Tibet

Tibet

Tibet, a rich and beautiful land, is considered the best destination for eventual adventure hunters to experience the enchantment and compelling mystery of a lifetime. The land is even famous as the world’s roof, which lies at an average altitude of 4000m above sea level at the central part of Qinghai- Tibet plateau, the southwest frontier of China. Trekking in Tibet offers you an exotic land with tremendous scenery, arty monasteries, striking class, secret valleys, and centuries-old caravan tracks. So, Tibet, without question, provides you with a unique experience. The population of this area is 1,890,000, of which there are the dominations of Tibetans. About 90% of the population lives in farming and husbandry. They produce wheat, peas,rape-seed, and soon. Tibet, aloof from the rest of the world until the beginning of the 20th century, is often referring as the Third pole of the Globe.

Geographically speaking, Tibet can be divided into three major parts: the east, south, and north. The eastern part of Tibet has a forest region that occupies approximately one-fourth of the land. The northern part is open grassland where nomads, yak, and sheep dwell. The same part occupies just about half of Tibet. Likewise, the southern and northern part is called the agricultural region, which absorbs one-fourth of Tibet’s land as per the approximate value. It is considered the cultural center of Tibet. It includes the major Tibetan cities and towns such as Lhasa, Shigatse, Gyantse ad Tsetang, etc. The Administrative region is divided into one municipality and six prefectures. Lhasa is the Municipality of Tibet, while other six places like Shigatse, Ngari, Lhaoka, Chamdo, Nakuru, and Nyingtri are the prefectures.

Tibet generally has two classifications of language: Tibeto –Burman of the Sino-Tibetan family, and the Himalayan languages seem to be unclear. The people in Tibet use numerous regional dialects, which may sometimes be intelligible and can not be understood by the different speakers.

As far as religion is concerned, it is essential for the Tibetan people, and Bon is the ancient religion for the Tibetans. But it has been almost eclipsed by Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism has excellent use in Tibet; apart from this, it is also practiced in Mongolia, a part of India. Lhosar and Monlam prayer are some of the festivals celebrated by the Tibetan people according to the Festival times.

Tibet at a glance

Location:           Asia
Area:                     471,700sq.miles Border 2.5 million sq. km approx.The size of Western Europe
Terrain:               70% grassland, from high plateau to tropical forest.
Climate:              Average temperature 2 degrees Celsius (summer) -15 degrees Celsius, extremely dry except during the rainy season (July –August)ii
Population:       2.62 million
Ethnic groups: Ethnic Tibetan, Menba Lhoba, Mongols, Hui, and a growing number of Han Chinese.
Religion:             Tibetan Buddhism, Shoton Festival, Bathing Festival
Currency:           Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
Time:                   Local Time =UTC+8hrs

Places to visit in Tibet

Lhasa city

Traditionally, the city is the seat of the Dalai Lama and the capital city of Tibet. It is one of the world’s highest capitals, lying at 3700m altitude with a 544sq km area cover. An exotic city even called “the land of Gods” with a history of over 13 centuries. Lhasa is a central city for cultural, economic, political, and religious activities, even known as “the city of sunshine.” Besides this; it is famous for its cultural and historical sites with lots of scenic beauty, including Potala Palace, Drepung Monastery, Jokhang Temple, Sera Monastery, and Ganden monastery, which in the true sense are the natural attractions of this city which agriculture has high importance.

Norbu Lanka

Norbu Lanka, a fanciful garden, amazed many visitors with its beautiful nature and propensity. It is located about 3km west of Lhasa, covers 46 acres of land, and is even famous as a summer place. The superb view of the striking garden was first built in the middle of 370 rooms of various sizes. It became a goal of the many visitors, so, every year, many guests glance at this garden curiously, and some of them spend their holiday and study in Tibetan-style places.

Potala palace

A palace that is 117 m high atop the Red hills in Lhasa was built over 1,300years ago in the 17 century by the well-known king Songsten Gampo in favor of his wife, Princess Wencheng. This famous palace is located at the heart of Lhasa city and was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1994. Once Dalai Lama used this palace as a winter retreat. Since then, this palace is also called the winter palace. In the present day, it is used as a museum to showcase precious articles of history, culture, and arts. Potala, without any doubt, is well known for the precious sculpture, murals, scripture, Buddha figure, antiques, and religious jewelry treasured up, which are of great cultural and artistic value.

The palace is divided into two parts mainly divided by two colors: red and white, which are joined by a small yellow parted structure that houses the sacred banner, hung during the New year festivals. The room of the palace is identified by the number and name accordingly.

The scene like sturdy forecast in its appearance, 16 feet stone walls with a thick base, and a grand plaza at the south base of the rock surrounded by walls and gates are some of the absolute highlights and attractions of the palace, which add heavenly pleasure to the visitors as it lies at the top side of the place.

Jokhang Temple

Among the many religious sites, the Jokhang temple is one of the most popular and the most visited temples in Tibet, lying in the central part of Lhasa city. It is said that this Temple is the first Buddhist sanctuary of Tibet, established in 647A.D. The Temple was even called the “Tsung Khang” or ‘House of Wisdom,’ but now it is called the Jokhang temple, which means the “House of Lords.” The temple has high importance for Tibetans and has become the ultimate pilgrimage site for Tibetan pilgrims. Jokhang, the oldest temple in Tibet, was the house of the sitting statue of Sakyamuni Buddha when he was 12 years old. The visitors can see the astonishing view of chanting and prostrating pilgrims and its attractive surroundings. Temple’s located scene even impressed the visitors unknowingly so that they are surprised by its unique periphery and sidelined.

Due to its beauty and unique surrounding, it was included in UNESCO’s world’s Heritage list in 2000. Like Potala Palace, it is probably the most tourist attraction of Lhasa and also the Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace and a spiritual center of Lhasa.

The peripheral part of the temple is decorated with deer and wheel motif, which is believed as the early symbols of Buddhism. Jokhang’s interior part is dark, and it is dedicated to different gods and bodhisattvas.

There are different sites to see from Jokhang Temple. Tourists can visit this temple in the afternoon as the morning was reserved for pilgrims. However, the best way to experience and observe the temple is to arrive at 8 am to watch the pilgrims perform devotions.

Sera Monastery

Among three monasteries, including Drepung, sera, and Ganden, sera are one of the great monasteries in Lhasa, Tibet, which lies at the foot of Tatipu Hill and is about 5km north of Jokhang of Lhasa city. It is said to have believed that this monastery is dedicated to Gelugpa or Yellow Hat sect, a popular branch of Tibetan Buddhism, discovered by Jamhen Chojey, a disciple of Tsong Khapa. In the Tibetan language, Sera initially means “The Wild Roses,” which covered the hill of its surrounding. This magnificent monastery covers an area of 114,946 square km. Most importantly, their monasteries are considered the “Third pillar of the State.” Sera even denotes merciful hail, which is challenging to Drepung Monastery, which stands for “Rice Heap” because the hail spoils the rice.

During this discovery in 1419, at its height, it became the residence for more than5 000 monks and five monastic colleges. The visitors can take absolute pleasure in the time of afternoon when the monks, some of them are less active out of many hundreds, after finishing their morning scripture classes, take part in a debate in the courtyard.
The monastery consists of Great halls, three Tratsangs (a college offering specialized studies), and thirty Khangtsens (residential areas of monks from different parts of Tibet).

Drepung Monastery

In the literal sense, Drepung monastery denotes the “Heap of Rice” lying at the foot of Mount Gephel and about 5km from the western superb of Lhasa is one of the great three Gelukpa University monasteries of Tibet, and the other two are Ganden and Sera. It is the largest among all Tibetan monasteries and was founded in 1416 by Jamyang Choge Tashi Palden; it housed 7,700 monks and sometimes more than 10,000 monks. It has the quality to attract pilgrims and visitors from around the World.

The most important thing to see in this monastery is Assembly Hall on the first floor, clutching the arresting Dalai Lama XIII statue. To the left of Assembly Hall, you can find out the kitchen. The most venerated image found in Drepung monastery is a 15m tall statue of Maitreya Buddha ( future Buddha), designed by Tsongkapa and housed on the third floor of the main building. The visitors are offered holy water.

The first floors restrain multiple Buddha statues and other decorations, while the second houses Buddhist scriptures. A chapel to the north of the second-floor house has a sacred mirror that is said that this mirror cure all the facial diseases of those who gazed upon it. Ganden pouring (Ganden palace), Tsokchen (Assembly Hall), Ngakpa Tratsang (college of tantric studies), Jamyang Drubpuk (Jamyang cholera’s meditation cave), Loseling Tratsang (college of dialectics), and Tashi Gomang Tratsang are some popular pilgrimage sites to runs at this circuit.

Tibet Packages

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