It isn’t the oldest or largest temple in Tibet but it is a vital part of the history of Buddhism in Tibet.  During the seventh century, a king called Songtsan Gampo married a princess of the Tang Dynasty in China.  The princess brought a statue of the 12-year-old Buddha with her when she got married and now the statue is housed in the temple.  Buddhism became more popular in Tibet and the temple grew more and more famous.  Buddhist pilgrims come to the temple to get a glimpse of the statue.

The temple is also in the middle of old Lhasa, a perfect area for walking around and finding restaurants and souvenir shops.

outside the temple

inside the temple yard

this is not the famous Buddha statue, this was just a statue we were actually allowed to take pictures of

Many pilgrims were prostrating at the entrance of the temple, but most of the people there were tourists in hiking gear with fancy cameras.  We got to see the enormous Buddha statue but couldn’t take pictures of it.

Once the sun came out, we got to walk around on the top level and it was gorgeous!

you can see the Potala Palace in the distance