Kum-bum (Tibetan, sku-'bum). An important monastery (vihāra) of the Gelukpa school situated in the district of Tsongkha in present-day Ch'ing hai province. It was founded in 1588 at the birthplace of Tsongkhapa, in accordance with the decree of Dalai Lama III, Sonam Gyatso (bsod-nams rsya-mtsho), and later underwent considerable enlargement. Its name, literally ‘a hundred thousand Buddha images’, derives from its extensive iconographical features.

A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2003, 2004 (which is available in electronic version from answer.com)