Religious site · TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION · UNESCO
Jokhang Temple
大昭寺 · Dàzhāo Sì
About
The most sacred Tibetan Buddhist temple, founded 7th century. The spiritual centre of Lhasa and Tibet, surrounded by the Barkhor pilgrim circuit.
The Jokhang Temple was founded in 642 by King Songtsen Gampo to house the Jowo Shakyamuni statue brought to Tibet by his Chinese wife Princess Wencheng — the most venerated object in Tibetan Buddhism. The temple is the spiritual heart of Tibet; pilgrims arrive from across the plateau, prostrating themselves around the surrounding Barkhor pilgrimage circuit (a 1 km clockwise walk). UNESCO-listed in 2000 as an extension of the Potala. Photography of pilgrims at prayer is sensitive; ask first.
How to get there
Walking from central Lhasa hotels.
When to visit
Early morning to walk the Barkhor with pilgrims; later for tourist-section interior visit.
Gallery
Other attractions in Lhasa
Itineraries featuring this site
- Tibet — 8 days with permit guidance
8d · Lhasa, Yamdrok, Shigatse and Gyantse — the standard agency-tour Tibet circuit.
- Tibetan Plateau — Lhasa, Shigatse and Everest Base Camp, 10 days
10d · Ten days on the Tibetan Plateau visiting Lhasa's monasteries and palaces, the Tashilhunpo at Shigatse, and the Rongbuk Monastery approach to Everest Base Camp — with practical permit guidance.
- Overnight train romance — soft-sleeper journeys across China, 10 days
10d · Ten days structured around China's overnight soft-sleeper trains — Beijing to Xi'an, Xi'an to Chengdu, Chengdu to Lhasa — experiencing the transition from one landscape to the next at a human pace, through the night.
- Three weeks deep — adds Yunnan and Tibet
21d · Two weeks comprehensive plus Yunnan loop (Kunming, Dali, Lijiang) and a Tibet permit-tour to Lhasa.
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