Revering by walking, prostrating, chanting, offering…
Offerings – of objects or one’s presence – affirms the Tibetan’s reverence of sacred places and objects.
Thresholds can be the shift into a physical structure or rituals for new events in a lifetime. Thresholds are the crossing into another existence whether physical, emotional, or spiritual… or as in these sacred places, the combination of all three.
Jokhang – the heart of Tibetan pilgrimage
Tibetans think of the Jokhang as the “spiritual heart of Lhasa” and it does sit in the middle of the Barkhor, the market square of old Lhasa. More importantly, it is the most sacred and important temple in Tibet.
King Songtsen Gampo (traditionally the 33rd king of Tibet) began to build the temple in 652 AD to house the many Buddhist statues brought as dowry by his two brides: Princess Wencheng of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal, who both helped him establish Buddhism in Tibet. The most important statue is the Jowo, an image of the twelve-year-old Buddha. The Jokhang was enlarged many times and the scene of many important events in the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet.
In the morning there were thousands of Tibetans in a long queue to visit the inside of the Jokhang while others did prostrations and circled this most important temple.
Spiritual and social… taking a break from prostrations
Starting young… her mom showed her how to do the prostrations
The police managing entry to the Jokhang let tourists in by another door without the long queue. Most of the other tourists were Chinese… everywhere we went.
The queue was long but people were patient. Many people carried large thermoses full of melted butter to add to the huge butterlamps by the main Jowo statue.
The murals on the walls were fantastic, but no photos were allowed past this doorway.
This old carving on a stone block seemed old. Some of the temple is about 1,300 years old and some has been refurbished, like on the roof.
We could not see signs of the fire on Feb 17, the day after Losar this year. But, barriers and security guards limited how far we could wander on the rooftop.
Most tourists were Chinese. An elderly Tibetan man I knew from past visits said that recently published statistics on visitors to the Potala in the previous month were 34 Tibetans, 5,000 Chinese, and 17 foreigners. We did not visit the Potala on this trip. While I waited for the group, a young Chinese woman started talking to me here on the Jokhang roof. I asked her what attracted her to visit here… “pure, clean land and very faithful people” It seemed that she had not heard much else about what has happened in Tibet.
Shigatse and Tashilunpo
Tashilunpo is a relatively newer monastery in Shigastse to the west of Lhasa. It was founded in 1447 and sacked by the Gorkha Kingdom of Nepal in 1791. The Nepalis were eventually driven back almost to Kathmandu. The monastery once had over 4,000 monks but we could not find our how many are there now.
The worn flagstones… what history has passed over them.
The monks gathering for evening prayers
The threshold into the main prayer hall.
Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig in Tibetan embodies the infinite compassion of all the Buddhas and completely devoted to helping others until all being achieve liberation.
There are four main gompas (temples) in the monastery.
The representation of the spiritual character of a previous lama.
We were visiting in Saka Dawa, the sacred month commemorating the Buddha’s birth and enlightenment. Local people filled the area around the three stupas at Tashilungpo as they walked the kora, rested, ate, and visited.
The kora path was like a river of devotion.
Toddler sleeping on a bench.
Many of the entry ways just before the thresholds at Tashlungpo had diagrams of inset turpqoise and other stones perhaps as extra symbols of one’s entry into sacred spaces.
This is an ancient symbol represents continuity and good fortune. Unfortunately, its reverse was stolen for use by the Nazis in the 1930s.
Photos on the roof of the Jokhang 1990s
franceslk 
Always enjoy your Blogs, Frances. I have been to the Jokhang Temple several times and on my first visit had a hotel room overlooking the Square. Loved early mornings here and admiredat the devotion and dedication of those who came on pilgrimages and their seeming tireless prostrations. I found this site much more spiritual than any others I visited. Elsie
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