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Lhasa

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Day 7 (2/3) - Jokhang Temple And Barkhor Street



After finishing breakfast, we headed over to Jokhang temple(大昭寺), probably the second most popular tourist spot after Potala palace. The temple was less than 10 minutes drive from Potala palace and within walking distance of our hotel.


The Tibetan king Songsten Gampo built the temple in the 7th century. It housed dowries of Songsten Gampo's two wives, Tang princess Wen-Cheng(文成公主) and Nepalese Bhrituti. My guide told me the anecdote of how Wen-Cheng's dowries were swapped in order to keep them in Tibet as Tang wanted the dowries back after Wen-Cheng died. Today, the temple is a popular spot for Buddhist pilgrimage.



A bed used by the praying pilgrims in front of Johkong temple.


Burning paper offerings

We arrived at the temple around noon. There were plenty of people already. Several monks in red robe in the right picture. There are several sects within Tibetan Buddhism. We saw mostly yellow hat monks around the temple.

Our guide found that a well-respected Lama was paying a visit in the afternoon, we decided to spend some time shopping in Barkhor street before coming back to the temple to see the Lama.



View of Barkhor Street



Barkhor street circles the temple. I am not sure if there is a story behind this, it appeared that most of the pedestrians visiting Barkhor walked clockwise. The street was lined with plenty of shops and stands selling everything from Tibetan flavored decorations, paintings, status, and books.





A stand in Barkhor street



Ornaments for sale


Bargaining was a necessary evil here, especially for us who has tourist written all over our faces - I had a big camera hanging while Levi did not speak much Mandarin other than "duo shao? (how much?)" and "pien yi dien? (cheaper?)"


Naturally, we got ball park fair price figures from our guide. But as we walked past more stands, we soon found out we just paid too much for the last items we purchased. It did not dampen our spirit though, the items were unique and probably would have cost much more in the US.


I don't have a rule of thumb for the "Tibetan price" - what the locals pay vs. the first asking price. I guess it would be somewhere around 10-20% - local price being 1/5 to 1/10 of the first price. Well, tourist always pay more here - many places we visited required us to purchase tickets while locals only pay a nominal fee. Think of it as a benefit for the locals - besides, many places have religious significant and did not make sense to require locals to pay substantial (by local standard) usage fee.




Not sure what to say about this...



This lady was holding a Tibetan prayer wheel - turning it clock wise while chanting Buddhism sutra would multiply prayer's effect



A pilgrim on Barkhor street

After satisfying our shopping urge, we headed back to Johkang temple. By now, there were a lot of people at the temple entrance eagerly waiting for Lama's arrival. The securities had to close to door to stop the inflow of people.


We found ourselves a half decent spot by the door. The yellow hat monks lined up in the center waiting to welcome the guest of honor. As I was blocked, these pictures were taken without me looking at the view finder, so I was busy shooting away in hope to get a couple of good ones.


The Lama arrived in a car, and it turned chaotic - everyone headed for the side entrance. We waited a little bit before going to purchase the ticket. It was much too crowded inside with the special event. We settled to the second floor rooftop looking down the main assembly area. The Lama was there to lead a religious ceremony, though I was not sure what was the occasion. The ceremony did not start right away, I walked around the took some more pictures.




Some visitors sprinkled drop of water to themselves from here


A Monk eating before the ceremony start


I think he was better versed than me in cell phone gadget


A woman chatting while waiting


The Lama coming down the stair into the gathering area on the first floor, he was in gold robe with the cone shaped hat


Yes, we were charged RMB70 per person while it was nominal if not free for locals.


View of Potala palace from Jokhang temple, by now, th sun started to pierce through the cloud


View of the open area in front of Jokhang temple


Wheel of Dharma on the temple roof top


Wheel of Dharma at the front of the temple.


Up close view of the wheel




After awhile, we were looking to leave the temple as we grew tired and had one more stop to go for the day - Norbulingka. For some reason, the doors were all locked. The security of the temple eventually opened a side door for us to get out. That was odd.

Because of the event, we did not get to see much of Jokhang. But we witness a special ceremony, so it's all good.


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