Tashilhunpo in Shigatse is the largest monastery in Tibet and the seat of the Panchen Lamas. The complex contains several golden roofed monuments and a multitude of chapels filled with statues and adorned with murals, thankas and other treasures.

For 362 days of the year the view of this monastic city is not exactly like on the photo. Those 362 days you will see an empty big white wall towards the right on the mountain slope. Like a giant projection screen of an open-air cinema. Only once a year during a three-day festival in July the wall will carry a picture when a huge thanka is rolled out and exposed for public view.
Days to look out for.

Photo of the week: Tashilhunpo Monastery, Shigatse, China-Tibet, July 1996

One response to “Tashilhunpo Thanka”

  1. […] the three-day festival in July when the giant thanka is exposed – see last week’s post -, pilgrims come from far and wide. They climb the stairs to the base of the thanka-wall, walk past […]

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