On our first full day in Tibet we started the morning at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa’s old town. It is the Tibetans’ most important shrine, to which everyone should make a pilgrimage at least once in their life, no matter how far the journey. It is said that some pilgrims cover a good 2,000 kilometres, prostrating themselves in prayer again and again along the whole route – for months.
In the afternoon we went to Sera Monastery on the outskirts of Lhasa, in whose courtyard the monks gather every afternoon to debate with one another – Sera was founded in 1419 and is one of the three great monastic universities of the Gelug school around Lhasa:
Pilgrims prostrate on mats in front of the Jokhang, the most important sanctuary in Lhasa.Brass bowls for butter lamps lie stacked in a vessel in the Jokhang.On the mural in the Jokhang a Buddha sits, clouds around the halo.In the Jokhang a monk in red, the butter lamps behind him blurred.A red door in the Jokhang, a metal ring in the centre and fittings at the edge.On the roof of the Jokhang a golden victory banner, the Chinese flag beside it.Mats and pilgrims packed close in front of the Jokhang, in black and white.Between two deer, the golden dharma wheel on the roof of the Jokhang.A silver victory banner on the Jokhang, the white Potala behind, in black and white.A golden protector deity on the Jokhang, turquoise eyes and an open mouth.Knots and flowers on the silver banner, in black and white.A golden plaque with script on the deep-red wall of the Jokhang.Golden roofs line the courtyard of the Jokhang, mountains in the background.Beside the brightly framed window on the Jokhang hangs a round metal disc.Beneath painted beams on the Jokhang, a golden relief on the white wall.A monk walks through the courtyard of the Jokhang, in black and white.On the red door in Lhasa, a heavy golden ring on a dark fitting.In front of the yellow wall a monk walks down the stairs.On the paving of the Barkhor, by the yellow line, a pilgrim in prostration.In front of the incense burner on the Barkhor a pilgrim sits, others walk past.With a staff, a pilgrim stands before golden statues in a chapel in Lhasa.Five prayer wheels side by side in the half-light, in black and white.Colourful lengths of cloth hang around the altar in a temple in Lhasa.On the white wall at Sera Monastery, a brightly painted frame with ornament.In front of a stall in Lhasa, a man with a hat and a long white beard.Pilgrims cross the square in front of the colourful houses in Lhasa.In the dark corridor the prayer wheels step back into the distance, in black and white.On the white wall at Sera Monastery hangs the sign „MONASTERY SHOP“.A white monastery building among trees at Sera, a mountain in the background.In front of the white wall at Sera Monastery stands a monk in a red robe.Past the black window frames of the white wall, a monk walks by at Sera.Monks sit together on the square at Sera Monastery, mountains behind them.In front of the white wall in Lhasa, a man with a hat and a prayer book in his hand.In the courtyard at Sera, founded in 1419, a monk raises his hand for the debate.Under the trees at Sera Monastery, monks bend forward in the debate.Red robes in the courtyard at Sera, monks standing and seated in the debate.Behind the tree trunk, the white façade with small windows at Sera Monastery.On the step in front of the building at Sera Monastery, several monks are sitting.A red façade and a golden roof edge on a temple at Sera Monastery.A painted window with a black frame in the white wall of Sera Monastery.The Potala in Lhasa, the white palace over the long red base.
