We arrived in Lhasa towards evening, and after dinner we went straight to nearby Barkhor Square with the famous Jokhang Temple, right in the middle of the Tibetan old town.
On our three-week tour we kept coming back to Lhasa for a few nights and spent many hours on this square in total, no matter what time of day. The atmosphere was always lovely, with the many pilgrims walking clockwise around the Jokhang, spinning their prayer wheels and constantly murmuring “om mani padme hum”… or lying down on the ground in prayer… Very impressive! The Jokhang is considered the “heart of Lhasa”; King Songtsen Gampo had it built around 640, and many Nepalese and Indian craftsmen worked on its design.
Wet paving on the Barkhor, the Jokhang lit at night, the „heart of Lhasa“.In front of a house on the Barkhor stands the incense burner with lights, at night.In front of the patterned curtains of the Jokhang, a pilgrim raises her hands.Prayer wheels on the wall on the Barkhor, a large one in front on the right, in black and white.Beneath two windows, a row of prayer wheels runs along the wall, in black and white.Colourful cloths and printed sheets hang on the yellow wall in Lhasa.A prostration in front of the Jokhang, cloths hanging on the pole, in black and white.A yellow door in Lhasa, with two round knockers and colourful tassels.Against the white wall a pilgrim raises her hands, her shadow falling beside her.Lit windows and an ornate balcony on a house on the Barkhor at night.In a dark lane in the old town of Lhasa, a monk stands in a red robe.Two pilgrims walk past closed shops on the Barkhor through the night.
