Traveling in TibetTraveling in Tibet
Note: This site is a collection of photos and impressions of a
group traveling in Yunnan, PRC, and in Tibet in May and June 2000.
It will be under construction for some time to come.
The photos are the property of the author of this web site. They were acquired with a Nikon Coolpix 950 camera at medium-high resolution and then manipulated with Adobe Photoshop. Click on a small photo for a larger version, albeit only in a 72 dpi version.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Potala Sera Jokhang Dancers |
|
 Map of Tibet (from Hybrid
Designs) |
 Have a WAHAHA Break! |
The
POTALA PALACE is the most dominant structure in Lhasa. The White
Palace was begun by the 5th Dalai Lama in 1645 as the seat of
his government. (He was then in residence at the Drepung monastery,
just outside Lhasa.) He moved to the White Palace in 1649 and
died there in 1682.
It is much less clear why the Red Palace was constructed. It seems
to be agreed that the Red Palace was completed in 1694, 12 years
after the death of the 5th Dalai Lama. It is also agreed that
the death of the 5th Dalai Lama was concealed until the Red Palace
was completed. The disagreement is whether the Red Palace was
planned by the Dalai Lama before his death or a funeral chorten
or if it was planned by the regent who ruled Tibet from 1679 to
1703.
The Potala was home to each successive Dalai Lama and was also the seat of the Tibetan government. The Potala seems now to be largely a museum because the current Dalai Lama presently lives in India, having fled Tibet in 1959. The Potala was protected during the Cultural Revolution, reportedly at the insistence of Zhou Enlai.
The Potala houses the private quarters of the Dalai Lama, numerous chapels, some beautiful three-dimenisonal mandalas, and large courtyards.
 |
 |
One can view the city of Lhasa and the surrounding mountains from the roofs of the building, which are themselves covered with beautiful ornamentation.
 |
 |
Sera Monastery, 5 km north of Lhasa, was one of Lhasa's great Gelugpa or Yellow-Hat monasteries (the other being Drepung). It was founded in 1419 and once housed thousands of monks. Only several hundred remain. We attended the daily debate of the monks. One monk is seated while his partner stands and poses questions, apparently esoteric questions. The questioner claps his hands loudly to emphasize points, and on occasion the seated monk receives a gentle bump on the head when an answer is not satisfactory.
 |
 |
Whereas the Potala is the administrative seat of government, the Jokhang is the most holy religious place in Tibet. It is estimated that it was founded around 640. Construction was begn by King Songsten Gampo to house a Buddha image brought to Tibet as part of the dowry of his Nepalese wife, Princess Bhrikuti.
 |
 |
 |
The roof again is stunning with many interesting ornaments. One (center, above) shows the Wheel of Dharma flanked by two deer. This symbolizes Buddha's historic sermon in a deer park. The Nangkhor is a circuit of prayer wheels the encircles within the Jokhang. The Jokhang is located in the Barkhor area, which is filled with pilgrims with spinning prayer wheels, shops, and shoppers.
 |
 |
The last evening in Lhasa we went to a performance of folk music and dancing at the Potala Hotel. While amateurish in soime ways, it is was nonetheless charming. Our favorite was a dance involving a yak, in which two men dressed as a yak cavorted with two men and a woman.
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Potala Sera Jokhang Dancers |
|
