Sera, one of the three largest monasteries of Gelugpa, sits at the foot of Hill Tatipu. It is as prestigious as Drepung and Ganden, which had a longer history. Sera in Tibetan means Wild Rose Garden since opulent wild rose woods once grew around it. A legend said Tsong Khapa and his two disciples once proceeded religious cultivation around. One day, they heard horse whinnying underground when they were taking a walk in the rose woods. A statue of Hynagriva (a horse-headed demon-god) was dug out then. Tsong Khapa started to build the monastery to enshrine Hynagriva. However, the truth is that in 1414, Jamchen Chojey (or Sakya Yeshe), one of Tsong Khapa's disciples, on behalf of Tsong Khapa, visited Emperor Chengzu, who granted him a title of Dharma King of Great Mercy as well as sutras and a set of sandalwood Arhats. In order to preserve them, Tsong Khapa suggested Jamchen Chojey to build a monastery to house these treasures. Then Sera monastery was set up in 1419.

The center of Sera is the 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 respectively. A huge Maitreya had been enshrined in the hall during the reign of the Seventh Dalai Lama. The Buddhist sutras Jamchen Chojey brought back from Beijing is kept on the sutra pigeonhole against the hall, which is now of great value.

Sera has three colleges as well as Drepung and Ganden. Sera Me college is the one built first, in 1419. Later it was destroyed by lightening strike and restored in 1761. Its Chanting hall is remarkable. Sera Me is prestigious for its fine, undamaged murals.

Sera Je college was first founded in 1435 and expanded by a Mongol king in seventeenth century. The building has five stories, covering a space of a thousand square meters. In its main hall 11 stupas of Ganden tripas and Ratreng tripas were contained. The Hynagriva said above is enshrined in its Hynagriva Chapel.

Ngagpa college was set up in 1559. The smallest college of the three though, it houses its founder, Jamchen Chojey's statue in its chanting hall. The set of sandalwood Arhats granted to the monastery has been housed in this college. For the sake of perfect preservation, they had been placed in the bellies of a set of clay Arhats which are definitely the same with the original ones.

Sera keeps a collection of murals in perfect, original condition. Its statues of Maitreya, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats are very noteworthy. Scriptures written in gold powder, scroll paintings, tapestry portrait of Jamchen Chojey, thangkas are characteristics of Sera.