Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE NECHUNG ORACLE
Every New Year in Lhasa until 1959, the Dalai Lama consulted the Nechung oracle on im-
portant matters of state. In preparation for the ordeal, the oracle would strap on eye-
shaped bracelets and an elaborate headdress of feathers, so heavy that it had to be lifted
onto his head by two men.
The oracle would then whip himself into a trance in an attempt to dislodge his spirit
from his body. Eyewitness accounts describe how his eyeballs swelled and rolled up into
his sockets, and how his mouth opened wide, his tongue curling upward as his face
reddened. As he began to discern the future in a steel mirror, the oracle would answer
questions in an anguished, tortured, hissing voice, and the answers would be interpreted
and written on a small blackboard. After the trance the oracle would faint from the ordeal
and have to be carried away.
Sera Monastery
Approximately 5km north of central Lhasa,
Sera Monastery
(, , Sèlā Sì admission ¥50;
9am-5pm)
was one of Lhasa's two great Gelugpa monasteries, second only to Drepung. Its
once-huge monastic population of around 5000 monks has now been reduced by 90% and
building repairs are still continuing. Nevertheless the monastery is worth a visit, particu-
larly in the morning when the monastery is at its most active, but also between 3pm and
5pm (not weekends), when debating is usually held in the monastery's debating courtyard.
Chapels start to close at 3pm, so it makes sense to see the monastery chapels before head-
ing to the debating.
Interior photography costs ¥15 to ¥30 per chapel; video fees are an outrageous ¥850.
Near the entrance there is a simple but pleasant
monastery restaurant
.
