Kumbum Monastery, also called Ta'er Monastery, originated in 1379 from a pagoda, which marked the birthplace of Tsong Kha-pa, founder of the Gelugpa Sect in Tibetan people. The site covers around 400,000 square kilometers and is home to over 750 monks.

Zongkapa, founder of the Gelug (Yellow) Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, was born in the place where the Kumbum Monastery is located. The 3rd Dalai Lama Soinam Gyamco initiated construction of the monastery in Zongkapa's honor. Gradually, it became the mecca for Buddhists of Tibetan, Mongolian and Tu ethnic groups. And the 4th, 5th, 7th, 13th and 14th Dalai Lamas as well as the 6th, 9th and 10th Panchen Erdenis once lived there.

During its heyday, the Kumbum Monastery had as many as 70 Living Buddhas and 3,600 monks. Many of them were appointed Hutugto Living buddhas by the Qing (1644-1911) imperial court. And some of them served as seal-holding lamas at the Yonghegong Lamasery in Beijing and at the Buddhist Wutaishan Mountain in Shanxi Province.

The Kumbum Monastery houses four major Zhacang Buddhist colleges. They are the Channi (Open School), Juba (Tantric), Manba (Medical) and Dingker (Time of Wheel) Zhancangs.

The Kumbum Monastery covers an area of 40 hectare. well-preserved halls include the Grand Gold Tile Hall, the Zongkapa Memorial Pagoda, the Maitreya Buddha hall, the Happy Vajra Buddha Hall, the Buddhist Guardian Hall (also called the Lessor Gold Tile buddha Hall), the Longevity Buddha Hall, the four others. The best-preserved are the 18 residences for the Living Buddhas, including the most famous one, the Grand Abbot Residence (also known as the Residence of the Panchen Erdeni).

Of the six major Gelug sect monasteries, the Kumbum Monastery boasts more halls built in the Tibetan, Han and Hui styles. The Grand Gold Tile Hall is of Han palace style, with three-tiered roofs adorned with patterns of clouds and lotus petals, pagodas, gold animals and bronze bells. Inside the hall stands the 11-meter silver pagoda enshrined with the gilded statue of Zongkapa, founder of the Gelug Sect. On the lotus are perennially burning butter lamps. The inscribed handwriting of the Qing Emperor Qianlong adorns a horizontal bar.

The Grand Sutra Hall, covering an area of 1,981 square meters, is propped up by 168 pillars, 60 of which are built inside the walls. Each pillar is carved with beautiful patterns and wrapped in colorful rugs. Numerous cushions are in the hall where thousands of lamas sit while reciting Buddhist scriptures. Nearly 1,000 gilded bronze statues of Buddha enshrine the four walls.

The Nine-Room Hall contains life-like statues of Zongkapa, Tathagata, Wisdom Buddha, the Goddess of Mercy, the Goddess of Wealth, the Goddess of Music and some other Buddhas.

The Lessor Gold Tile Hall is for the Buddhist guardian of the Kumbum Monastery. It has a flat roof topped with a pavilion of upturned eaves. Inside the hall is a specimen of the horse which, according to legend, the 9th Panchen Erdeni Mounted. Delicate frescoes adorn the walls. Its second floor houses specimen of wild cows, wild sheep and bears.

The Sutra Printing Hall is a compound built 160 years ago. It contains a collection of about 30,000 blocks of sutra printing boards and Buddha statue printing boards. While ink is used for printing, some classic works were hand-copied in a special ink of Cinabar and a mixture of gold, silver, agate and other gem powders. In the Grand Kitchen are five bronze pots each with a diameter of two meters. These are used to cook tea and food for the lamas attending the sutra recitation during the ceremony concerning meditation of Amitayus in the Grand Sutra Hall.

The Kumbum Monastery is also famous for its butter sculptures, frescoes and duisui embroidery. Butter sculptures are most often of Buddha, other figures and flowers.

With pure cow and sheep milk butter as the raw material, the sculptures are painted with mineral dyestuff. Often the sculptures are part of a series which depict a story, such as the life of Sakyamuni and the marriage of Princess Wencheng with Tibet King Songtsan Gambo. The sculptures are displayed during the Lantern festival held on the 15th day of the first month of the Tibetan year. More than 10,000 people view the sculptures each year.

Frescoes in the Kumbum Monastery are rich in content and elegant in style. Debating Buddhist Scriptures, Portrait of Six-Way Samsara and Fresco of Kalachakra are considered the most representative. The frescoes are all painted with yellow, red and blue colors to highlight the themes.

Relief embroidery is unique to the Kumbum Monastery. Colored silks are cut into various shapes, such as a statue of Buddha, a human figure, a bird or an animal. Stuffed inside with sheep's wool or cotton, they are then pasted and embroidered onto cloth. Such relief embroidery most often takes one of the themes from Buddhist scriptures. Representative embroideries include 16 Aryas (the Revered), which is embroidered onto a 30-meter long cloth.

The Kumbum Monastery is also famous for its diverse Buddhist activities, which attract an endless flow of Buddhists.