Pelkor Chode
Built in the early 15th century and located in Gyantse County, Shigatse, the principal buildings of Pelkor Chode Monastery (http://gb.cri.cn/3821/2004/09/20/301@304887_1.htm) are the Tsogchen (Assembly) Hall where woven tangkas hang in rows from the ceiling around the skylight; and the Jokhang (Buddha) Hall housing a statue of Sakyamuni in its center. On the second level of the Assembly Hall are Manjushri and over 20 arhat figures, all of which are valuable clay sculptures from the Ming Dynasty. Kept in the monastery are also valuable Ming and Qing cultural relics, such as Tibetan opera costumes, and Han Chinese silk and embroidery.
The Bodhi Pagoda (“Kumbun” in Western guidebooks), or the Pagoda of Hundred Thousand Buddhas is unique in that it is composed of about one hundred small pagodas, interlocking in successive tiers. Hence its second name the “Pagoda of a Hundred Thousand Buddhas” because of the huge number of Buddha images within.
