Deden Tsuglagkhang, Sea of Happiness in Tibetan, is the spiritual center of Norbulingka. It dominates the top end of the property, towering against the mountains as one stands gazing up by the pool. The Institute’s architectural layout is based on the grid of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, and the Temple stands as the head of the deity. Completed in 1995, it was built in traditional style, the main prayer hall lit by skylights and large windows, decorated with murals and exceptional craft pieces from the work of Norbulingka’s Religious Art sections. The prayer hall is dominated by a colossal copper gilded Buddha statue made by the statue-making team, directed by the master craftsman Pemba Dorje. In front of the statue is a carved painted throne adorned with a picture of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama.

The thangka painting team executed the many murals. The Kings of the Four Directions greet visitors outside the main entrance, and the twelve deeds in the life of Buddha Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha, are recounted on the walls on either side of the Buddha statue. Upstairs in the gallery are paintings of the fourteen Dalai Lamas. Hanging from the balcony is a 16 ft tall silk and brocade appliqued depiction of the Sixteen Arhats. An extraordinary piece of craftsmanship, it took more than a year several thousand pieces of cut brocade and dozens of highly skilled artisans to assemble and sew. 

The Norbulingka temple is a focal point of the Institute, its heart. It is visited all year round by pilgrims and visitors alike, and is a tribute to the vibrancy of Tibetan art. 

A monumental sculpture for the Deden Tsuglagkhang Temple - the colossal 14ft tall statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, begun in July 1994 and completed in late 1995. This statue is symbolic of the huge influence the Buddha’s teachings have had on Tibetan culture, and because the statue was actually made in the temple where it was to be housed, the various stages of its creation were witnessed by members of the community. Everyone was able to participate in the required preparatory rituals. For example, there was an opportunity to contribute pieces of jewelry, part of an offering symbolic of prosperity. The community observed the assembly of the gilded parts of the statue, its being filled with scriptures, mantras and other sacred objects, and its final consecration.

The first project that our late statue-making master Pemba Dorje and his team worked on here at Norbulingka was the creation of the Buddha statue, which now graces the Deden Tsuglakhang temple, where it exerts a pacifying and stabilizing influence. It is said that the traditional image of the seated, meditating Buddha provokes neither anger nor desire but has an active, calming influence. Visitors at Norbulingka Institute are often charmed by the gardens and the architecture and are impressed by the industry and enthusiasm they find in the studios. Then, when they reach the head of the compound, the tremendous image of the Buddha in the temple has a profound impact.

The Buddha Shakyamuni statue is the principal object of reverence in the Norbulingka’s Deden Tsuglakhang, the “seat of happiness” Temple, which the members of the community circumambulate and where they assemble to pray on special occasions.