Ganden Monastery is one of the 'great three' Gelukpa university monasteries of Tibet, the other two are Sera Monastery and Drepung Monastery. Notably situated high up on the Gokpori Ridge about 45km east of Lhasa, the monastery was finished on 1410 by Tsongkhapa himself. But the main hall was not completed until 1417, two years before his death. It stands at an altitude of 3,800 meters (12,467 feet) above sea level.

Ganden monastery is the first Gelugpa monastery in Tibet. Its tripa, abbot of the monastery, is actually the Throne Holder of Gelugpa, which is Panchen Lama and Dalai Lama's order.

Ganden Monastery consisted of two colleges, Jangtse and Shartse, meaning North Peak and East Peak respectively. Both of these cover an area of nearly 1,000 square meters (1196 square yards) and are capable of holding 1,500 worshipping lamas. The three main sights in the Ganden Monastery are the Serdung, which contains the tomb of Tsongkhapa, the Tsokchen Assembly Hall and the Ngam Cho Khang the chapel where Tsongkhapa traditionally taught.