Sela Monastery(Chinese:色拉寺;pinyin:sèlāsì) is known as one of the 3 great monasteries in Tibet. Sera means "Wild Rose Garden" in Tibetan because lush wild rose woods once grew around it. The Sara Monastery set on the foothill of the Sara Wuzi Mountain at the northern Lhasa. The area is a Buddhist Mecca and also a favorite scenic spot in Lhasa.

The construction of the temple stared in 1414, and was completed in 1419. Sera is designed around a Main Assembly Hall, or Tshomchen in Tibetan, which is the grandest hall of Sera, occupying a floor space of 1,000 square meters. The four-storied hall has four chapels in which Arhats, Manjushri, Tsong Khapa, and Chenrezi are enshrined. Later, a huge Maitreya was enshrined in the hall during Maitreya was enshrined in the hall during the reign of the Seventh Dalai Lama. The valuable Buddhist sutras that Jamchen Chojey brought back from Beijing are kept in a sutra pigeonhole adjacent to the hall.

Sela houses three colleges as well as Drepung and Ganden. Sera Me college was the first one built in 1419 and rebuilt in 1761. Its Chanting hall is remarkable. Sera Me is prestigious for its fine, undamaged murals.

Sela Monastery attracted visitors mostly for its collections of the antiques and historical relics. Sera's collection of murals is maintained in perfect, original condition. Its statues of Maitreya, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats are very noteworthy. Scriptures written in gold powder, scroll paintings, a tapestry portrait of Jamchen Chojey, and thangkas can be seen throughout Sera.

Since ancient times, Living Buddhas and monks have taught the Buddhist doctrines in the area surrounding Sera. Dotted with willow trees, it is also home to many small monasteries and nunneries, including the Purbujor and Zhachi Holy Maid monasteries, Myiqoinre Nunnery, the Kardoreqoi mediation area, and the Balungreqoi to the east and south; Barku, Gungbasa, Pobengang, Zhaxiqoilin, and Qoisang monasteries as well as the Garil Nunnery to the west; and Zhukangreqoi and Seraqoiding monasteries to the rear.