Lhasa, the Seat of the Gods - Tibet Part 3

LHASA:
The Potala Palace, maybe the most famous building in Tibet, known by every tourist, is still able to keep its promise, even if you have seen all the movies and reports you wont be disappointed, because it is incredible!
The Potala dominates the city from a hill right in the center of Lhasa.It is the highest building in town and can be seen from nearly every point of the city. Despite the fact that the days are gone when religious and political decisions for Tibet were made here, it is not a dead and dusty museum. There is a vivid life inside and around the building because of the huge number of pilgrims visiting it each day (at least during my stay).
The building consists of up to 13 storeys and can be devided into the Red and the White Palace. Walk all the way through mystic dark halls filled with incense, chapels and rooms up to the roof from where you have the best view over the city!
Around the Potala, especially in the back there is a narrow pilgrimage circuit with hundreds of prayer wheels and stone carvings and paintings.
One GREAT news from 2006: they finally pulled down the disco and Karaoke Bars right in front of the Potala! Seems there is a little plant called cultural sensitivity growing :-)
Close to the Potala Palace there is the Chagpo Ri. If you walk around the hill you can find beautiful rockcarvings and paintings along with huge masses of prayerflags streched from the top. It is just a short walk of 15 to 20 minutes and totally worth a visit!
Because it is the holiest Tibetan Temple many pilgrims do their prayers inside and around this place. They circle the Temple through the surrounding alleys by touching the ground with their full bodylength all the way on their pilgrimage circuit. Very impressive! Inside the Jokhang Temple there is another pilgrimage circuit full of prayer wheels around the center hall. There are alo several storeys and you can walk up to the golden roof, from where you have a nice view over parts of the Barkhor Area all the way to the Potala Palace
This Pilgrimage Circuit around the Jokhang Temple is crowded with praying pilgrims and full of shops with pilgrim equipment. Prayer Flags, Prayer Wheels, everything a pilgrim needs. The assortment gets completed by a huge number of food stores (fresh meat and Yak butter most of the times) and delicious streetkitchens. The heart of the Barkhor Area is the Jokhang Temple.
You cannot get enough of the vivid Tibetan life in this part of the town!

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Tibet
• Lhasa
• Potala
• Palace
• Jokhang
• Temple
• Barkhor
• area
• quarter
• buddha
• chagpo
• ri
• kora
• china

[vladimirspring]

Very nice!!!

[dfmah]

The first song is called Om Mani Padme Hum. It is a buddhist chant. I believe it is an excerpt from a CD called "Tibetan Incantations".

[superCatia]

Tu video  me ha conmovido de sobremanera... Excelente composición.

[manapo71]

great.

[edeltm]

Om mani peme hum

Long life the HH Dalai Lama.

[parag92]

tibet is cool and all, i really like tibet, but the only thing is that they steal a lot of things from nepal and claim it to be their own. All in all, tibet is cool, i am tibetan and i had to admit this, but once again, tibet is really cool and i really like it.

[sarahhamiltonnehring]

Tibet was, is, and always be a part of China:) This is the truth

[Devaah]

Free Tibet Now !! China has gone against all that is ethically, Morally, even Politically

Right/Correct. China has sold out to materialism, I hope it comes back to bite them. Tantamount to rampant brutal Invasion. Is that the land that follow Dictator Mao?

[Ladakhi08]

Great vid - gives back the amazing atmosphere!