TIBETAN MONKS OF THE SERA JÉ MONASTERY

The Monastery of Sera Jé forms part of the Gelug tradition founded by Lama Tzong Khapa in the thirteenth century.
The chief spiritual head of this tradition is H.H. the Dalai Lama. Today, H.H. Tenzin Gyatso is the XIV Dalai Lama.

The historical Monastery of Sera Jé lies in the northern reaches of Lhasa.
At one time it numbered 5500 resident monks and was divided into sections or colleges; in the beginning these were four, Gya, Dromteng, Toed-Pa and Me.

The two main colleges are Sera Jé and Sera Mé.
The Monastery of Sera is one of the three great monastic universities of Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelug tradition.

Following the Chinese armed invasion in Tibetan territory in the late fifties, 90% of the monasteries were destroyed by the iconoclast fury of the Cultural Revolution.
Today many of these have been rebuilt in India by those monks who escaped the invasion.

In the state of Karnataka in southern India, two hours from the town of Mysore, the Monastery of Sera stands in exile.
Here, live over three thousand monks who follow the monastic, ritual studies and ceremonies, thus keeping alive their rich tradition wich is over ten centuries old.

The partecipation of the monks recalls the ritual tradition of the Tibetan Buddhist culture and is divided into two parts: ritual dances and songs.

Franco Callea