The Guge Kingdom in Tibet experienced a brief period of prosperity, which lasted for about 700 years. Today two of its remaining glories are still accessible. One is its political center, the Ruins of Guge Kingdom, and the other is the religious center, the sublime Tholing Mon­astery.

The Tibetan word Tholing means "hovering in the sky forever," indicating the im­posing position occupied by the monastery. Built by the second monarch of the Guge Kingdom in 996, it is the oldest Buddhist temple in the region. During its heyday, it was the center for the transla­tion of Buddhist scriptures and the holding of religious ceremonies. The kingdom's dominant function in intro­ducing Buddhism to the heart of Tibet also contributed much to this temple. In the mid-eleventh century, the prestigious lama Atisha was invited from India to give sermons here, which led to the revival of Buddhism in Tibet. In subsequent years, the monastery went through many changes and was finally recognized as a cultural site of national importance under the protection of the state on its one-thousandth anniversary.

The Tholing Monastery in­corporates the craftwork of the architecture and Buddhist statues of neighboring India, Nepal, and Ladakh (the present), imitating the style of the archetypal Tibetan temple — the Samye Mon­astery. The many buildings here include halls, monks' residences, and pagodas, among which the Jiasha Hall, Red Hall, White Hall, and the 108 pagodas are the most interesting.