Shigatse (3900m)is the second largest town in Tibet and the traditional capital of Tsang (Around 250km to the south-west of Lhasa (VIA THE NEW ROAD ), Shigatse is one of the few places in Tsang with reliable and frequent transport connections with the capital. Shigatse has long been an important trading town and administrative centre. The Tsang kings exercised their power from the once imposing heights of the Shigatse Dzong-the present ruins only hint at its former glory ¨Cand the fort later became the residence of the governor of Tsang. Since the Mongol sponsorship of the Gelugpa order. Shigatse has been the seat of the Panchen Lama, who is traditionally based in Tashihunpo Monastery. The monastery is Shigatse¡¯s foremost attraction.

Tashilhunpo Monastery

Tashilhunpo is associated with the Gelugpa order and is one of the six great Gelugpa institutions long with Drepung, Serea and Ganden in Lhasa and Kumbum and Labrang in Amdo. The monastery gets mixed reports from visitors It is probably the largest functioning monastic institution in contemporary Tibet and is an impressive place to explore. .Tashilhunpo Monastery was founded in 1447 by a disciple of Tsongkhapa, Genden Drup. Genden Drup was retroactively named the first Dalai Lama and he is enshrined in Tishilhunpo. Despite its association with the first Dalai Lama, Tashilhunpo was initially isolated from the mainstream of Gelugpa affairs which were centred in the Lhasa region. The monastery ¡®s standing rocketed, however when the fifth Dalia lama declared his teacher then abbot of Tashihunpo ¨Cto be a manifestation of Amitabha (a deification of Buddha¡¯s faculty of perfected cognition and perception ) Thus Tashihunpo became the seat of an important lineage line : the Panchen Lamas. The title Panchen means ¡®great scholar ¡® and was the title traditionally bestowed on abbots of Tashilhunpo. The Monastery Tashilunpo is one of the few monasteries in Tibet that weathered the stormy seas of the Cultural Revolution relatively unscathed. It is a real pleasure to explore. Go to the monastery several times if you can ¨Cthere is really too much to see in a single visit. From the entrance to the monastery visitors get a grand view of the complex. Above the white monastic quarters in a crowd of ochre buildings topped with gold ¨Cthe tombs of the past Panchen Lamas. To the rights and higher still is the great white wall that is hung with massive, colorful Thangkas during festivals. the entire complex is surround by a high wall.