| Monlam Prayer Festival | |||||||
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 Pilgrims at Jokhang, Lhasa during Monlam | |||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 默朗木祈愿大法会 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 孟蘭祈願大法會 | ||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 传召法会 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 傳召法會 | ||||||
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| Tibetan name | |||||||
| Tibetan | སྨོན་ལམ་ | ||||||
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Monlam, also known as The Great Prayer Festival, falls on the 4th to 11th day of the 1st Tibetan month in Tibetan Buddhism.
The event of Monlam in Tibet was established in 1409 by Je Tsongkhapa in Lhasa, the founder of the Geluk tradition. As the greatest religious festival in Tibet, thousands of monks (of the three main monasteries of Drepung, Sera and Ganden) gathered fri chant prayers and perform religious rituals at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. The inaugural celebration attracted many devotees, and it has been performed for about 600 years. [1]
In 1517, Gedun Gyatso became the abbot of Drepung monastery and in the following year, he revived the Monlam Chenmo, the Great Prayer Festival and presided over the events with monks from Sera, Drepung and Ganden, the three great monastic universities of the Gelugpa Sect. [2]
"The main purpose of the Great Prayer Festival is to pray for the long life of all the holy Gurus of all traditions, for the survival and spreading of the Dharma in the minds of all sentient beings, and for world peace. The communal prayers, offered with strong faith and devotion, help to overcome obstacles to peace and generate conducive conditions for everyone to live in harmony." [3]
The celebration of Monlam in the Lhasa Jokhang was forbidden during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), [4] although it had not been practiced there since 1959, and would not be hosted in Lhasa again until 1986. [5] During the late 1980s, Tibetan organizers used Monlam and post-Monlam ceremonies for political demonstrations. During Monlam, monks stood on platforms to pray for the long life of the 14th Dalai Lama, boys threw rocks at observing police, and symbols advocating Tibetan independence were displayed. When these demonstrations failed to produce results, monks even suggested boycotting Monlam to show their displeasure with the government. [6] Since security forces were prohibited from breaking up the demonstrations as "they were ostensibly [purely] religious", the city government suspended the Monlam in 1990. [7]
Monlam festivals are upheld by Tibetan Buddhist monasteries established in exile in India.
In 2024, websites related to the Monlam festivals were attacked by the Chinese government advanced persistent threat group "Evasive Panda" for cyberespionage purposes. [8]
Examinations for the highest 'Lharampa Geshe' degree (a degree in Buddhist philosophy in the Geluk tradition) were held during the week-long festival. Monks would perform traditional Tibetan Buddhist dances (cham) and make huge ritual offering cakes (tormas) that were adorned with very elaborate butter sculptures. On the fifteenth day, the highlight of Monlam Chenmo in Lhasa would be the "Butter Lamp Festival" (Chunga Chopa), during which the Dalai Lama would come to the Jokhang Temple and perform the great Buddhist service. Barkhor Square in front of the Jokhang would be turned into a grand exhibition site for the huge tormas. At the end of the festival, these tormas would be burned in a large bonfire.
Traditionally, from New Year's Day until the end of Monlam, lay Tibetans would make merry. Many pilgrims from all over Tibet joined the prayers and teachings and made donations to the monks and nuns.
Many other monasteries would hold special prayer sessions and perform religious rituals: for example, some monasteries would unfold huge religious scroll-paintings (thangkas) for all to see.
In the Kagyu Monlam Chenmo, the main practice by the assembled monks and lay people is the Wishing Prayer of Samantabhadra, [9] part of the preserved words of the Buddha according to the Tibetan tradition. This prayer has at its core the Enlightened Attitude (Bodhisattva Vow) of Mahayana Buddhism, that the practitioner may attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.
Dalai Lama is a title given by Altan Khan, the first Shunyi King of Ming China. He offered it in appreciation to the leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, Sonam Gyatso, who received it in 1578 at Yanghua Monastery. At that time, Sonam Gyatso had just given teachings to the Khan, and so the title of Dalai Lama was also given to the entire tulku lineage. Sonam Gyatso became the 3rd Dalai Lama, while the first two tulkus in the lineage, the 1st Dalai Lama and the 2nd Dalai Lama, were posthumously awarded the title.
The Gelug is the newest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), a Tibetan philosopher, tantric yogi and lama and further expanded and developed by his disciples.
The Ganden Tripa, also spelled Gaden Tripa, is the title of the spiritual leader of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, the school that controlled central Tibet from the mid-17th century until the 1950s. The 103rd Ganden Tripa, Jetsun Lobsang Tenzin, died in office on 21 April 2017. Currently, Jangtse Choejey Kyabje Jetsun Lobsang Tenzin Palsangpo is the 104th Ganden Tripa.
The Dorje Shugden controversy is a controversy over Dorje Shugden, also known as Dolgyal, whom some consider to be one of several protectors of the Gelug school, the school of Tibetan Buddhism to which the Dalai Lamas belong. Dorje Shugden has become the symbolic focal point of a conflict over the "purity" of the Gelug school and the inclusion of non-Gelug teachings, especially Nyingma ones.
The 2nd Dalai Lama, Gedun Gyatso, was also known as Yonten Phuntsok, or Gedun Gyatso Palzangpo. He was ordained at Tashilhunpo Monastery at Shigatse, and later resided at Drepung Monastery in Lhasa. He was posthumously entitled as the 2nd Dalai Lama.
The 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso was recognized as the 5th Dalai Lama, and he became the first Dalai Lama to hold both Tibet's political and spiritual leadership roles. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being the key religious and temporal leader of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibet. He is credited with unifying all of Tibet under the Ganden Phodrang, after Gushri Khan's successful military interventions. As an independent head of state, he established priest and patron relations with both Mongolia and the Qing dynasty simultaneously, and had positive relations with other neighboring countries. He began the custom of meeting early European explorers. The 5th Dalai Lama built the Potala Palace, and also wrote 24 volumes' worth of scholarly and religious works on a wide range of subjects.
Sera Monastery is one of the "great three" Gelug university monasteries of Tibet, located 1.25 miles (2.01 km) north of Lhasa and about 5 km (3.1 mi) north of the Jokhang.
Ganden Monastery or Ganden Namgyeling or Monastery of Gahlden is one of the "great three" Gelug university monasteries located in Dagzê County, Lhasa, Tibet. The other two are Sera Monastery and Drepung Monastery. Ganden Monastery was founded in 1409 by Je Tsongkhapa Lozang-dragpa, founder of the Gelug order. The monastery was destroyed after 1959, but has since been partially rebuilt. Another monastery with the same name and tradition was established in Southern India in 1966 by Tibetan exiles.
Drepung Monastery, located at the foot of Mount Gephel, is one of the "great three" Gelug monasteries of Tibet founded by Je Tsongkhapa. The other two are Ganden Monastery and Sera Monastery. Drepung is the largest of all Tibetan monasteries and is located on the Gambo Utse mountain, five kilometers from the western suburb of Lhasa.
Pabongkhapa Déchen Nyingpo was a Gelug lama of the modern era of Tibetan Buddhism. He attained his Geshe degree at Sera Mey Monastic University, Lhasa, and became a teacher in Tibet. He teaches lay people. Pabongkha was offered the regency of the present Dalai Lama but declined the request because "he strongly disliked political affairs."
This is a list of topics related to Tibet.
Kumbum Monastery, also called Ta'er Temple, is a Tibetan gompa in Lusar, Huangzhong County, Xining, Qinghai, China. It was founded in 1583 at the site of Je Tsongkhapa's birth in a narrow valley close to the village of Lusar in the historical Tibetan region of Amdo. Its superior monastery is Drepung Monastery, immediately to the west of Lhasa. It is ranked in importance as second only to Lhasa.
Zong Rinpoche was a Gelug Lama and disciple of the third Trijang Rinpoche, junior tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama. He was famous as a sharp analyst and master of philosophical debate, as well as a Tantric practitioner. He was the Abbot of Ganden Shartse monastery.
Sönam Rapten, initially known as Gyalé Chödze and later on as Sönam Chöpel, was born in the Tholung valley in the Central Tibetan province of Ü. He started off as a monk-administrator of the Ganden Phodrang, the early Dalai Lamas' residence at Drepung Monastery, outside Lhasa, Tibet. From around or before the age of 20 he became the Treasurer and the "Chagdzo" of the Fourth (1589-1617) and, subsequently, the Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682). He presided as the most senior official of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism for over 40 years.
Gongma Drakpa Gyaltsen was a king of Tibet who ruled in 1385–1432. He belonged to the Phagmodrupa dynasty, which was the leading regime in Tibet between 1354 and 1435. His reign was comparatively tranquil, but he was also the last ruler of the dynasty to wield full powers over the central parts of Tibet.
Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche is a Tibetan tulku. The best-known incarnation is the sixth incarnation, Thupten Lungtok Namgyal Thinley, a Tibetan buddhist scholar and teacher.
The Third Trijang Rinpoche, Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (1901–1981) was a Gelugpa Lama and a direct disciple of Pabongkhapa Déchen Nyingpo. He succeeded Ling Rinpoche as the junior tutor of the 14th Dalai Lama when the Dalai Lama was nineteen years old. He was also a lama of many Gelug lamas who taught in the West including Zong Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten, Lama Yeshe, Kelsang Gyatso, and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Trijang Rinpoche's oral teachings were recorded by Zimey Rinpoche in a book called the Yellow Book.
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Jangsem Sherab Zangpo, also known as Jangsem Sherab Sangpo, (1395-1457) was a 15th-century Buddhist monk and teacher, and one of the six contemporary disciples of Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of one of the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism, the Gelug school. He is crediting with establishing the famed Thikse Monastery and the remotely located Phugtal Monastery in Ladakh, in the North Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Although there were many householder-yogis in Tibet, monasticism was the foundation of Buddhism in Tibet. There were over 6,000 monasteries in Tibet. However, nearly all of these were ransacked and destroyed by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. Most of the major monasteries have been at least partially re-established, while many others remain in ruins.