First Dalai Lama Gendun Drup

CHINA, Tibet, Shigatse

Gendun Drup, the First Dalai Lama, was a Tibetan monk who was sent to Narthang Monastery to study Buddhism when he was just 7 years old. At the age of 15, he received his novice vows and he took full monastic vows when he turned 20. He later traveled to Lhasa with Sherab Sengge to meet Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, for further Buddhist studies. In 1447, Gendun founded Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse and became a master of the Gelug school.
Gendun made many contributions to Buddhist arts, especially with the founding of Tashilhunpo Monastery and the numerous sculptures and murals it contained. The sculptures produced by him include Sakyamuni Buddha, sculpted in commemoration of Sherab Sengge, and the large Avalokitesvara and Manjusri Bodhisattva statues in the assembly hall of Kelzang Tsuklakhang courtyard. He also painted White Tara, which is now kept in Jampaling Monastery.