The Great Sutra Hall (Da Jing Tang) is the largest building in Kumbum Monastery and the centre of its monastic life. Rebuilt after damage in the 19th century, the hall follows traditional Tibetan assembly hall design: low light entering from a central courtyard, rows of monks' cushions stretching back into the dimness, and altar furnishings — butter lamps, offering bowls, thangka hangings — of considerable age and quality.
Prayer sessions in the hall are open to visitors who arrive quietly and behave respectfully. The monks chant in Tibetan accompanied by instruments — drums, cymbals, long telescoping horns (dungchen) — in sessions that typically start before dawn and repeat at intervals through the morning. The smell of butter lamps and incense, the sound of massed chanting in a space built for it, and the sight of hundreds of monks in robes is an experience that no museum can replicate.