Jokhang Temple

At the center of bakuo street is the Jokhang Temple, which was built by Songzan Ganbu in memory of Princess Chizun's entering Tibet. The original name of the temple "Reza" later became the name of the city, and evolved into today's "Lhasa". Therefore, people often say that "first there was Jokhang Temple, then there was Lhasa city.". As the "eye of Tibet", the Jokhang Temple has a supreme position in the religious culture of Tibet. It has always been the center of various major Buddhist activities, and there is an endless stream of people who come here every day to transfer Buddhist scriptures.

The biggest attraction of Jokhang Temple is the 12-year-old statue of Sakyamuni brought by Princess Wencheng when she came to Tibet. Lhasa is called "holy land" because of this Buddha statue. On the right side of the entrance to the main hall is a mural about the story of the founding of the Jokhang Temple. To understand the Jokhang Temple, Lhasa in the 7th century, Songzanganbu and Princess Wencheng, you must first look at this one. Don't forget to climb the platform on the third floor. It's a good place to look at the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple Square.

Jokhang Temple

Jokhang Temple, also known as "zulakang" and "juekang" (meaning Buddhist temple in Tibetan), is located in the center of Lhasa's old city. It is a Tibetan Buddhist temple built by King Songzanganbu of Tibet. Lhasa is known as "holy land",

It's related to this Buddha statue. The temple was originally called "Reza", and later Reza became the name of the city, and evolved into the current "Lhasa". After the completion of the Jokhang Temple, it was modified and expanded repeatedly in yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties to form its present scale.

With a history of more than 1300 years, the Jokhang Temple has a supreme position in Tibetan Buddhism. Dazhao temple is the most glorious existing architecture in Tibet during the Tubo Period, and it is also the earliest civil structure architecture in Tibet, and it has created the Tibetan Pingchuan style temple city planning style. The Sakyamuni Buddha Hall around the inner center of the Jokhang Temple is called "nangkou", the outer wall around the Jokhang Temple is called "bakuo", and the street outside the Jokhang Temple is called "bakuo Street", namely Bajiao street. Taking the Jokhang Temple as the center, a large circle including Potala Palace, Yaowang mountain and Xiaozhao temple is called "linkuo". These three rings from the inside to the outside are the routes of Tibetan people's rituals.

The Jokhang Temple combines the architectural styles of Tibet, Tang, Nepal and India, and has become an eternal model of Tibetan religious architecture.

In front of the temple, incense is burning all day long, and believers worship devoutly, leaving a deep impression on the blue stone floor in front of the door. Tens of thousands of butter lamps are always bright, leaving traces of years and pilgrims.

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From the golden roof of the Jokhang Temple, you can see the square of the Jokhang Temple. On the far right is the Potala Palace. The willow tree nearby is "Princess willow". It is said that Princess Wencheng planted it. The layout of the Jokhang Temple is different from that of the Buddhist temples in the Han Dynasty. Its main hall is located in the East and West. The main hall is four stories high, with side halls on both sides. The layout structure reproduces the ideal model of Mandala Mandala Mandala in Buddhism. The main Buddhist halls in the temple are Sakyamuni hall, zongkaba master hall, Songzanganbu hall, bandanram Hall (the God of Gelug Sect), shenyangre mjem hall, Tibetan king hall and so on. There are all kinds of wood carvings and murals in the temple.

From the main entrance of the Jokhang Temple is the courtyard style courtyard, which is the birthplace of "gexi" (a senior degree in Tibetan Buddhism, equivalent to a doctor). In 1409, Kaba, the founder of the Yellow religion, founded the zhuanzhao Dharma Association in the Dazhao temple, and established it as the largest Dharma activity in the Tibetan Buddhist community. Since then, the Yellow religion has become famous. During the Dharma Association, monks from major temples gathered in the temple to watch the outstanding monks selected by the temple make a fierce defense. There are several rows of butter lamps on the east side of the courtyard, which are always bright in the daytime. It's up to the families here to add butter.

Behind the butter lamp is the main gate of the main hall of the Jokhang Temple. The earliest buildings of the temple started from the main gate; the outer courtyard was built and expanded later, and the main hall was built more than 1400 years ago. Due to the friction of believers for many years, the stone floor at the door is as bright as a mirror. There is a huge Buddha statue on the left and right of the main hall. On the left is lianhuasheng, the founder of the red cross sect. He was originally an Indian Buddhist and entered Tibet in the eighth century. After he entered Tibet, there began to be Tantrism. On the right is the future Buddha.

On the right side of the entrance to the main hall is a mural about the story of the construction of the Jokhang Temple. The main contents are the appearance of the Potala Palace in the early 7th century and the scene of the construction of the Jokhang Temple by filling the lake in that year. From left to right, rotate the first small hall clockwise, in which there are zongkaba and his eight disciples, who have made great contributions to the promotion of yellow religion. Both Dalai I I and Panchen Lama I are among the eight disciples. Among the six temples of the Yellow religion, Gandan temple was built by zongkaba himself, while Drepung temple, sera and zashilunbu temple were all built by his disciples.

A white tower stands at the corner of the west wall and the north wall. It is said that the white tower appeared from Wotang lake before the construction of the Jokhang Temple. In the first small hall on the south side, there are eight "masters of Oriental pure glass world", a pharmacist Buddha. Next to the small hall, it is a statue of Milarepa, one of the founders of the white religion, with his hands beside his ears. There are three Buddhas in the hall. Turn around, the second hall is Guanyin hall. The local people are very devout in the way of offering sacrifices to the Buddha. In the hall, they often meet some local families who paint gold powder on the face of Guanyin Bodhisattva. On the right side of the hall are statues of Songzan Ganbu, Chizun and Princess Wencheng.

In the eyes of the Tibetan people, Songzanganbu and Princess Wencheng were the result of Bodhisattvas becoming kings and kings and later educating Tibetans. The two princesses are dignified, and the typical woman in the Tang Dynasty with high bun in front is Princess Wencheng. At the corner of the south wall and the east wall, there are zongkaba and other religious masters. The first Buddha Hall on the east wall is wuliangguang Buddha.

Turning around the corner of the hall is a mural. The content is a celebration organized by Songzanganbu and the princess in the seventh century. It is the opening ceremony for the completion of the Jokhang Temple. In fact, it is the scene of a traditional sports meeting in the seventh century. Including wrestling, yak dance, mask dance, archery and so on. The mountain on the left side of the mural is Yaowang mountain, on which there is a TV Tower. The painting above is the original Tibetan medical college. The white tower above is the pagoda on the side of the square in front of the Potala Palace. It used to be the west gate of Lhasa city. On the right side of the mural is the Potala Palace with only two main buildings, that is, the palace built by Songzanganbu.

Around the hall there are a total of 380 Scripture tubes, one next to the other. It is a must for many devout believers to push the scripture drum while walking.

After entering the Jokhang Temple from the main gate, you enter a wide open-air courtyard along the clockwise direction, which was once the site of the grand Lhasa praying Dharma Association "meranchinmo". At that time, tens of thousands of monks from Lhasa's three major temples will gather here to pray for the happiness of all living beings and social stability. At the same time, activities such as debating sutras, expelling ghosts and welcoming Maitreya Buddhas will also be held. "Murangqinmo" began in 1409 ad. in order to commemorate Sakyamuni's defeat of six kinds of heretics with the method of divine change, the most patriarchal Kaba master convened monks of various monasteries and sects to hold a Dharma Assembly in the Jokhang Temple during the first month of the Tibetan calendar. The murals on the wall of the colonnade and the corridor around the courtyard are called the thousand Buddha corridor because they are full of thousand Buddha statues. There are more than 4400 square meters of murals in the whole Jokhang Temple.

From the courtyard to the ticket office at the side door, there are stairs leading to the platforms on the second and third floors. The second floor is open only in the morning. The hall of the king of France in Songzanganbu is also on the southwest corner of the second floor. There are statues of King Songzanganbu of Tibet, Princess Wencheng, Princess Chizun of Nepal and Minister ludongzan, which are also early works. Between the second and third floors, there is the pantheon of bandanram, the goddess of Dharma protection of the Jokhang Temple and the whole Lhasa city. There is a ladder in the northeast corner of the patio on the second floor. The small door leading to the third floor is the entrance to the golden roof. The third floor of the main hall is usually closed to the public. Monks meditate here. The top four huge golden roofs were built in the middle of the 14th century and the 17th century respectively.

Continue right around, through the two sides of the yakha hall and the Dragon King Hall, hundreds of lit butter lamp behind is the famous "juekang" Buddha Hall. It is not only the main body of the Jokhang Temple, but also the essence of the Buddha. The Buddha Hall is a closed courtyard with four stories high and a sutra hall in the center. Tibetan Buddhism believes that Lhasa is the center of the world, and the core of the universe lies here. This is the place where the monks of the Jokhang Temple chant scriptures and practice Dharma. From the Sutra hall, you can see the exquisite statue of Avalokitesvara with thousands of hands and eyes. There are two Buddha statues on both sides. On the left is lianhuasheng and on the right is Qiangba Buddha. All around the Sutra hall are small Buddhist halls. Except for the Sakyamuni Buddhist hall in the center, the rooms are small but the layout is simple. Sakyamuni Buddhist hall is the core of Jokhang Temple, which is the ultimate yearning of pilgrims. The statue of Sakyamuni in this hall is a Buddha statue brought by Princess Wencheng.

Along the thousand Buddha Corridor around the "juekang" Buddha Hall to turn the "capsule" to complete. Lhasa's main conversion activities are centered around the Sakyamuni Buddha of the Jokhang Temple. Except for the "inner circle", around the Jokhang Temple, there is the "middle circle" or "bakuo", which is the ancient and bustling commercial street Bajiao street; around the Jokhang Temple, Yaowang mountain, potala palace and Xiaozhao temple, there is the "outer circle" or "linkuo", which has already circled more than half of Lhasa city.

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