Tibet Part II 

cctv.com 09-07-2005 14:19

Lhasa literally meaning 鈥淗oly-Land鈥 is the heart and soul of Tibet, it has history of more than 1,300 years. Lhasa has remained Tibet's capital since 1642, and most of the city's historical sights date from the second stage of the city's development since the fifth Dalai Lama. Buddhism is a center form of Tibetan daily lifestyle. Monasteries and various temples are clustered in the city.

Lady鈥檚 temple

Among those shrines, a ladies temple is quite unique and interesting. It is located within the Lhasa city in a residential area. Driving from downtown area will only take about 30 minutes. There are more than 150 lady monks living in the temple with a center garden and few souvenir shops. Residents in this temple will not participate in any activities outside the compound. They read Buddhist script, study Lamaism and helping each other with daily works. Tourists are allowed to enter, but limited to the worship area only.

Lhasa city has an elevation of 3,658 m, the city also known as Sunlight City, is the highest city in the world.

In Tibetan language, Lhasa means "The land of the Gods". Lhasa enjoys delightful weather, throughout all the seasons. The average temperature is 7.4 census. Most of the yearly rainfall hits in July, August and September.

From Lhasa to Samye Temple, one of the very significant Tibetan Buhdast monasteries takes about 4 hours by car. Then to shorten the distance, we got to the closest dock to cross the Yaluzampu river by boat. In a normal day, the boat operator will wait for a full load of passengers before departure. It only costs 15 RMB per person. However, if you are in a hurry, an option of paying 190RMB could satisfy the boat owner starts the engine immediately.

From the bank, the yaluzampu rive looks calm and narrow. I thought it would only take us 15 minutes to cross it. However, in a low water season, we had to take extra distance going up and down the river to avoid stock in the shallow riverbed. This way we spent more than an hour on the journey instead of 15 minutes. Everyone on the boat seemed to enjoy the trip and the stunning scenery, but the operator was so intense on his work. He had to fully concentrate on the invisible river route to make sure the boat will not get stocked. When we approached the parking dock, it was such a release showed on his face that everyone was happy of a safe landing. Nevertheless the way to reach Samye temple is not finish yet.

Samye was Tibet's very first monastery and has a history that spans over 1,200 years. It is designed to represent the Buddhist universe and many of the buildings in the courtyard are cosmological symbols. The central building of Samye, its foremost feature, comprises a mixture of architectural styles: the ground and first floors were originally Tibetan in style, the second floor was Chinese and the third floor was Indian.

Mountain road

As I headed southwest on the well-maintained dirt road to Gyantze, the 4x4 SUV provided us much more joy during the trip.

My route followed the Lhasa River to the Tsangpo, the highest river in the world. Crossed the Tsangpo to the Khampa La. Then went a thousand feet down to Yamdrok Lake.

Gyantse is a small town south west of Lhasa. It`s famous for one of the monastery where the activities have not changed much. It is known because of its fortress, the Dzong, a very special building, the kumbum, and the pelkor Chode. The reason of Gyantse is because of the trade in wool. It was on the road to India. Nowadays it is close to the friendship highway. The Dzong Fort is built on a hill.

Buddhism first came to Tibet half way through the eighth century, coming into contact with the indigenous Bon religion with its shamans and mantras. It took hold under the auspices of three kings - Songsten Gampo, Trisong Detsen, and Ralpachen. The key event was the arrival of an Indian master named Padmasambhava in the eighth century CE who is credited with exorcising all the demons from Tibet! But by the middle of the ninth century seemed to be a fragmented and disparate presence.

It was not until the arrival of the Indian scholar Atisa in 1042 CE that Buddhism was properly restored to Tibet. His teachings were very much in the Mahayana tradition and also advocated strict adherence to the monastic rules and dedicated study.

Palha is located in the Banjorlhunbo Village of Jangra Town. Its just located 4 kms of the Southwest of Gyangze City. Palha Manor is only the best-preserved noble manor in Tibet.

Palha was originally the chief of a tribe in Budan. he fled away into Tibet owing to civil strife, and held an official position in Tibetan local government. With the development of the Palha family's influence, Palha manor's scale was extended continuously.

In general, travel and trekking in Tibet represents the sightseeing tours but even the land is situated in average of above 4000 feet, this inaccessible land have lots of possibilities of trekking routes for the adventure seeker. Whether it is a pilgrimage trek or a mountain expedition, Tibet offers trekking trips from short one day to month long as per ones requirement.

Tashilhungpo Monastery located in southern slope of the Nyima Mountain to the west of the Xiage City. Monastery was built in 1447.The monastery was built under the supervision of the first Dalai Lama Zhuba, a discipline of Zongkapa, the founder of Yellow Sect. The complex is built symmetrical against the Nyima Mountain its wall, over 3,000 meters long and built according to the topography of the mountain, surrounds 57 buildings, or more than 3,600 rooms.

After a long distance trip, coming back to Lhasa was a treat. Especially got back to the Backor street visited one of the specialty restaurants. Naga is one of my favorites.

The Tibetan Mastiff is a powerful dog with a sturdy bone structure. In Beijing, a pure Tibetan mastiff could sale for more than a hundred thousands us dollars.

Sera Temple was one of the largest monasteries of Gelugpa, sits at the foot of Hill Tetipu. It was built by one of disciples of Zonggaba in 1419. Sera means Wild Rose Gaden since opulent wild rose woods once grew around it.

Buddha Theory debating in Sera temple attracted many tourists. Every afternoon the event starts from 3:00 pm and last for about one hour. When the temple bell was stroked, monks were concentrating on manuscript debating, learning and appreciating the universe; we, as many outsiders of Buddhism were focusing on our daily necessities such as food.

Editor:Wang  Source:CCTV.com