Qutan Temple

Qutan Temple (qú tán sì), located 21 kilometers south of Ledu District, Haidong City, Qinghai Province, at the entrance of Maquangou, faces the Qutan River, backs against the Luohan Mountain, north to Songhua Top, and south to Zhaobei Mountain. In Tibetan, it is called 'Zhuocang Lakang Guodandai', also known as 'Zhuocang Duojieqiang', meaning 'Zhuocang Vajradhara Temple', which was founded in the 25th year of the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty (1392), and is a Gelug sect monastery of Tibetan Buddhism. The temple is famous for its precious cultural relics and huge colorful murals. Qutan Temple is a typical early Ming Dynasty official architectural complex. Historically, Qutan Temple had jurisdiction over thirteen temples. Qutan Temple is the second batch of national key cultural relics protection units, and it is the most completely preserved and largest Ming Dynasty temple architecture in the northwest region of China.