We headed first around the quadrangle of streets that make up the pilgrim route to the Jokhang temple. We had already passed this way many times and have never ceased to be delighted with the stall displays, the pilgrims going by and just all the activity. It is really a wonderful mix of religious and market activity. In front of the temple there is now a large square, Barkhor Square but the pilgrimage routes around the Jokhang Temple have been in existence for centuries. The walk is about one kilometer long and encircles the entire Jokhang, the former seat of the State Oracle in Lhasa called the Muru Nyingba Monastery, and a number of nobles' houses. There were four large incense burners (sangkangs) in the four cardinal directions, with incense burning constantly, to please the gods protecting the Jokhang. The incense basically looks like dried grass and we haven't noted any particular aroma but smoke.
You tend to walk from our hotel to the Temple in the direction of the pilgrims, clockwise, and some times you move around the ones that get down on their knees and then prostrate themselves and then get back up, take a big step and do it again. Some wear wood paddles on their hands, a leather apron, and clap the wood handles together as they get up. The majority are walking by with their prayer wheels spinning in one hand and thumbing their prayer beads in the other hand while they murmur a mantra. Once the pilgrims arrive at the front door of the Temple they do more of the prostrations and then touch their foreheads to the 2 darchen (prayer poles) and then line up to go inside. They will carry in offerings such as yak butter either ground up for easier melting or already melted in a thermos, these they will pour into the butter lamps. More about butter lamps later!
On going inside the paying tourists are separated from the pilgrims and you enter an inner courtyard. The decoration is beautiful and befits the most sacred Temple inTibet built initially in 647 AD to house an image of Ashshobhya brought to Tibet by King Songtsen Gampo's Nepali wife as part of her dowry. At the same time the King also married a Chinese wife and she brought another Buddha image as part of her dowry. It was originally housed in a different temple but now both reside in Jokhang. Most unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside and we have not yet found any postcards of the interior either. The most sacred shrine in Tibet is the one with the statue brought by the Chinese princess. Tourists are not allowed to go up to it or walk around it, only the pilgrims. The statue is embedded with precious stones, covered in silk and jewelry and surrounded by pillars of silver. We were barely getting used to the statues with all the turquoise and coral on them. (Apparently there is "mountain coral" here that is very red which is actually fossilized coral formed from eons past. Originally white in color, it has been dyed by the Tibetans for hundreds of years.) After our tour of the various chapels on the first floor we went upstairs to see the excellent views of the Temple's gold roof tops and to take some photos. There was a little cafe there and we saw one tourist there sniffing oxygen from a small canister. Reminded us that we should get some for our journey out of Lhasa.
We left the Temple and went in search of postcards which can only be found in a few bookstores, found a small store to buy some cups for boiled water, and more small Kleenex packages. We found a very good outdoor sporting store and bought 6 canisters of oxygen to take with us. We have started to reduce our prescription medicine and just using the herbal altitude remedy as we want to be sure we have enough for the build up for the altitude increase to Everest Base Camp (EBC) . Before we go we will also buy our prayer flags for EBC like the ones we see wrapped around the prayer poles by the Temple.
Originally used as flags of war, the flags were thought to bring protection. Tibetan prayer flags are now used to send prayers of good will into the world as well as bring prosperity and good fortune into a home. They have been in use for several thousand years.There are two basic categories of Tibetan prayer flags, dar-ding and darchen. Dar-ding flags are raised horizontally between two objects and have a color sequence. Darchen flags are flown vertically on a pole. Tibetan prayer flags must be hung in the proper order. From left to right, the colors are blue, white, red, green and yellow. The colors symbolize sky, cloud, fire, water and earth. (We had a hard time understanding the color and symbology from the guide!) Most flags have symbols and a mantra, or saying, imprinted upon them. Symbols include the tiger, lion, garuda (a bird-like creature), dragon, horse, umbrella, fish, vase, lotus flower, white conch, knot of life, banner of victory and wheel of dharma. Each symbol and mantra has a specific meaning. All of these a readily available all sown together in the correct order too!
Lunch was at the Mandela on Barkhor Square and was good Tibetan food. We have eaten a lot of Yak meat since we have been here. We have yet to drink the Yak butter tea but will have to try it before we leave Tibet. We came back to the room and had a nap before heading out to walk around and look at all the trinkets on the stalls on our own without the guide. We had demonstrated to the guide that we could find our way back to the hotel so he did not feel he needed to accompany us out on Barkhor street. We enjoy just watching the people who are so diverse in dress coming from different areas of Tibet. We have also been the target of many Chinese tourist cameras as tourist attractions ourselves, and today we had a lady come and motion that she wanted to be in a picture with us that her husband would take.
For our dinner spot we had selected one that had a roof top terrace on the corner of the Barkhor pilgrim route. We huffed and puffed are way up the very steep stairs to the third floor and enjoyed our second bowl of a Tibetian soup with carrots and ginger, potato balls stuffed with yogurt and some chilies, rice and another dish that we didn't like so we can't remember it. We ate at Makye Amye, which was supposed to be the drinking hole for the licentious Dalai Lama, 250 years ago, who met the Tibetan beauty Makye Amye there and composed a famous poem about her. The view was wonderful of all the street traffic. I think I forgot to mention that in old Lhasa there are not really any cars allowed so very pedestrian friendly if you don't get lost.
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