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Sakya Monastery, also know as Pel Sakya or "Pale Earth", sits about 130 km west of Shigatse on the road to Tingri. It makes for a change from Tibet's many other Buddhist monasteries with its grey, red and white painted walls and a unique style of Mongolian-inspired architecture not seen outside of this area.
Founded in 1073 by Konchok Gyelpo (1034-1102), a nobleman turned monk from the powerful Tsang family, Sakya monastery was the original seat of the Sakyapa school of Buddhism. After the downfall of the Tibetan kings, it was the Sakyapa Abbots or "Trizin" who stepped in to fill the void, governing Tibet throughout the 13th century until the Gelupka school of Tibetan Buddhism emerged as the dominant power.
Divided into two parts by the Zhong Qu River, Gyelpo's original monastery lies to the north with the monastery to the south that built in 1268 by Dragon Chogyal Pagba. The fifth Sakya Trizin and spiritual guide of Kublai Khan, Pagba held authority over Buddhist affairs throughout the Mongol Empire and administration rights of the Tibetan regions.
Sadly most of the ancient buildings of the northern monastery lie in ruins having been destroyed in the Cultural Revolution with only the Lhakang Chempo or Sibgon Trulpa remaining. Originally a cave in the mountainside, inside this great hall is a collection of magnificent Tibetan artwork that has miraculously escaped damage.
These murals, thangkas, Buddhist statues and ceramics however are not Sakya's only treasures. In 2003 a great library of more than 80,000 scrolls of Buddhist scripture, philosphy and literature was discovered sealed up within a wall 60 meters long and 10 meters high, where they had laid untouched for centuries.