The Great Prayer Festival, from January 8 through 14 on the Tibetan calendar, is the grandest religious festival in Ta’er Lamasery and other monasteries in Tibet. It has its origin in a prayer meeting organized at Jokhang Temple by Tsong Khapa, founder of the Gelukpa Sect, in 1409. Thousands of monks from far and near will gather for prayers, theological debates and examination for Geshe, a doctoral degree in Buddhist theology, at the temple. Pilgrims will come from everywhere to listen to sermons.

Following the Tibetan New Year, this is the greatest religious festival in Tibet. It was instituted in 1409 by the founder of the Gelukpa Sect, Tsongkapa. In Jorkhang monks from the Three Great Monasteries of Tibet assemble to pray to Sakyamuni and hold philosophical debates among candidates for the Doctorate of Metaphysics. From all over Tibet pilgrims come to pray and donate to the monks. The festival lasts nearly two weeks.

In the southwestern Gansu town of Xiahe, you will join one of the grandest of all Tibetan festivals, the Monlam, or the Great Prayer Festival, which takes place on the first month of each lunar year. The festival is held in Labrang Monastery, one of the six major Tibetan monasteries of the Gelupka Sect. You will travel overland from Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu, onto Linxia, a bustling town with a Muslim character, finally arriving at Xiahe, where you will join colorfully dressed pilgrims and lamas in a variety of religious ceremonies at the monastery. The highlight of the festival will be the 'sunning of the Buddha' ceremony, during which a thangka of Buddha measuring 30 meters (90 ft) by 20 meters (60 ft) will be unfurled on a hillside. The festival will be accompanied by lively drama performances, dances and prayer assemblies throughout the entire period.