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TIBET: Zuglakang Monastery
Located midway along Octagonal Street, Zuglakang Monastery (the name means ˇ°assembly placeˇ± in Tibetan) is where lamas gather to lecture on Lamaist doctrines in the first month of the lunar calendar each year. With its round golden roof and two golden goats holding glittering wheels at the top of the main gate, the four-story hall is a magnificent sight.
Zuglakang Monastery was built over 1,300 years ago. Legend has it that soon after King Songtsan Gampo and Princess Wen Cheng were married, they joined others to select the site and design the monastery. As a symbol of the cultural exchange between the Tibetan and the Han, it was built jointly by Tibetan workers and the artisans brought along by Princess Wen Cheng from inland China.
The overhall architectural style of the monastery imitates Tang architecture, especially in the style and arrangement of columns and crossbeams, upturned eaves, and corbel brackets. However, it also contains architectural characteristics of Nepal and India. For example, in the inland temples, statues of Buddhas are usually places in high platforms, where worshippers cannot see them unless they raise their heads. The platforms her are rather low, however, making it easy for worshippers to touch the statues of Buddha and ask for blessing.
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