Ponpori Hills, located in the Shigatse Prefecture of the Tsang region of Southwest Tibet. Ponpori is a range of hills in an area that is noted for it's grey soil. The Drum River runs through the geographically rocky area. The region is noted for being the location of the first “Northern” and “Southern” Monasteries of the Sakya Tradition. The name Sakya means “whitish soil” so the place name is derivative of the geographical features which surround it. There is a patch of light gray/whitish soil in the mountainside that resembles the face of a lion.
In 1040 the great Bengali author and translator Atisa traveled through the Ponpouri Hills. Here he saw a vision of bijas of several Bodhisattvas on the hillsides. He took this as a sign that in the future, this location will see the emanation of many Bodhisattvas. Thirty-three years after this vision, the first Sakya Monastery was built in this location.
The Northern Monastery was founded in 1073 by Kohn Konchong Gyalpo. Drogon Chogyal Phakpa, who was a guide of the Mongolian ruler Kublai Kahn, built the Southern Monastery in 1268. All that remains of the original structures are ruins from the Chinese Cultural Revolution.