Monastery Architecture Art of Tibet

Monastery architecture is a large building complex which is composed of temples and halls, stupas and several colleges, and residence quarters of monks. As for shapes, it can be divided into 3 types: temples, cave temples and stupa temples built surrounding the main hall.

Samye Monastery, the first monastery in Tibet, is a typical representative of monastery architecture, which has given great influence on the later Tibetan monastery architectures. Samye Monastery's construction was up to the universal model described in the Buddhist doctrines. The main hall in its center, named Uze Hall, has 3 storeys and incorporates the architecture styles of Chinese Central Plain, Tibet, and India.

The main hall consists of several units, such as the central Buddha hall, sutra hall, side halls, circumambulation passage, inner circumambulation passage, circumambulation passage outside the hall, circular corridor, etc. The Buddha hall is the center of the entire construction, enshrining Vairocana, the head of the 5 Dhyani Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas and deities. The sutra hall is for monks to study and gather. The circumambulation passage is for people to prostrate before Buddha, the Bodhisattvas and deities at any time.

The layout of the buildings around the main hall is according to the layout of 4 continents and 8 subcontinents in the Buddhist world. Four groups of constructions and 4 dagobas of different colors (green, black, red and white) are located respectively at the east, west, south and north sides.

The monastery is enclosed by a fencing wall which represents the Mount Cakravda (meaning Mount Iron Fencing) and the construction units of different heights and sizes are arranged harmoniously. Each construction unit is an inseparable part of the whole construction.

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