This is the interior courtyard of the eastern portion of the Hamdong apartment compound (har gdong spyi khang). Hamdong Regional House, the largest regional house in all of Sera, had several such apartment compounds, this being one of the largest. Several stories of monks’ quarters are built overlooking the central courtyard on three sides. The fourth side (with no rooms) is the shared common wall with the western portion of the Hamdong apartment compound.