Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c41.s5.3

v6.c41.s5.3

The earliest Tibetan monastery is stated to be ‘that of Sām-yas, about 35 miles south-east from Lhasa, near the Sang-po river. It was established by a famous teacher, Padma Sambhava, who went from Bihar with other Buddhist teachers about the middle of the eighth century. He is said to have modelled it after the great temple monastery of Odantapuri, near Nalanda, and it became the metropolis of the Red-cap order. The monastery, with its large temple and four separate colleges, is enclosed by a circular wall about a mile and a half in circuit, and contains a notable library and the State treasury. Another Indian Pandit, named Atisha, came from the Vikramasila monastery about 1038 A.D. and restored the Lamaism of his time, establishing what afterwards became the Yellow-cap or Gelupga order of Lamas, which became the State church when its chiefs, the Dalai Lamas, usurped the temporal power.’¹