It
sprawls on the slope of Mt.Niser, southwest of Shigatse and covers an
area of about 300,000 square meters with a floor space of about 30,000
square meters. Painted in red and white, the buildings in the monastery
stand closely together in terraced rows, offering a grand and majestic
view. The monastery was founded in 1447 by Gendun Zhuba, one of the
principal disciples of the Founder of the Yellow Sect Zongkaba, and was
then enlarged consistently by different generations of panchen Lama until
it acquired its present dimensions. Gendun Zhuba was first abbot of the
monastery and in 1600 at the invitation of the monastery, the 4th Panchen
lama became the 16th abbot of it, thus made the monastery abode of the
succeeding Panchen lamas ever since. There are many valuable and rare
historical articles in the monastery, among them are found a lot of gold
and jade signets, and imperial certificates bestowed by Emperors of the
Ming and Qing Dynasties as well as a seal of "Daitu" of the Yuan Dynasty
scribed in the new Mongolian language reformed by Basba. They are of great
value for the study of history.