- The Drepung Monastery was founded by Jamyang Chojey Tashi-pelden, a disciple of the founder of the Gelug Sect. The monastery was founded in 1416 A.D. according to the Theravadin system of reckoning due to the request by the political leader of Central Tibet. When the temple was first built there was only one building, but more were built as time passed. The founder maintained the monastery for 32 years and taught discourses on the Three Baskets. From this, many monks gathered there to live and finally divided themselves into seven groups, forming sever colleges. Due to the large increase in monks, the monastery became one of the greatest in Tibet. Later, 3 of the colleges combined with the others and then only four remained. Each college has an abbot responsible for every aspect of the college. The first line of Dalai Lamas received teachings at Drepung Monastery and the second through fifth Dalai Lamas made their home here. This monastery was so important that the name of the Tibetan government derives from the name of the residence at Drepung. After the fifth Dalai Lama, the subsequent ones were only temporal religious ruler because the no longer had their permanent residence at the monastery. There were more than 8,000 monks living at the monastery that taught at the schools and also did the menial work of the monastery, as well as some leaving to become abbots at other monasteries. The monastery flourished until 1959 A.D. when Tibet and China were at odds with each other and the majority of the monks fled to India or Bengal. Now, the monastery is located outside of Tibet and the teachings of the previous Drepung Monastery is being preserved at the new location.
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