The Hidden Tradition: Life inside the Great Tibetan Monastery Tashilhunpo

Tashilhunpo, located in Shigatse, Tibet's second largest city, is one of the four great monasteries of the Yellow Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Beginning in the 17th Century, 200 years after its initial construction, the monastery has been the permanent residence of seven Panchen Lamas. In early 1989, the tenth Panchen died at the monastery; since then search parties have been looking for his rebirth. The approximately 200 captioned photographs of this album record for the first time life in the monastery, and show the magnificence of its architecture, murals, and sculptures, as well as highlights of religious festivals. Each section of the album is accompanied by an illuminating text giving an account of the Monastery's history, its architecture, the principles of monastic organisation, and the lives of the Panchen Lamas. Most of the photographs are by renowned Chinese photographer Lu Xiangyou, and the text is provided by the Living Buddha Tanjun Ranopanza, the Fifth of the Chinese College for Advanced Studies of Buddhism in the Tibetan Language. Chinese-English text and captions.