Muli Monastery

Muli Monastery is named after the town of Muli and located in Muli. Muli is at southwest of Sichuan Province next to northern Yunnan. It is home to Tibetans, Yi, Han Chinese, Miao, Mogolians and Nakhi People. It is a beautiful place at the Hengduan Mountain Ranges and a land of many high mountains and river gorges. Muli was visited by James Rock, the American botanist several times on his discovery trip into the Muli Shambala Kingdom in the 1940s. This Shambala Adventure Trekking trip starts in Muli where vehicles are difficult to access.

Muli Monastery was famous in Kham of Tibet but not very popular in the neibouring Yi community. It is a Gelugpa Monastery first built in the 17 century and was a grand construction when finished. According to the research, It was a complex of a dozen temples and a sutra hall that can accommodate over 1000 monks. It was also home to many precious sacred status and relics. This monastery was destroyed by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. The last refurbishment was in the 1980s and the current appearance doesn't tell its past granduer.

It is an important monastery in the multi-group community of Muli when other groups may have different beliefs but we have seen some mixup in the monastery.

The biggest celebration in Muli Monastery is on the Lamp Festival. On each Lamp Festival in Muli, which is on the 25th day of the twelfth month, people visit Muli Monastery for celebration and peace praying. The amount of visitors can reach over 1000 sometimes.