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Published: October 2nd 2008
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Day 8 - The Jokhang and Potala Palace
At the advice of the Guide, who was slightly worried about the effects of altitude on us all, we opted to visit the Jokhang in the morning as there were steps to be climbed at the Palace.
The walked from our hotel and down a guarded side street towards the main area called the Barkhor. We were met by the sight of hundreds of pilgrims walking clockwise round the temple quietly chanting to themselves, clutching a set of beads similiar to a rosary. Some of these people had walked for weeks to get there. In front of the temple were other pilgrims prostrating over and over again. There is no minimum number of times, and no maximum. As well as those pilgrims that walk round, some actually have prostrated all the way from their village to get there, which could have taken them many months.
The Jokhang is the most revered Buddist structure in Tibet. Inside there are burning yak butter candles, pilgrims, monks and tourists all walking round. Many of the pilgrims come to make offerings of money to each of the representations of Buddha. Our guide did his
best to show us the different representations, and show us the story of how Lhasa came into being which is shown on the murals that are painted on the walls. Once again the monks did not mind photos being taken, and we were amazed at the amount of money, albeit only small denominations, that were just left there and did not seem to be collected up.
After lunch overlooking the small stalls of the Barkhor (where Russ and Dad braved the Yak burger), we headed with growing excitement to the Potala Palace.
The Palace stands impressively above the city and can be viewed all the way round. Lots of the pictures you see give it the impression it is built into the mountain face. It is a stiff walk up to the entrance of the Palace. The original two storey building was built in the 7th century, but it was in the 17th century that the 5th Dalai Lama, the most revered of them, added to the Palace most of what you can see today. The guide books say that some people are a little disappointed in the Palace, as it is more of a museum than a
living monestry. We didn't get that feeling, and everyone talks about the Dalai Lama like he is still about. There are over 1000 rooms in the Palace, and the ones with the outer walls in yellow are reserved for the Dalai Lama where he greets pople, has his bed chamber etc. Of the rooms, only about 18 are availalbe to the public, but they do give you an insight into the life of the Dalai Lama. The colours on the murals on the wall remain as vivid as ever, and there are lots of hanging cloths which remain in reasonable condition. Inside the Palace are the funeral Stupas of the previous Dalai Lamas which are absolutely huge and contain relics, precious stones and in some cases the ashes and in others the entire body. Each of the rooms is guarded by the Army as there are no pictures allowed, and monks sit chanting mantras, attending to their lamps and collecting the offerings that visitors leave, mostly small notes.
In front of the Palace, there is a large square which is guarded by the Army and very reminiscent of Tianamen Square in Bejing. We aimed to return at night to
Sampling the local brew
(an aquired taste lets say!) see if was lit up as there appeared to be fountains. We went out for tea for Dad's birthday to a Dutch owned restaurant that wasn't too bad. We offered to buy him a psychadelic coloured birthday cake, but he declined. We returned to the hotel and enquired about the Potala being lit up, but the universal sign language of pointing and talking a bit louder seemed to be failing. Eventually we ventured onto the hotel roof, and indeed the Palace and square were lit up. We hurriedly took a taxi to the square as we had no idea how long they would be on for. We arrived just in time for the last few bars of the music for the fountains (which was awful), and got to take some more photos of the Palace in all it's glory. Somehow the white Palace against the night sky brought it out more and made it look even more spectacular than ever - a sight to remember that's for sure.
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