Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
age was moved to the Jokhang and replaced with the image of Jowo Mikyöba (Akshob-
hya), brought to Tibet in the 7th century by King Songtsen Gampo's Nepali wife, Princess
Bhrikuti. By the mid-15th century the temple had become Lhasa's Upper Tantric College.
The pedestrian street
Ramoche Lam
(Xiaozhaosi Lu) that leads from Beijing Donglu to
the Ramoche is one of the most interesting streets in Lhasa, jam-packed with teahouses,
restaurants and stalls selling everything from traditional jackets and Tibetan-style tents to
handmade potato chips, Amdo breads, top-grade tsampa (roasted-barley flour) and Tibetan
scriptures. It's well worth a stroll.
Ramoche Temple
BUDDHIST, TEMPLE
The main image here is the fabulously ornate Jowo Mikyöba (Akshobhya) image, which
represents Sakyamuni at the age of eight. The statue is in the inner Tsangkhang, protected
by the four guardian kings and a curtain of chain mail, which pilgrims rub for good luck.
The lower half of the statue was discovered in 1983 in a Lhasa rubbish tip and the head
was discovered in Beǐjīng's Forbidden City and brought back to Lhasa by the 10th
Panchen Lama.
As you enter the temple, past pilgrims doing full-body prostrations and the first of two
inner koras, you'll see a protector chapel to the left, featuring masks and puppets on the
ancient pillars and an encased image of the divination deity Dorje Yudronma covered in
beads on a horse. The main chapel is full of fearsome protector deities in
yabyum
pose, as
befitting a Tantric temple. The Ramoche was badly damaged by Red Guards during the
Cultural Revolution, but the complex has since been restored with Swiss assistance.
Tsepak Lhakhang
BUDDHIST, CHAPEL
As you exit the Ramoche, a doorway to the right by a collection of yak-butter and juniper-
incense stalls leads to one of Lhasa's hidden gems, the Tsepak Lhakhang. The central im-
age is Tsepame, flanked by Jampa and Sakyamuni, and there's a wonderful kora path. The
site is very popular with pilgrims.
Gyüme Tratsang
BUDDHIST, TEMPLE
(, Xiàmì Sì
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
; Bejing Donglu)
