Impressions of Tibet: Jokhang Temple

The Jokhang Temple is the spiritual home of Tibetans. All Tibetans share a heartfelt wish: to worship at the Jokhang Temple and walk the kora around Barkhor Street at least once in their lifetime.

The Jokhang Temple is forever crowded with people, around the clock and in every season. Tibetans journey from all over, by vehicle or on foot. Many devout pilgrims prostrate themselves every three steps, measuring the ground with their bodies as they come from far-off Qinghai and Sichuan. What sustains them through all hardships is their unwavering faith.

The Jokhang Temple lies at the heart of Lhasa's old town. Built in the 7th century, it has stood for over 1,300 years. According to records, it was constructed by Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo to welcome his bride, Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal, and to enshrine the sacred statue of Akshobhya Buddha that she brought with her.

The Tibetan Empire originated in the Yarlung Valley of southern Tibet. By the 7th century, Songtsen Gampo had conquered and unified the various tribes of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau through military campaigns, establishing the dominance of the Tibetan Kingdom.

Songtsen Gampo dispatched a delegation of one hundred men to Nepal to escort Princess Bhrikuti back as his queen. She brought to Tibet the first-ever statue of Shakyamuni Buddha at age twelve, known as Akshobhya Buddha, along with Mahayana Buddhist scriptures, advanced craftsmanship, and cultural knowledge. Consequently, Songtsen Gampo moved his capital from the Yarlung region to the more expansive Lhasa plain, and his first act was to select a site for building the Jokhang Temple to house the statue of Akshobhya Buddha.

The Jokhang Temple also enshrines a statue of Princess Wencheng, another queen of Songtsen Gampo. In the eighth year of the Zhenguan reign of the Tang Dynasty (634 AD), Songtsen Gampo sent envoys to the Tang court, requesting Emperor Taizong for the hand of Princess Wencheng. When Princess Wencheng came to Tibet, she brought with her another statue of Shakyamuni Buddha, this one at age eight, known as Jowo Buddha, as well as numerous craftsmen and advanced Han Chinese cultural knowledge.

The Jokhang Temple faces west, unlike Chinese temples that generally face south. About a li away to the west stands a rocky hill, which would later become the site of the Potala Palace. Legend has it that the temple was built on what was once a marshy depression. Tibetans used goats to carry earth and fill in the lake, constructing Tibet's first Buddhist temple. Only then did Songtsen Gampo begin building the city of Lhasa around the Jokhang Temple.

Outside the Jokhang Temple stand two ancient steles, known as the famous 'Tang-Tibetan Alliance Stele.' After more than a thousand years of exposure to the elements, the inscriptions remain legible. Few steles from the Tang dynasty have survived so well; perhaps only in Tibet can one find such preservation.

The Tang-Tibetan Alliance was forged in the third year of the Changqing reign of the Tang Dynasty (823 AD). Prior to this, the Tang and Tibetan kingdoms had already arranged two political marriages, with Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng each marrying a Tibetan king, yet peace remained elusive. After years of exhausting warfare, the two great adversaries finally made peace. They erected this stele, inscribed in both Tibetan and Chinese: 'We shall no longer be foes; we shall not take up arms against each other.'

Tibetan Buddhism has many schools, but the Jokhang Temple is the ancestral temple of them all, its supreme status unchallenged by any other monastery.

Outside the Jokhang Temple, crowds of people perform full-body prostrations, lying face-down toward the main hall and repeating the motions over and over. Even setting aside the devotion, this stretching of the limbs is undoubtedly beneficial to both body and mind.

Pilgrims from afar set up camp right here, cherishing the precious opportunity. Resting little, they strive day and night to complete what is the most important task of their lives.

Amid the noisy crowds, some people rest and calmly read their scriptures, completely absorbed and unbothered by their surroundings.

Pilgrims from all over gather at the Jokhang Temple, their lines stretching for miles from the temple gate along Barkhor Street. Tourists can skip the queue; they can buy tickets at the ticket office on the south side of the gate for 110 yuan per person and enter the temple directly.

Passing through the crowds and entering the temple gate, you come to a square courtyard. Standing in the center, you see tall buildings surrounding you, forming an atrium-like space.

The surrounding corridors are adorned with beautiful murals depicting Buddhist teachings, the life of the Buddha, and the story of Princess Wencheng’s journey to Tibet.

The queue to enter the main hall, with families dragging their children along, is tightly packed. To enter and pay homage, you need plenty of patience.

Devout worshippers buy thermoses of yak butter or buckets of barley wine outside the gate. As they pass the Buddha statues, they add butter to the lamps and offer wine.

The main hall of the Jokhang Temple is an intricate complex of buildings, with various chapels inside connected by narrow passageways. Even with crowd control, it is difficult to ease the congestion.

The Jokhang Temple is a multi-story structure. On the south side of the courtyard, a flight of grey stone steps leads to the second floor.

The second floor opens onto a spacious rooftop terrace.

From here, you can overlook the entire courtyard.

From the second-floor terrace, you can better appreciate the distinctive features of Tibetan architecture.

Apart from the resplendent gilded metal roofs, the dougong brackets are adorned with majestic mythical beasts.

Tibetan architecture incorporates many features from Nepal and India, but it also contains numerous traditional Chinese elements.

The walls are painted in bright red, white, and yellow, topped with golden roofs that gleam brilliantly against the blue sky.

The Jokhang Temple is not only a sacred site revered by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, but it is also where the Golden Urn lottery for the selection of reincarnated lamas has traditionally been held.

Since the integration of religious and political authority in Tibet, this was also the seat of the Kashag, the highest governing body. Rows of offices can be seen within the temple.

A Tibetan saying goes: ‘First there was the Jokhang Temple, then there was Lhasa,’ testifying to its long history. Looking back over the temple’s millennium-long history, it has endured many hardships. One such event occurred around 840 AD, when Langdarma, the last king of the Tibetan Empire, banned Buddhism and revived the Bon religion, leading to the destruction of many statues and scriptures. This is known as the ‘Langdarma persecution of Buddhism.’

The most recent devastation occurred during the Cultural Revolution. In 1966, the Jokhang Temple became a key target of the Red Guards’ campaign to ‘destroy the four olds.’ Many statues were smashed, including a precious statue of Avalokiteshvara erected by Songtsen Gampo, which was thrown onto the street. Monks were driven out, and the temple was repurposed. It was not until 1980, after restoration, that it reopened.

The Jokhang Temple is an excellent starting point for understanding Lhasa and Tibet as a whole. It is the center of Lhasa's old town and a Tibetan residential area, with dense housing radiating outward from Barkhor Street.

This is the most atmospheric part of Lhasa. After nightfall, the area remains brightly lit and bustling with people.