藏传佛教的四大教派
藏传佛教的四大教派：宁玛派，葛当派，萨迦派，葛举派。
萨迦派俗称花教，萨迦在藏语中意为“灰白色的土地”，因其主寺萨迦寺建在日喀则地区萨迦县北本波该寺庙外墙上均涂有象征文殊、观音、和金刚手菩萨的红白蓝三色花纹，而被俗称为花教。萨迦寺用象征文殊菩萨的红色，象征观音菩萨的白色和象征金刚手菩萨的青色来涂抹寺墙，所以萨迦派又俗称为“花教”。萨迦派采取血统和法统两种传承方式。贡噶宁布学识渊博，使萨迦教法趋于完整，被尊称为“萨钦”（萨迦大师），为该派初祖。
萨迦寺有四件珍奇的宝物，即贡布古如（由竹青白瓦巴从印度请来的依怙神像胶）、朗结曲丹（由大译师帕白洛扎瓦修建的佛塔，塔里经常出水，被视为神水）、文殊菩萨像（系萨班的本尊像，据说在像前念七天文殊经就能打开智慧之门）、玉卡姆度母像（八思巴供奉的本尊佛像），四大奇宝中三件是佛像。萨迦寺的镇寺之宝是当年忽必烈送给八思巴的一个黑木匣子，匣中有一只硕大的白皮书海螺，寺中僧人视其胜于生命，只有宗教吉日才开启木匣，捧出海螺由高僧吹奏。萨迦寺收藏的各种瓷器约有2000余件，其中多为元、明时期的瓷器，也有少量宋瓷。唐卡和壁画是西藏寺院绘画艺术的两大奇葩，萨迦寺仅唐卡就存有3000余幅，据鉴定，宋、元、明时期的珍贵唐卡有360余幅。萨迦寺壁画色彩鲜艳、形象生动，除了宗教内容外，壁画还记录了八思巴来往内地和西藏，在北京受封等场面。萨迦寺藏有萨班的袈裟一件，翠红金丝缎面、红绸里、绣花鞋一只，系内地制品，八思巴遗物有凉帽一顶，鞋三只，也系内地制品。此外，该寺还珍藏有元代武器多件，都是极为珍贵的历史文物。
萨迦寺每年都举行或大或小多次法事活动，其中规模较大、独具特色的要算萨迦寺夏季和冬季金刚神舞法会。萨迦寺夏季神舞在每年藏历七月进行，冬季社舞历十一月十十九日开始。神舞表演时，舞者都戴着萨迦寺护法神和各种灵兽面具，神舞用简单的故事情节，形象地反映了藏传佛教密宗神舞的灭杀魔鬼的基本内容。每年适逢这两个法会时，成千上万的远近僧俗群众都要赶到萨迦寺朝拜观瞻，祈祷神舞能给人间带来幸福和吉祥。
Sakya Monastery
The Sakya Monastery is located at the foot of Benbo Mountain in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
The Sakya Monastery is the ancestral temple of Sakyapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It was built in the
6th
year (1073) of the Xining reign of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) by Khon Konchog Gyalpo, the
founder of Sakyapa sect of Lamaism.
Sakya, meaning "Grey Soil" in Tibetan since the soil surrounding it is gray; it is the central monastery of Sakyapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Zhongqu River runs through the temple and divides it into the southern temple and the northern temple. The northern temple has been mostly deserted and the southern temple still remains. Its walls were painted in red, white and grey strips, which represent Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani respectively. Therefore, the Sakya Monastery is also called Colored Temple and Sakyapa sect is also called Colored School. The northern temple looks like a castle with walls as high as 13 meters surrounding it. It is a square with an area of 15,000 square meters. In the middle of the eastern side is a gate, on the top of which there is a watchtower. On the west, north and south, there is also a watchtower respectively. On the four corners of the wall, there are four turrets. Outside the castle is a lower earthen castle and outside further is the deep trench. Walls, watchtowers, turrets; earthen castle and trench form the defensive system of the castle, which was almost formidable at that time.
The main architectures inside the castle are the Dajing Hall, the Buddhism Hall and the hall where the Sakya archbishop lived. They all preserve the style of Yuan architectures. The Dajing Hall is in the center of the temple and occupies an area of 5,700 square meters. The columns and walls inside it are all painted dark red. There are 40 columns, each 10 meters high. On the western, northern and southern sides are fresco corridors while on the eastern side is the hall where Sakyapa Masters are enshrined. To the north of Dajing Hall is the hall for Sakyapa archbishop, with monks' dorms on its north and back.
On the shelves of the Dajing Hall and the Buddhism Hall are displayed various hand-written Buddhist scriptures and books of Ming and Qing dynasties. It has the largest number of books among all the temples in Tibet. These scriptures and books are precious materials for research into the Tibetan history.