25/08/2023
TIBET: LHASA TOP-5 🏯🇨🇳
Lhasa is the capital of Tibet, its largest and most attractive city. It is the dream destination for many travelers and seekers of spiritual perfection. In Tibetan, Lhasa means the Land of the Gods, or "Holy Place", and still justifies this name. As the center of Tibetan Buddhism, Lhasa is featured in its ancient Buddhist temples and monasteries and other buildings.
Our list of the main attractions of the capital of Tibet:
1️⃣ POTALA 🏯
The must-see attraction in Lhasa - famous and marvelous Potala Palace is the center of Tibetan culture, history and religion. In Tibetan Potala means «Mystical Mountain». The history of the Palace dates back to the 7th century, when the first palace appeared on the Red Mountain. Subsequently, the building was repeatedly rebuilt and expanded, and from the 17th century became the main residence of the ruler of Tibet - the Dalai Lama. Today the beautiful ex-residence of the Dalai Lama is a museum of arts which keeps more than 70,000 arts and more than 60,000 Buddhist scriptures. Divided into 13 floors, the palace has an area of more than 130 thousand sq.m and there's no exact data on how many rooms and halls in Potala at all.
2️⃣ JOKHANG TEMPLE 🙏
The holiest and most spiritual place in Lhasa, where you can feel the strong belief of Buddhism of Tibetan. The Jokhang was founded during King Songtsen Gampo's reign in 7th century. According to tradition, the temple houses important Buddhist statues and images, which was brought to Tibet by king's two brides: Princess Wencheng of China and Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal. The temple was enlarged several times. The temple complex has more than 3,000 images of the Buddha and other deities (including 26 m image of the Buddha and historical figures, in addition to manuscripts and other objects. Everyday thousands of locals come here for pilgrimage.
3️⃣ BARKHOR Street 🤠📸
Barkhor Street in the Center of life in Lhasa. It's not only the most prosperous tourism center, but also one of the top three circumambulations / kora routes in the city. You can see Buddhist pilgrims walking clockwise and turning the prayer wheel to worship the Buddha every morning and especially the late afternoon. This street will both be a very good place to find diverse Tibetan treasures and tell you the magic power of Buddhist religion.
4️⃣ NORBULINKA 🌺🌳
Norbulingka, meaning the Park of Treasures, is regarded as the “Summer residence of Dalai Lama” in Lhasa. Being the largest park in the city, it provides amazing garden landscape with lakes and floras in all colors. Besides, the magnificent palace buildings are great places to visit, where you can admire many precious paintings and relics…
5️⃣ SERA, DREPUNG & GANDEN MONASTERIES 🔶
These three famous monasteries of Gelug order used to be a part of Tibetan State are situated in Lhasa surroundings, not far from the city center. So you can go there to learn about the life of the monks and know a lot about spiritual history of Tibet.
📍 Sera monastery - is one of the largest Buddhist monasteries and universities in the world located 2 km to the north of Lhasa. It was founded in the 15th century. Here you can witness the debate sessions, which were held according to a fixed schedule
📍 Ganden Monastery is also one of the "great three" Gelug monasteries 40 km north-west from Lhasa at the top of Wangbur Mountain, at an altitude of 4,300m. It was founded in 1409 by Tsongkhapa. The three main sights here are the Serdung, which contains the tomb of Tsongkhapa, the Tsokchen Assembly Hall and the Ngam Cho Khang the chapel where Tsongkhapa traditionally taught.
📍 Drepung is the largest of all Tibetan monasteries and is located on the Gambo Utse mountain, 5 km from Lhasa. It was founded in 1416 by one of Tsongkhapa's main disciples, and was named after the sacred abode in South India. Drepung was the principal seat of the Gelugpa school and known for the high standards of its academic study. The chief buildings including the four colleges, the Tsokchen, and the Dalai Lamas' residence are worth to visit.
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