Monlam Prayer Festival

The Great Prayer ( Monlam Chenmo) Festival is held each year from 8th through 14th of the first month of Tibetan calendar. It is the grandest religious festival in Tibet. It has its origin in a prayer meeting organized at Jokhang Temple by Tsong Khapa, founder of the Gelukpa Sect, in 1409 to celebrate the miracles performed by Buddha at Sravasti, India, In the past, tens of thousand monks from Drepung, Sera and Ganden monasteries would come to Jokhang temple for the event. This festivel still continues with large gathering of monks in Labrang and Rongwo Gon Chen monasteries in Amdo (Qinghai) and on a smaller scale in Lhasa at Jokhang temple with fewer monks.