Lhasa: At High Altitude

I arrived at Lhasa airport on Tuesday 22 November 2007. As I stepped outside, my immediate thought was that it was so cold that my hands would fall off and I was afraid to touch my nose. Eventually I learnt that you could stand in the sun in a t-shirt but that you needed at least four jackets to stand in the shade.

Arriving in Lhasa almost two hours later (the only way they could build an airport was to build it 90 minutes drive away), I headed to find a hotel. On a budget, I managed to find a room for Y50 but turns out it didn’t include a heater and the shower was miles away from the room. Luckily I was meeting Taryn and the expensive hotel rooms of her tour group meant I could have a shower and warm up somewhat.

Wandering out for lunch, I realised the side of the town I was on was really similar to Nepal. Later in the day, I realised that Lhasa seems to be split into two almost separate townships, the Tibetan and the Chinese sides. For most of my trip, I didn’t know which home I was in…Nepal or China! Neither of them had the views of the mountain range you could get from within the Lhasa township though.

From the restaurant, I also got a great view of the Barkhor pilgrim circuit where pilgrims and tourists circumambulate the 1300-year-old Johkang Temple, one of the holiest shrines in the world. I’d seen circumambulation in Nepal, but not like this. Usually everyone looks like a holy person, but here it was every man and his dog. I took some time after lunch to get the real experience, combining it with some necessary shopping for gloves, scarves and anything I could get my hands on that could keep me warm in the shade.

Johkang Temple was built by Songstem Gampo (617 – 649 AD), the 33rd king of Tibet, unifier of the Tibetan kingdoms and founder of the Tibetan Empire, founder of Lhasa, and thought to be responsible for introducing Buddhism into Tibet. In 632 (or 634) Songsten Gampo married his first wife, Princess Tritsun (the sister of the Nepalese King Narendradeva). In 641, to establish peaceful relations with China, Gampo married Princess Wencheng, the daughter of the Chinese Emperor Taizong (627–650) of the Tang dynasty.

In Princess Tritsun’s dowry came the statue of Akshobhya Buddha (or Mikyoba), depicting the Buddha at the age of eight. In Princess Wencheng’s dowry came Jowo Sakyamuni, depicting Buddha at the age of twelve. The King began to build the Ramoche temple to house the Jowo Sakyamuni statue and the Rasa Trulnang Tsuglag Khang to house the Akshobhya Buddha statue. In 649, Gampo died and, to protect it from an expected Chinese invasion, Queen Wencheng removed the Jowo Sakyamuni statue from the Ramoche temple and concealed it in the Rasa Trulnang Tsuglag Khang temple. The Akshobhya Buddha statue was placed in the Ramoche temple, where it still remains. In 710, the Jowo Sakyamuni statue was uncovered and the Rasa Tulnang Tsuklakang temple was renamed the Jokhang temple, meaning “Shrine of the Jowo”.

There are so many legends about the temple. One legend states the king tossed his ring (or a hat) ahead of him with a promise to build a temple where the ring landed. Unexpectedly, the ring fell into a lake where a white stupa suddenly emerged. A second version is that, after a long journey on a wooden cart, the Jowo Sakyamuni statue arrived in Lhasa and the cart became stuck in the sand. Princess Wencheng divined that beneath the cart was the subterranean ‘Paradise of the Water Divinities’ and so constructed the Ramoche temple to house the Jowo Sakyamuni statue at that specific location. A third version was that Princess Wencheng, an expert in astrology and divination felt that the whole Qinghai-Tibet plateau resembled the shape of a lying devil and Wutang, a lake in Lhasa, was in the position of the devil’s heart. To counter the effect of the devil, which had brought frequent floods to the region, a template must be built upon the lake. The final legend states that Princess Wencheng determined the location and, when construction began, the work completed during the day was mysteriously undone each evening. Seeking an explanation, the King and his Queens learned that Tibet was situated on the back of a sleeping demoness exerting negative influences on the land to inhibit the introduction of Buddhism. The demoness could only be pacified by the construction of twelve temples at specific locations in the countryside. Only once these temples were built could the King begin to build the new temple. Either way, the King used rams (the traditional transportation of the day) to carry sand and soil, build a temple and fill the lake in, leaving the small pond now visible as a well, fed by the ancient lake.

The temple is the most celebrated temple in Tibet and caters for adherents of all the Buddhism sects and followers of Bon-Po, Tibet’s indigenous religion. Three pilgrimage circuits exist, each directing pilgrims to the Jowo Sakyamuni statue. Every day, hundreds of pilgrims circumambulate each of the three circuits in different ways, using different methods.

The next day I went out to Drepung Monastery, the largest of the Tibetan monastic towns. After hiking up the hill and realising that the altitude did actually affect me, I took in the beauty of the town set against the side of a hill. I’m glad that I went in the afternoon and missed all the tourist groups because it was so peaceful to be sitting in a monastery with almost no-one else around. There are six main temples and we saw inside four of them and the kitchen. You can even take photos so it is one of the few pictures I have from inside the many Buddhist temples I have been into.

Drepung Monastery is one of the three great Tibetan monasteries (along with Sera and Ganden monasteries) and lies at the foot of the Gambo Utse Mountain, five kilometres from downtown Lhasa. The name of the monastery means “collecting rice” as, from a distance, it resembles a heap of rice. It was named after the sacred temple of Shridhanyakataka in southern India and is the principle seat of the Gelug School. After its construction, it became the home of the Dalai Lamas until they moved to the Potala Palace in the 17th century.

That night I met up with Taryn from Nepal and it was so great to see her again, especially when I kind of felt like I was in Nepal. The next day was spent trying to organise tickets to the Potala Palace, something the Lonely Planet guide definitely needs to update in the next edition. Wandered around for hours trying to find the ticket office before I was told that it didn’t open until 12pm. So then I waited to get my ticket for the next day and by then I was tired and frustrated so I spent the afternoon in a cafe before meeting Taryn again for dinner.

Friday was a much better day. I headed to the Potala Palace, the Winter palace of the Dalai Lama. It’s an amazing structure but the artefacts inside are even more amazing. The White Palace contains the main ceremonial hall with the throne of the Dalai Lama, his private rooms and the audience hall. The palace also contains 698 murals, almost 10,000 painted scrolls, numerous sculptures, carpets, canopies, curtains, porcelain, jade, and fine objects of gold and silver, as well as a large collection of sutras and important historical documents. To the west, and higher up the mountain, the Red Palace contains the burial stupas of past Dalai Lamas. Further west is the private monastery of the Dalai Lama, the Namgyel Dratshang. To the west and higher up the mountain, the Red Palace contains the gilded burial stupas of past Dalai Lamas. The tombs are huge and covered in gold and precious jewels. Further west is the private monastery of the Dalai Lama, the Namgyel Dratshang. No photos from within the palace I’m afraid, so you’re left with pics from the outside.

That afternoon I flew to Chengdu, spent three hours in one of the worst airports I have ever been in, flew to Wuhan and got to bed around 1 am ready for class at 8:50 am the next day.