin Monastery is really worth seeing.

Sakyamuni Temple – This is the smaller building to the right with the Main Assembly Hall and also the inside of the building is often a three story atrium. The second and third floors are galleries over looking the atrium and the first floor holds an enormous seated statue. Colorful paintings cover all of the walls on the first floor.

Tsongkhapa Temple – This is the smaller building to the left with the Main Assembly Hall and contains the identical three story atrium structure about the inside because the Sakyamuni Temple. The building is dominated about the inside by way of a large statue on a raised platform inside center from the room having a wide alter in front from the statue.

Unlike the Sakyamuni Temple, this temple was adopted by monks for prayer and monks give blessings to tourists in return for donations. Prayer benches sheltered by drapes were outlined on both sides from the temple entrance.

The three main buildings use a blend of Tibetan and Han architecture along with the smaller side buildings are dominated by Han architecture.

White Stupa- On the top of the hill left and behind the main buildings is a white relgious monument called a Stupa circled in Tibetan prayer flags. The stupa is a fascinating and attractive structure, great to find out along with the walk only takes a short while.

Getting There

The Songzanlin Monastery is 5 kilmeters beyond Shangrila township with basically no traffic on the roads so catching a taxi cab will be cheap. You can also catch the telephone number 3 public bus in the center in the Shangrila township for the Songzanlin Monastery.

Tickets & Opening Times

The ticket on the Songzanlin scenic park that also includes the Songzanlin Monastery is 85rmb. The park is open from 8:30am to 5:00pm as well as the hours do change so check the changing times if you plan on going early or leaving late.

Songzanlin Monastery Trivia

The Songzanlin Monastery has very strict rules for entering the temple and possesses a directory of 14 which include no sunglasses, no taking photos and walk clockwise

The Songzanlin Monastery is a an altitude of 3,880

There are 146 steps through the foot of the hill for the entrance in the Main Assembly Hall