Holiday in Lhasa

About Lhasa

Lhasa is the holiest city of Tibetan Buddhism — the roof of the world at 3,650 meters high, where the Potala Palace has majestically watched over the city for over 1,300 years, and pilgrims from all over Tibet circumambulate the Barkhor in prostration. The name Lhasa means 'Place of the Gods', and nowhere on earth is spirituality so palpable, so omnipresent, and so overwhelming as here. The Potala Palace is the landmark of Tibet and one of the most impressive buildings in the world: 13 floors, 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines, and 200,000 statues rise on the Red Hill above the city. The White Palace served as the government seat of the Dalai Lamas, while the Red Palace houses the golden stupa tombs of eight Dalai Lamas. This UNESCO World Heritage site dominates the skyline like no other building in the world dominates its city. The Jokhang Temple is the spiritual heart of Tibet: Here lies the holiest Buddha statue of Tibet (Jowo Rinpoche), and thousands of pilgrims circumambulate the temple daily on the Barkhor-Kora, prostrating on the ground, turning prayer wheels, and lighting butter lamps. The Barkhor market around the temple is a labyrinth of prayer flags, yak butter, turquoise jewelry, and Tibetan incense. Three great monasteries surround the city: Drepung (once the largest monastery in the world with 10,000 monks), Sera (where monks clap their hands in ritual debates in the afternoons), and Ganden (spectacularly located in the mountains at 4,300 meters).