Sera Je was founded by Lodro Rinchen Sengge, a disciple of Tsongkhapa, in the fifteenth century. It is one of three colleges of Sera Monastery, a major Geluk monastery in central Tibet. It is one of two philosophical colleges, though the two colleges, Sera Me and Je, consolidated their curricula and administration in the 1990s. Sera Je is the largest college of Sera and traditionally housed monks from eastern Tibet and Mongolia. It is famous for its debate courtyard, as well as a for its assembly hall, which contains an altar to Hayagrīva that is popular with pilgrims.