April
13, Friday
and a lot of people
The smoke from the burning offerings cloud the square and burn our eyes
The people walking around the temple
Many whith their prayer wheels and beads
Even the very little make their way around the temple.
We join the crowds and make it around the temple, but only once. I wonder how many times the worshipers circle the temple
Lady with a long tress and beautiful hat. We noticed that many ladies were wearing fancy hats, even though they were wearing traditional costumes. Their version of "Sunday best"?
The tall prayer post
This appeared to be a 4-generations group of women
Part of the plaza is filled with vehicles and people
We then visit a medical clinic, also located on Barkhor Square, where they practice natural medicine. We are shown body charts used for teaching and diagnostic purposes. Extremely interesting. Everything is about balancing the body’s systems: yin & yang. When they examine a person, they start with a visual examination: tongue, eye, urine, etc. They then do an examination by touch: pulse on each part of the body. The last part of the examination is by talking to the patient: age, food they eat, family, job, etc. They utilize therapeutic techniques with regard to stress prevention and diet: add items, eliminate items, increase amounts of certain items. They will use natural medication as much as possible, but will resort to chemical medication if necessary. They use massage, acupressure and acupuncture, blood-letting, hot & cold therapies and cupping (but only as a last resort). Note to self *** cross reference with foot massage with regard to the cupping!
The doctor giving us insight into natural medicine
We finally get to enter the temple grounds
The first courtyard
Colourful painted woodwork
A very old door
Partially repainted area
The main temple buildings
From the roof
The Dharma wheel
A view down into the plaza
The Potala palace in the distance, as seen with my new zoom camera
A monk walking in the plaza, talking on his cell phone.
Our first full day in Lhasa. We are
scheduled to visit the Jokhang Temple this morning (built in the 7th
century by Tubo King Songtsen Gampo and rebuilt in the 17th century
by the 5th Dalai Lama) it is Tibet’s spiritual centre and the
holiest destination for Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims. The entire temple complex occupies
approximately 25,000 sq.meters. But
there are some “Big Potatoes” in town (dignitaries from other countries, must
be the same Turkish delegation that was in Xi-An !) so we can’t visit when we want and have to
wait an hour and switch things around. Located
on Barkhor
Square, the main plaza, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of pilgrims
walking around and around the temple in a clockwise direction, some with prayer
wheels, some prostrating themselves all
the way around it. The circular street
around the temple is filled with shops selling tourist souvenirs, and there are
also hundreds of tourists from all over the world, so it is a very busy place. I bought a few handmade trinkets to support
the local community.
There are lots of vendors in the square
and a lot of people
The smoke from the burning offerings cloud the square and burn our eyes
The people walking around the temple
Many whith their prayer wheels and beads
Even the very little make their way around the temple.
We join the crowds and make it around the temple, but only once. I wonder how many times the worshipers circle the temple
Lady with a long tress and beautiful hat. We noticed that many ladies were wearing fancy hats, even though they were wearing traditional costumes. Their version of "Sunday best"?
The tall prayer post
This appeared to be a 4-generations group of women
Part of the plaza is filled with vehicles and people
We then visit a medical clinic, also located on Barkhor Square, where they practice natural medicine. We are shown body charts used for teaching and diagnostic purposes. Extremely interesting. Everything is about balancing the body’s systems: yin & yang. When they examine a person, they start with a visual examination: tongue, eye, urine, etc. They then do an examination by touch: pulse on each part of the body. The last part of the examination is by talking to the patient: age, food they eat, family, job, etc. They utilize therapeutic techniques with regard to stress prevention and diet: add items, eliminate items, increase amounts of certain items. They will use natural medication as much as possible, but will resort to chemical medication if necessary. They use massage, acupressure and acupuncture, blood-letting, hot & cold therapies and cupping (but only as a last resort). Note to self *** cross reference with foot massage with regard to the cupping!
The doctor giving us insight into natural medicine
We finally get to enter the temple grounds
The first courtyard
Colourful painted woodwork
A very old door
Partially repainted area
The main temple buildings
From the roof
The Dharma wheel
A view down into the plaza
The Potala palace in the distance, as seen with my new zoom camera
A monk walking in the plaza, talking on his cell phone.
Can’t remember where we had dinner that night, and I have
to photos to refresh my memory, but I’m sure the food was delicious since I
can’t remember having one bad meal during the entire tour with Go-Way tours.
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