Drak Yerpa Monastery was built up because of the cave. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

A folk song is popular in Tibet, "Lhasa is the holy spirit axis of Tibet. Yerpa is the spirit axis of Lhasa. If you go to Lhasa instead of Yerpa equals to making a clothes without collar."

Called as "the secret place hidden behind the Holy City", the Drak Yerpa monastery has some of the oldest and famous meditation caves in the area. Built on a hillside with more than 80 meditation caves, Drak Yerpa owns over 1,500 years history. Some of the caves are associated with the great names of Tibetan Buddhism: Songtsan Gampo, the first ruler of a united Tibet; Padmasambhava, a sage guru who was instrumental in bringing Buddhism to Tibet in the 8th century; and Lhalung Pelgyi Dorje, one of the twenty-five disciples of Padmasambhava who is said to have hidden here after assassinating an anti-Buddhist King.

At present, there are over 60 monks in the Drak Yerpa Monastery.