Drepung Monastery

Drepung Monastery spreads across the southern slope of Mount Gephel, where its cluster of white buildings cascades down the hillside like a massive heap of rice. The name Drepung translates to exactly that—a rice heap—reflecting both its grand scale and its historical role as a center of prosperity and learning. Founded in fourteen sixteen by Jamyang Chöjé Tashi Palden, a disciple of the Gelug school founder Tsongkhapa, it grew to become the largest monastery in Tibet.