Riwoche Monastery in Qamdo Prefecture

Riwoche Monastery is located in Riwoche County, Qamdo Prefecture. It has a history of more than 700 years which could be dated back to 1277. It is a monastery belongs to Kagyue Sect of Tibetan Buddhism in northeastern Tibet. It is also quite noted for its special construction which integrated the architectural style of Tibet, Nepal and Han.

History of Riwoche Monastery in Qamdo Prefecture

Riwoche Monastery was constructed by Sanggyewen, a famous lama of Kagyue Sect in 1277. It was the main monastery of Kaygue Sect in Kham Area. The construction of Riwoche Monastery greatly promoted the development of Dalong Kaygue Sect. It was also valued by Chinese Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties for its important role in the religion in Tibet.

Riwoche Monastery is one of the most influential monasteries in Kham Area in Tibet. It charged the local politics and religion power for a pretty long time in history. It has 58 affiliated monasteries distributed in Qamdo Prefecture, Qinghai Province, Sichuan Province and Yunnan Province. The number of lamas in its monasteries even reached 25000 in its heyday. The number of lamas decreased to 2000 in the 20th century and there are 300 lamas in these monasteries currently.

Architecture of Riwoche Monastery in Qamdo Prefecture

Riwoche Monastery is quite noted for its main construction – Chagyemma Palace with a height of 30 meters. Chagyemma Palace is a 3-storey building composed of the Barriness Floor (the walls were painted with red, white and black vertical stripes, the Red Floor (the walls were painted with red) and the White Floor (the walls were painted with white). The top of the palace is decorated with a magnificent golden roof.

Historical Relics in Riwoche Monastery in Qamdo Prefecture

Tourists making a Tibet tour and planning to pay a visit to Riwoche monastery in Qamdo Prefecture would firstly be impressed by the rows of prayer wheels around the main palace. A series of statues of the Buddha and Bodhisattva were enshrined in the Barriness Floor Palace. It is recorded that there were around 40000 statues in the monastery at its heyday. The large number of exquisite murals collected in this palace is also of great value in the research of the Buddhism culture.

Climb to the Red Floor of Chagyemma Palace in Riwoche Monastery, tourists will have the chance to explore the history of Kaygue Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The thangkas painted with the eminent figures in the development of this monastery also recorded the historical changes and development. These thangkas are also artistic value.

The most valuable treasure in Riwoche Monastery – the violet gold statue of Sakyamuni was collected in the White Floor of Chagyemma Palace. There are also several other ancient and precious Buddha statues enshrined in the monastery. 54 precious Thangkas which could be dated back to Chinese Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties collected in the third floor. Among the 54 thangkas, 12 of them have a history of more than 1000 years while the left ones have a history of 100-1000 years.