In Tibetan, the Sera Monastery is pronounced Sera Thegchengling. Located at the southern slope of the Serawoze Mountain in the northern suburb of Lhasa, the monastery covers an area that was once strewn with wild roses called Sewa. It was built by Sagya Yeshes (1354-1435, who was given the title of the Great Mercy Prince of Dharma during the Ming Dynasty), one of the eight disciples of Zongkapa, founder of the Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, in 1419. In 1962, it was made a cultural relics unit subject to protection at the Tibet Autonomous Region level. In 1982, the monastery was put under national protection.

The Sera Monastery is grand in scale, covering an area of 114,964 square meters. Its building complex is composed of Buddha halls, sutra halls, Zhacang (Buddhist colleges), residences for monks, Kamcun, and Lhadrang palace residences for major Living Buddhas Cermoiling and Razheng. Most important are the Coqen Hall, the Meba Zhacang, the Ngaba Zhacang, and the Gyi Zhacang. In the early period of its existence, the monastery was composed mainly of the Meba Zhacang and Ngaba Zhacang.

The Meba Zhacang in the southwestern part of the monastery was destroyed by a thunderbolt, and was rebuilt in 1761. With a combined construction area of 1,600 square meters, the four-storey building consists of the Sutra Hall, the Buddhist Guardian Hall, the Arhat Hall, the Sakyamuni Hall, the Zongkapa Hall, the Gangyur Hall and the residence for the Dalai Lama. The Sutra Hall is enshrined with bronze statues of Sakyamuni, Maitreya, Longevity Buddha, Medicine King, Goddess of Music, Zongkapa and two of his disciples, the 7th Dalai Lama and the 3rd Living Buddha Cermoiling.

The Ngaba Zhacang, built in 1710, served as the earliest Coqen Hall of the Sera Monastery. Following construction of the present-day Coqen Hall, it became a Zhacang. Covering a construction area of 1,500 square meters, the three-story Zhacang is composed of the Sutra Hall, the Arhat Hall, the Yamantaka-rje Hall, the Buddha of Infinite Light Hall, the residence for the Dalai Lama, and holy stupas. It is the smallest in size of the three Zhacangs in the monastery. However, it is an important place for monks of the monastery to study Tantricism. The monks here worship three Tantric Buddhas including Gsang-dus-rao-rje, Bde-mchog-rdo-rje and Yamantaka-rje. In the Sutra Hall is the statue of Sakyamuni flanked by statues of Zongkapa and two of his disciples, and the 13th Dalai Lama. Frescoes on the four walls tell Buddhist and Tantric stories, and contain figures of Gsang-dur-rao-rje and Bodhisattva, eminent monks in the history of Buddhism. They are all superbly painted.

The Gyi Zhacang is the larges of the three Zhacangs. With a construction area of 1,700 square meters, it was built in 1435. During the Qing Dynasty, it was rebuilt into a four-storey building complex composed of the Sutra Hall, the Hall of Buddhist Trinity, the Hall of the Horse-Necked Diamond King, the Maitreya Hall, the Zongkapa Hall, the Hall of the Goddess of Music, the Hall of the Goddess of Mercy, the Victorious Hall and the Coqen Hall. The Coqen Hall, lying in the northeastern part of the monastery, was built in 1710 with aid from Lhabzang Khan, Mongol Khan as Tibet's administrative ruler. At that time, it was the largest hall and the religious and administrative center of the monastery. Standing four stories, the hall is composed of the Hall Square, the Sutra Hall, the Maitreya Hall, the Arhat Hall, and the Yamantaka-rje Hall, as well as the residences for Coqen abbots and the Lagyi, the management organ of the monastery. Its Hall of the Goddess of Mercy is an exhibition of frescoes that depict the relationship between the Central Government of the Ming Dynasty and the local government of Tibet at the time. The frescoes show Sagya Yeshes, creator of the monastery, paying homage to the Mingrulers in 1414 and 1434, receiving the title of Great Mercy Prince of Dharma, and conducting religious activities of the imperial court.

All the 5,500 monks of the Sera Monastery study in Kamcuns and Myicuns under various Zhacangs (Buddhist colleges). The three Zhacangs of the monastery boast a total of 32 Kamcuns, with the Gyi Zhacang having 17, exceeding the two others. Like their counterparts in the Gandain and Zhaibung monasteries, monk students here are required to complete the study of the five volumes of buddhist classics, as required by the Gelug Sect, in 22-24 years. Those who pass the sutra doctrine debate held once a year during the Grand Summons Ceremony in Lhasa are honored as the Lharaba Geshi and receive the highest Buddhist degree. This qualifies them to further their study in the Lower Tantric College.

Lagyi is the supreme organ of management in the Sera Monastery. Its major members include the Kampus Chiba abbot, Kampus abbots of the three Zhacang colleges, chief manager (called She'o in Tibetan) of the Coqen Hall, bailiff (Gyisoi in Tibetan) of the monastery manor, leading sutra teacher, official stationed in the monastery by the Gaxag government of Tibet, and the secretary, totalling 11 in number. The Kampus Chiba abbot is responsible for holding meetings that cover matters of importance to the monastery. Various Zhacangs have their own management organs operating under the Zhacang kampus abbot to handle day-to-day affairs.

Like other Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, the Sera Monastery has a Democratic Management Committee to unify monastery management. The committee is composed of one director, four deputy directors, seven committee members and one secretary. Under it are the Cultural Management Committee, the Security Committee and the Materials Management Committee. All the committee members are monks and democratically elected.

The Sera Monastery holds its regular religious activities on the 8th, 10th, 15th, 25th and 30th days of each month. On these days, most of the Buddhist novices have a reading following morning fast tea and participate in sutra doctrine debates following the noon fast tea. In the afternoon, they perform religious rituals, again engage in sutra doctrine debates and listen to lectures by sutra teachers. On Sundays, sutra doctrine debating is held on a regular basis after five in the afternoon. On the 15th and 30th days of each month, monks with the monastery are required to retreat for spirtual refreshment and refrain from going out of the monastery until the end of the ritual. On other days, monks with the monastery couple their regular religious study and activities with production and labor. In recent years, they have planted close to 20,000 peach and apple trees. Income from the fruit is distributed every six months among the monks by the Democratic Management Committee. The Central Government has special allocations for monks who are old and physically weak. These monks are also given a portion of butter, tea and porridge.

The Sera Monastery has a rich collection of cultural relics, many of which are considered to be of state class. They include statues of Buddha, tangka paintings, frescoes, Buddhist scriptures, Buddhist objects and sacrificial articles. The Hall of the Goddess of Mercy of the Coqen Hall is enshrined with Dangyur and Gangyur written in gold powder ink, and Tripitaka; the Hall of the Wisdom Buddha, is enshrined with the 1413 Beijing-edition of Gangyur and Tripitaka and the Arhat Hall contains the sandalwood statues of 18 Arhats bestowed by Ming Dynasty Emperor Yongle. The Gyi Zhacang is enshrined with the pair of gold-silver cymbals cast during the fifth year of the reign of Ming Dynasty Emperor Xuande. The monastery also owns a silk tangka painting of Sagya Yeshes which is now part of the collection of the Cultural Relics Mangement Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Of these cultural relics, the most important are the 108-volume Beijing-edition Gangyur printed in cinnabar in 1410, which Ming Dynasty Yeshes. They constitute the first Tibetan part of Tripitaka printed with carved printing blocks in China.
The Sera Monastery has suffered from both natural disasters and war. When Tibet was peacefully liberated in 1951, it was dilapidated. The PRC Central Government and the people's government of the Tibet Autonomous Region earmarked a huge amount of money for renovations.

Today, the Sera Monastery shines as one of the holy places for the Tibetan monks to study Buddhism and perform Buddhist rituals, and for the Tibetans to worship Buddha.