LHASA - The preservation project of Drepung Monastery, the largest monastery in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

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Construction workers said they had maintained the monastery's original style in carrying out the repairing work on the Drepung Monastery, which started in June 2009 and will cost the 65-million-yuan (about $10 million).

The preservation work included repairs of the main hall, the sleeping palace of the Dalai Lamas throughout history, four Buddhism colleges and also its fresco paintings.

The ongoing repair work has not not disturbed the religious activities of the monastery, said the construction workers.

Covering an area of 250,000 square meters, the monastery was built in 1416 in the western suburbs of Lhasa, the region's capital, and has been one of the six prime monasteries for the Gelugpa (yellow sect) Tibetan Buddhism.

The repairing project is part of the 570 million yuan program to preserve 22 historical relics in Tibet. The massive program, China's largest preservation move in the region, begun with the repairing work on the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Xigaze of Tibet in April 2008.