Gelug Monastery Reforms in Tibetan Buddhism (1407)

Timeline

1. 1401–1407Ganden Monastery · Lhasa CityTsongkhapa instituted strict discipline at Ganden Monastery, reviving the Nalanda-style scholastic tradition of India, emphasizing debate on Madhyamaka and Yogacara, staged practice of exoteric and esoteric teachings, and correcting laxity and secularization in some monastic communities.
2. 1407Lhasa · LhasaTsongkhapa held a large-scale butter lamp offering ceremony in Lhasa (one of the origins of the Tibetan 'Butter Lamp Festival'), showcasing the results of Gelug reforms through public religious ritual, attracting many devotees and monks of various schools, and raising the Gelug school's social influence.
3. 1408–1410Outskirts of Lhasa · LhasaTsongkhapa's disciples began planning large-scale study centers on the outskirts of Lhasa, paving the way for the later construction of Drepung Monastery (1416) and Sera Monastery (1419), forming the prototype of the Gelug 'three great monasteries' pattern.