The Samye monastery, the first Buddhist monastery built in Tibet, is most probably first constructed between 775 and 779 CE under the patronage of King Trisong Detsen of Tibet who seeks to revitalize Buddhism, which had declined since its introduction by King Songtsen Gampo in the seventh century.

The monastery, located in present Dranang, Shannan Prefecture, and supposedly modeled on the design of Odantapuri monastery in what is now Bihar, India, features an architectural mandala (Sanskrit for "circle"), a symbolic diagram of the universe, used in Tantric Buddhism for ritual purposes.