The Sakya Monastery has a very important position in the history of Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan history and Chinese history. It ranks among the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. It is said that the temple is extremely rich in cultural relics such as religion, history, architecture, sculptures, etc., and has the reputation of “the second Dunhuang”.

Sakya Temple is very special when I look at it from a distance. I have never seen this kind of temple in Tibet. It may also be unique among all the temples in China.

As I approached the temple, I was even more confused: Is this a temple? Why can’t I find the door? There is such a tall and heavy wall? There are even towers? I walked along the city wall for a long time, panting with exhaustion. This monastery is really amazing. It’s a square shape with a side length of more than two hundred meters. It’s about the size of six or seven football fields.

After walking around, I looked for the gate to the east, Wei’s gate. What kind of monastery is this, it is clearly a huge castle.

Note: The exterior structure of Sakya Temple reminds me of Winterfell in the HBO TV series “Game of Thrones”. Winterfell is much smaller than Sakya Temple.

Readers may not be able to imagine what the castle-like Sakya Temple looks like. The following is a drone sH๏τ of the Sakya Temple released by Xinhuanet. The Sakya Temple in the pH๏τo does not seem to be very large, it is because of the perspective. If you stand outside the wall, you feel completely different.

Entering the gate, there is another castle, taller and heavier, with red walls and yellow curtains. Obviously, it is the main hall of the temple, named La Kanchenmo Hall. Why is there such a Buddhist temple? It is square and square, with a length of 70 or 80 meters and a height of seven or eight stories. There are only doors to the outside and no windows. This is even more of a super fortress, much stronger than the outer wall, it can be said to be a knife stuck in water or fire.

Stepping into this fortress-like hall is quite embarrᴀssing, especially the corridor behind the gate. There are no lights and quite depressed. There are many pits on the ground and the walls are shiny. On both sides of the wall the murals of the Four Heavenly Kings A thick patina was formed, and I don’t know how many hands touched it and how many ʙuттer lamps had been tainted for hundreds of thousands of years.

Pᴀssing through the dim corridor, the eyes suddenly opened up. It turned out to be a huge patio, bright and transparent. The windows of this castle were all opening towards the patio. The decorations under the eaves are quite sophisticated, and the yellow walls are painted with auspicious patterns and portraits of various colors. The style is bright and in contrast with the solemn and majestic exterior of the castle. The picture below is the patio I climbed onto the roof and sH๏τ overhead.

The patio has doors leading to various halls, and there are brief explanations in Tibetan, Chinese and English at the door, which I can’t understand either. Walk from the main gate to the Great Scripture Hall. This scripture hall is tall and wide, and its style is no different from other places. There are long low stools in the middle, where the monks sit on chanting, and there are densely covered with gold and silver. I always feel that the flame pattern of Buddha statues backlit by large and small Buddha statues, reliefs, murals, etc. has a strong Nepalese style of statues.

What shocked me was behind the Buddha statue. There were three scriptures on the wall. The bookshelves were about ten meters high and reached the top of the temple. The shelves were full of tens of thousands of scriptures wrapped in colorful satin. I have seen the wall of scriptures in many monasteries in Tibetan areas, and the scale of the Sakya Monastery is the No.

Only here did I realize that the Sakya Temple can be called the “Second Dunhuang”, perhaps because of the inheritance and accumulation of thousands of years, but this kind of cultural treasure that requires sufficient knowledge and interpretation is difficult to show. This “Second Dunhuang” is not the Thousand Buddha Cave, but the Tibetan Scripture Cave. In the history of nearly a thousand years, how much has the Sakya Temple accumulated? However, after the Cultural Revolution, how much can it survive?

What is disappointing is that almost all Tibetan Buddhist monasteries do not hold cultural relic exhibitions and explanations. Their treasures are their own, and ordinary people cannot see them. On the contrary, they were some obvious fakes, which were blown into the sky by the tour guides who spitted stars flying across the sky.

There are almost no tourists in the Sakya Monastery, and there are not many monks and pilgrims. Some stand indifferently, and some bow their heads in a hurry. I didn’t pay any attention to the tickets I bought, wherever I like to go.

Back to the patio, I saw a little girl in a pink shirt sitting on the steps of the hall entrance, holding her chin, her mouth in her fingers, and looking at the opposite side quietly. It can be seen that she is waiting for relatives who worship Buddha.

The little girl has big eyes, scattered hair, ridges in all directions, fashionable sneakers, and a hand-woven colorful bag on her back. The straps are made of beads. Under the dark and heavy curtain, she brought a bit of life to this dull and depressing temple.

I continued to turn, and I felt that I could not find any feeling when I walked on. This temple is full of terrifying Dharma protectors, that one is full of Vajra Tara, and there are too many huge and dim stupas… I was completely stunned.

Until I came across a long steep ladder with the words “escape ladder” written next to the stairs. Can you ascend to the Paradise of Bliss by climbing up? Climbed up and reached the roof of the main hall. There are piles of low-rise houses on the roof, which don’t feel like the style of the main hall, as if they were built later.

Walking out of this confusing hall, I just want to understand why this building is so strange in Tibetan areas? The color decoration is obviously Tibetan, which is also mixed with Nepalese elements. If you abandon the appearance and observe its layout structure, this tall gable, this patio, this wing… If you paint the wall white and add two rows of horse head walls, isn’t this an Hui-style residence? If it is lower, isn’t this a large Beijing courtyard?

At the western end of the roof of the world, in remote small cities closer to India and Nepal, there is a castle of Chinese architecture? The world is amazing.

It is easy to explain after thinking about it. Although Tibetan architecture has a unique style, it is actually Han in its bones, and its Tibetan elements are mainly reflected in the decorative style. In other words, Tibetan architecture is a Chinese architecture dressed in bright clothes.