Friday, November 16, 2007

Yesterday: Jokhang, Barkhor, Sera

We visited the Jokhang Temple, Barkhor Market, and Sera Monestary.
 
The Jokhang temple is a very holy site in Tibet, located right in the center of Old Lhasa just a few blocks from our temporary home, The Yak Hotel. The temple is so highly regarded that people will come from miles away just to pray, prostrating themselves the entire way (Walk three steps, lie down on the ground, say a prayer, get up, repeat). This video shows Tibetans prostrating themselves in place in front of the temple. The most interesting thing we saw inside was a group of female Tibetan farmers who come each month to pray for good harvests. Once inside they drink Chang, an alcohol derived from barley, and sing old hymns - their shrieks were not always harmonious but the ceremony was thrilling to watch. We also saw many buddah statues, including one of the most holy in all of Tibet. Unfortunately the only pictures I have from here are the front and the top, like most temples pictures are forbidden inside.
 
After leaving Jokhang temple, we got swept up in the crowd of Tibetans and tourists walking clockwise through the Barkhor, a circular marketplace wrapped around the temple. I picked up a Mead Moh, or a small knife traditionally carried by buddhist monks.
 
After lunch we visited the Sera monestary, just outside the city. (See pictures of monks quizzing each other and the goat!). We saw more buddah statues, prayer rooms, thrones for the Dalai Lama and everything else you would expect to see inside a buddhist temple! Outside we saw the monks debating - older monks sit around discussing scripture with each other while the younger ones quiz each other. Wrong answers result in a loud clap right in front of your face!
 
 

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