The Ta'er Monastery is located in Huangzhong County, 26 kilometers from Xining, capital of Qinghai  Province.It was built in 1577 on Huangzhong town - the birthplace of Tsong Khapa, who is the founder of the Yellow Hat sect. It is one of the six great monasteries of the Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism.
The monastery is a large complex of dozens of halls and towers on a mountainside in both Tibetan and Han architectural styles.
The monastery is famous for its extraordinary sculptures of human figures, animals, and landscapes carved out of yak butter. In Tibet, the art of butter sculpture has a long history of 1300 years and these sculptures were taken up by Ta'er Monastery at the end of 16 century.
The roof tiles and decorations of the grand and small gold-tile hall and roof decorations of the Grand  Scripture Hall are all made of Gold -coated copper. The 11-meter Grand Silver Tower at the center of the Grand Gold-tile Hall is said to be where Tsong Khapa was born. The 108 pillars in the Grand Scripture Hall are all coated with woolen blankets in Tibetan color designs.
An earthquake in 1990 and subsequent heavy snows destroyed many buildings in the monastery. Under the financial help of Chinese central government, the monastery was restored. Even today, the monastery still penetrates its original atmosphere. |
