A monk looks at the thangka during the annual thangka unfurling ceremony at Ganden Monastery in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 25, 2010. Built along the slopes of the Wangbori Mountain, Dagze, Lhasa, the Ganden Monastery was the original monastery of the Gelug sect of Vajrayana Buddhism, founded by Tsongkhapa in 1409. Thousands of pilgrims gather here each year to worship a huge appliqued thangka that depicts the Buddha during the festival, one of the grandest buddhist ceremonies in Tibet. [Gesang Dawa/Xinhua] |