Большой золотой храм монастыря Кумбум

The Great Golden Roof Hall — known in Tibetan as Serdong and in Chinese as Da Jinwa Dian — is the spiritual and architectural heart of Kumbum Monastery, the great Gelug-school Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Huangzhong on the western outskirts of Xining. Within the wider monastery complex, the Golden Roof Hall occupies the most sacred spot: the exact birthplace of Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), the philosopher-monk whose reforms gave rise to the Gelug (Yellow Hat) school that would later become the dominant school of Tibetan Buddhism under the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama lineages.

According to tradition, when Tsongkhapa was born in 1357, his umbilical cord was buried in the soil at this spot and a sandalwood tree — the "Tree of Great Merit" — grew from it, its leaves said to bear images of the Buddha. In the mid-16th century, a disciple of Tsongkhapa built a small silver chorten over the tree to mark the birthplace, and over the following centuries the chorten was repeatedly enlarged and the building around it expanded into the present golden-roofed hall.

The hall's exterior is unmistakable: a tile roof of gilded copper that catches the sunlight and shines across the valley, visible from miles away. Inside, the central object of veneration is the great silver chorten, overlaid with gold, encrusted with precious stones, and surrounded by the offerings of centuries of pilgrims — butter lamps, silk banners, jeweled ornaments, silver ceremonial objects. The sandalwood tree is said to be enclosed within the chorten, and devout Tibetan and Mongolian pilgrims consider a visit here one of the most spiritually significant acts of a Buddhist lifetime.

For visitors, the interior atmosphere is striking. The hall is lit primarily by butter lamps — small bronze vessels burning clarified yak butter, which gives off a warm flickering light and a characteristic smoky-sweet smell. Pilgrims walk clockwise around the chorten, fingers passing prayer beads, murmuring mantras; monks chant at intervals; and the cumulative weight of centuries of devotion is palpable.

For independent travelers, the Golden Roof Hall is the most important single stop inside Kumbum Monastery — the building that gives the wider monastery its name ("Kumbum" means "hundred thousand images," referring to the Buddha images said to have appeared on the sandalwood tree leaves). Allow 20 to 40 minutes for the visit itself, as part of a half-day at Kumbum.