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Home > TRAVEL GUIDE > China Attractions > Qinghai Attractions
Tar Kunbum Monastery
Tar monastery, also known as Kunbum Temple, is located in the city of Huangzhong District, Xining City, the capital of Qinghai Province. It was founded in the Ming Dynasty (1379 AD). Because the big Golden Jinwa Temple to commemorate Tsongkhapa,  the founder of Gelugpa, so named. Tibetan means "the Maitreya Temple of 100,000 lions roar Buddha". Tar monastery is one of the six monasteries of the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism ( yellow schooll ) in China. It is also the leading role in Qinghai Province and a national key cultural relic protection unit. On April 13,2018, it entered the "Magic Northwest 100 views". National AAAAA-level tourist attractions.
 
Tar Kunbum Monastery is the activity center of Tibetan Buddhism in northwest China, and enjoys a good reputation in Tibet, China and Southeast Asia. The central governments of all dynasties have highly respected the religious status of Tar Temple. The Ming Dynasty repeatedly conferred the names of the upper echelons of the temple. The 3rd ,4th , 5th , 7th , 13th ,  14th  Dalai Lama and 6th , 9th , 10th Panchen Lama all had conducted religious activities in the Tar Temple.
 
Butter flowers, murals and embroidery are known as the "three wonders of the monastery art". In addition, the monastery also contains many Buddhist classics and academic monographs on history, literature, philosophy, medicine, legislation and other aspects. The annual Buddhist activities of the "Four Dharma associations" are even more lively. The butter flower sculpture of Tar Temple is also lifelike, well known.
 
The origin of Tar Temple comes from Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa School of Tibetan Buddhism (Yellow School). Legend has it that Tsongkhapa was born in Tar area on October 10th , 1357 (now Tar Temple in Huangzhong District, Xining City, Qinghai Province), so people respectfully called him "Tsongkhapa". Tsongkhapa was clever since childhood, at the age of 3 into the Xia Zong monastery by recent precepts. At the age of 7, he went to the Xiaqiong monastery in Tibet. After 9 years. At the age of 16, he went on foot to study the law of central Tibet. At the age of 34, he had deep attainments in the Buddhist teachings, and lectured scriptures everywhere, and his religious status in the Buddhist circle and even the society was constantly improving. In 1401 BC. and 1406 BC., he laid the theoretical and ideological foundation of the Gelugpa School in many of Tibetan Buddhism schools.
 
The Legendary history of Tar Kumbum Monastery
Tsongkhapa left home and went to Tibet to study the law for many years. His mother missed him very much, and then send him a bunch of white hair intending to tell him that she had white hair and hoped that he would come back. Tsongkhapa, determined not to return his home, so sent his mother and sister a self-portrait of a lion roaring Buddha statue painted by his own nosebleed. He wrote: " If you can build a pagoda with 100,000 lion roaring Buddha statues and a bodhi tree in the place where I was born, just like I met him."In 1379 BC., his mother and his followers built a lotus pagoda according to the wishes of Tsongkhapa,  which was the earliest building of the Tar Temple. In 1577, a Ming and Han-style Buddhist temple was built next to this tower, called the Maitreya Hall. Since there was a tower first, then the temple, the Han people in Amdo area called the two parts as Taer Temple.
 
Since the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, the central government has given gifts to Tar for many times, including plaques, instruments, Buddha statues, scriptures, and stupas. The living Buddha systems of the temple, were sealed as Hutuktu or Nuo Khan in the Qing Dynasty.  It is because of these special reasons that Tar Temple has developed rapidly and grown larger, becoming one of the six famous temples at home and abroad of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism. The taer Temple has more than 9300 buildings, covering an area of more than 600 mu and 25 halls, mainly Great Golden Wa Hall, Great Sutra Hall, Nine Hall, Small Jinwa Hall, Flower Temple, Da Rang, Maitreya Hall, Buddha Hall, hu Hall, etc. At its peak, there were more than 3,600 monks, and there were still 1,983 people in the early days of liberation.
 
Due to the accumulation of history, the temple is extremely rich in cultural relics, architecture, artifacts, Buddha statues and documents collection, making the temple become a treasure house of art. The temple is equipped with four colleges of Hyeonjong, Tantrism, Wheel, medical Ming and taught Buddhism and Tibetan language in writing, astronomy, calendar, medicine, dance, sculpture, painting, architecture and so on various aspects of knowledge. In Daoguang emperor  (1827 AD),  the temple printing school was built here, which sold all the Tibetan classics in Tibetan areas.  In addition, in the end of the lunar month, there is the "Five Lantern Festival" to commemorate the death of Tsongkhapa and the year-end of the activity of sending the plague.
 
The most attractive part of Tar Temple is the annual Shining Buddha or Thang-ga, also known as the "Shoton Buddha Festival"."Shoton Buddha exhibition" means to invite the huge Buddha statue placed for a year in the open air. On the one hand, from the perspective of protection, to prevent mildew and insect bites, and more importantly, it is a special way to worship and support the Buddha. The Buddha statue is actually a special Thang-ga, which is a very rare treasure in the scroll paintings. It is held twice a year in the fourth lunar month, meaning to commemorate the birth of Sakyamuni, his Nirvana and Maitreya, and the birth of Tsongkaba. To expose the Buddha, bath Buddha, and prevent the decay of the Buddha. There are four kinds of huge embroidered Buddha statues, "Lion roar", "Sakyamuni", "Tongkhaba" and "Kumgangsa", only one at a time, displayed on the hillside of the temple. The Sun Buddha ceremony is very grand, the audience is very large, spectacular.
 
"Sun Buddha" on the day before dawn, tower monastery lamas will focus, do "sun Buddha" before all kinds of preparation, then carried the huge Buddha, along the temple beside the mountain, to the top of the mountain, and then the huge Buddha Thang-ga, from the hillside to the foot, then the huge Buddha show in front of thousands of thousands of people.
 
After the "drying of the Giant Buddha", the dance will be held in the square of the Tar monastery. The Lama will take various masks and dance various religious dances. While dancing from the gods, the lama also chanted sutras and performed Tibetan opera, which is the annual stage for the temple to perform religious art.

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