Lhasa Things to Do

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Doing the circuit of Barkhor, was already crushed, when we reached the temple itself. Founded in the seventh century, the entire temple is reminiscent of the palaces of India.

In the outside of the entrance people stay on the ground, in the rain or in the sun, to pray prayers that begin in standing together with hands under his head, then across the face, then in front of the belly and stretch your arms and finally lay on the floor. If I have understood correctly repeated 1000 times and the movement daily. In the side there was sellers of yak butter (for those who do not know yak is a hairy buffalo type animal), which is used to place candles in lanterns, releasing a single odor ...

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The Barkhor, the bustling neighborhood to Lhasa, which is always surrounded by pilgrims, locals and few tourists who come to visit Jokhang Temple, considered the holiest place in Tibet. As we approach, the rituals handed down by people, butter lamps and wreaths of smoke that depredates incense make it an unforgettable experience. I have been to various religious sites, including Catholic and Muslim faith, and never felt so much piety or devotion. Would say practically all people prayed in the street, carrying in his left hand a kind of litany of stones and right for a bronze object that runs the movement of the hand, as the person praying. Throughout there is a specific circuit, called the Kora, which is supposed to carry the pilgrims several times. On the sides there are stalls selling an array of objects, but even more impressive is the smell of incense coming from the four burners along the circuit (called sangkang), where they burn juniper branches. There is also an external circuit, which takes three hours. There are people who do morning and afternoon and when they are older, they can spend the day doing it!

We are not allowed to leave Lhasa, or walk in the temples and monuments without permission, but in the streets without problem. In each corner are Chinese military, as if recalling the Tibetans, this is a Chinese province and not independent.

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This monastery is belong to Gelugpa sect. It is one of the 3 monasteries equal to university. Sera founded in 1419 by Sakya Yeshe. There had been 5-6000 monks here, in its glorious times. Now there are only a few hundreds of monks teaching in Sera. With 3 schools and 30 residents, Sera Monastery is like a town. It is located 5km north of Jokhang (Lhasa).
Walking direction in the monastery is clockwise. We first encountered a group of locals waiting a long queue. There are lots of children here. A monk paints their eyes with a little bit of smut. It was for the babies and children cannot sleep at night, said our local guide. They let us pass and did not complain at all. We entered the building while they were waiting. Monks inside the building prays and touches the person on the line. We continued our tour and came to other buildings. There was a closed garden surrounded by walls. We’ve been told that the monks had been used to debate here, but government does not want them to debate anymore. So the garden/debate class is closed. Maybe you can see a debate scene on a movie with clapping hands etc.
There was a tower-like building here for tangkhas. It was under a hill and the rocks over the hill were all decorated with common figures of Buddhism. One of the last buildings there was a huge statue. We saw the bottom part and went to upper floor to see the rest. And we donated some money and had the blessing of Medicine Buddha. A monk was holding a stick connected to a statue and he was praying and touching you with the loose end of this stick.
I had pains in my neck at that time and after a few days (after I returned home) I got worse.

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Jokhang is the first Buddhist temple of Tibet and has been built on the heart of Sinmo the ogress, center of the geomantic temples. It has been financed by princess Bhrikuti, first Nepali wife of Songsten Gampo on a place where second wife, Chinese princess Wen Cheng, foretold that it was a power center. Construction was between 639 and 647. The temple housed for the two Buddha statues which brought by two princesses as their dowries. The gate of the temple extraordinarily is on Nepal direction, as a respect to princess Bhrikuti.
It’s been told that there was a lake here before the temple. First story says that a holly goat carried all the soil to fill the lake; second one says that a goat accidentally poured its load to lake and an island came out. These stories explain the old name of the city, Rasa, the place of goat. There is a different story about Songten Gampo, the famous king. He threw his ring to lake and a stupa rose from water. Then it’s been understood that this place is sacred and they built the temple here.
Jokhang’s old name is Tsulakhang, “House of Religious Science”. Jokhang means “House of Buddha”. Jokhang Temple is the most sacred temple of entire Tibet. It renovated many times, so it doesn’t have much in common with the temple in 7th century but all statues in it are dated before Cultural Revolution.
The entrance of the temple from Barkor was all covered by Buddhist pilgrims praying and prostrating. Inner courts were more tranquil. We saw many statues inside; one was of Avalokitesvara, Songsten Gampo and his two brides, princess Bhrikuti and princess Wen Cheng. Also I saw my first svastika. The roof of Jokhang Temple offers a good view of Barkor and Potala. You can take some good photographs here. The rooftop statues with golden deer and decorated golden roofs are also worth to see.

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Barkor is the square in front of Jokhang Temple and the district around the temple. It is the main square of Lhasa and full with vendors. Barkor is also the name of the most famous circumambulation path. It has narrow roads until 1993, and then Chinese government renovated the roads
There are 4 torches or incense burners around Jokhang Temple, showing the borders of Barkor. It is a nice place to see locals and do some shopping. Probably the prices are higher than usual here but it is nice to bargain and join the life.

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Potala Palace is one of the most amazing structures over the globe. The first building had been built during the reign of Songsten Gampo in 637. Then 5th Dalai Lama had chosen the place for his palace and construction begun in 1645. Its situation was perfect being between Drepung and Sera monasteries and being close to Lhasa. 5th Dalai Lama had been moved into Potala in 1649 while the construction was still on the run. He had died during the construction and his death had been kept as a secret. The construction of Potrang Karpo (White Palace, administration offices) finished 12 years after Dalai Lama’s death, in 1694. Potrang Marpo (Red Palace, religious center) was added between 1690 and 1694.
Palace was named after either a hill a sacred place of Avalokitesvara, or a place called Potala with the meaning “The country of Avalokitesvara”. Both explanations are reasonable, because Songsten Gampo and 5th Dalai Lama were the reincarnations of Avalokitesvara.
All Dalai Lamas lived in Potala Palace until 18th century. After Norbulingka Palace constructed, it was used as summer palace of Dalai Lama.
Potala had been damaged during Tibetan uprising in 1959 and Cultural Revolution in 1966. Potala Palace is a World Heritage site since 1994 and since 2001 Jokhang and Norbulingka added the site as extensions.
Potala Palace had been the highest building until 20th century. It is 400m in east –west direction and 350m in north-south direction. Its height is 117 meters. The walls start from 3m thickness above and reach 5m thickness at the bottom. Building has 1000 rooms, 10,000 shrines, 200,000 statues in 13 floors. And it is also said that there was a huge unseen portion of the palace going down to the rocks of the hill. It takes weeks to visit all of these rooms, so there is a defined path for visitors. Since the palace is huge and many places are dark, we should be thankful for this limitation. One can easily lost in here.
Potala Palace has two sections: Red Palace and White Palace. White Palace, Portrang Karpo, is the living quarters of Dalai Lama. It contains gold stupas, assembly halls… Red Palace, Portrang Marpo, is for religious study.
There is a quota of visitors for palace. It was 1500 visitors per day until 2006 then it’s been increased to 2300. Groups must have reservation in advance. For example we already knew the exact hour to enter Potala before reaching Tibet. Since it is a sacred place for locals, they can visit the palace without any restrictions or entrance fees. This is why the visiting path was packed sometimes. We met a family in the narrow corridors. A mother, daughter and son were paying a visit before young girl’s marriage.

From when I read 'Dr Who and the Abominable Snowmen' as child I have been mesmerised by the prospect of visiting Tibet and, oddly, drinking yak butter tea. Odd, I know, but a child with an overactive imagination in a Liverpool suburb can imagine a place to be magical (I got that right - Tibet is) and an exotic drink, yak butter tea, to be a taste sensation. There I was wrong. Yak butter tea is beyond the category of 'acquired taste'. It is simply unpleasant. Don't wait to visit Tibet to prove this - try it at home. Make a cup of weak, milky tea. Wait until it has become somewhat tepid. Then add a liberal knob of butter to the cup and watch it melt. Whisk it around with a teaspoon and taste. You will be disgusted. Oh! Do, please, use salted butter. That should give you a better approximation of yak butter tea. Horrible. You will discover, as I did, that rather than being a rich and restoring cuppa, it is simply a deeply unpleasant mixture of ... well ... weak milky tea and salty butter. Courtesy of the altitude in Tibet the tea never gets hot enough to swill the fatty butter our of your mouth, but it does just get hot enough to emulsify the butter, which means that after taking a swig of the stuff ones mouth gets horribly coated with a thin film of salty butter which is not going anywhere. Deeply, deeply unpleasant. Now that my dreams of the drink have been cruelly shattered, I can only pity anyone who has to suffer drinking this stuff on a regular basis.