Get thee to a nunnery - and drink some tea at their tea house.

[Thursday, February 5]

We visited the Jokhang  Temple, the holiest place for Tibetan Buddhists.  The temple contains a statue a statue of the Buddha that is around 2900 years old.  According to our guide, Pasang, the original prince who became the Buddha made 3 statues of himself – one at age 8, one at age 12 and one as a young adult.  Two of these statues ended up in Tibet, but one was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.  The prince of Tibet that converted (the country) to Buddhism marry 2 women – a Nepalese princess and a Chinese princess.  The Chinese princess was from the Tang dynasty – and she brought the Buddha statue with her to Lhasa.

Many people were circling the Jokhang Temple in prayer.  Others were approaching the temple doors through prostration in front of the temple.  Inside of the temple, we saw paintings on the wall over 1400 years old.  The assembly hall is where the Dalai lama and Pacham lama are (were) selected.  The young candidates, found after the Dalai dies, present themselves to the monks for selection.  It’s like being in the Sistine Chapel for Roman Catholicism.

We walked from the Jokhang Temple through the Barkhor area, the old town, past many shops and interesting sites on our way to our next stop: the Canggu Nunnery.  It’s home to about 100 nuns.  In addition to prayer, they run a tea shop.  We were allowed to take photos inside their temple.

The nuns were busy making yak butter flowers to sell for the upcoming new year celebration.

View of Potala Palace and square from rooftop of Jokhang Temple

Prayer mats for people that approach the temple in prostration and prayer

Jokhang Temple courtyard

Jokhang Temple Rooftop

Courtyard for nunnery - much smaller than all the monasteries we visited, despite the fact that there are more nuns living here than the monks at the monasteries

Inside the temple at the Canggu Nunnery.  You are allowed to take photos in side the nun's temple, but not at the temples for the monks

Buddhist nun

Yak butter prayer candles

The nuns are crafting yak butter flowers to sell for the upcoming new year.

Visiting the nunnery tea house - they serve sweet, hot tea in thermoses

Curious visitor to our table at the tea house

Drinking tea with Emily, our trip physician, and a lovely Tibetan woman who offered me her barley flour to try in my tea.  It was tasty.