Barkhor: A Temple Circuit with a City Around It
Around Jokhang, Barkhor brings devotional movement, trading streets and the thresholds of old courtyards into close proximity.
Lhasa.
Around Jokhang, Barkhor brings devotional movement, trading streets and the thresholds of old courtyards into close proximity.
The Nichi tradition links the shape of a bamboo nib with disciplined letter forms and a history of teaching centred on Nyemo.
Lhasa
Inside Barkhor’s Courtyard Life: Old Objects, New Uses
A reported café in Gungsangzi courtyard shows how a former resident’s household objects can become part of an old building’s new public life.
ReadA Bamboo Pen and the Shape of Nyemo Calligraphy
The Nichi tradition links the shape of a bamboo nib with disciplined letter forms and a history of teaching centred on Nyemo.
ReadThangka: An Image Made with Paint, Cloth or Thread
A thangka’s religious image may be painted, woven, embroidered or assembled, giving familiar compositions very different material lives.
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Drepung: A Monastery Spread Across a Hillside
At Drepung, assembly halls, colleges and debate courts form a settlement climbing the stony slopes west of Lhasa.
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Ganden: Buildings Gathered Around a Mountain Hollow
Ganden’s position in Dagzê brings its mountain hollow, layered buildings and exposed ridges into one architectural view.
ReadTenzin Chodzha’s Incense: From Learning Ingredients to Teaching Others
A Nyemo maker’s career connects childhood apprenticeship, a Lhasa workshop and new forms of incense made for changing everyday uses.
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Wood, Stone and Many Traditions at Jokhang
Nangkhor, Barkhor and Lingkhor connect Jokhang’s inner devotional circuit to the wider streets and landmarks of Lhasa.
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Three Circuits, Three Scales of Lhasa
Nangkhor, Barkhor and Lingkhor describe devotional routes at the scale of an inner shrine, a temple and the wider historic city.
ReadNyemo’s Three Crafts: Fragrance, Paper and Carved Wood
Across Nyemo, water-powered incense mills, Xuela papermaking and Pusong woodcarving connect different villages through skilled handwork.
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Norbulingka: A Palace Arranged as a Garden
Lhasa’s summer residence brings palace rooms, planted grounds, paths and performance spaces into a different rhythm from the Potala.
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A Garden Pavilion Becomes a Theatre at Norbulingka
Kangsong Silnon’s theatre story unfolds in Norbulingka, a 36-hectare garden residence organized around three principal palaces.
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Tibetan Opera: A Mask within a Larger Performance
Masks are one part of a theatrical form that joins a narrator, enacted drama, singing, dance and an audience gathered around a shared space.
ReadWhy the Potala Belongs to Lhasa’s Valley
UNESCO places the Potala at 3,700 metres on Red Mountain, where the White and Red Palaces rise above Lhasa’s broad valley.
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The Potala’s Painted Walls and Written Leaves
Murals, scroll paintings and palm-leaf manuscripts reveal another scale of the Potala, where architecture shelters fragile surfaces and recorded knowledge.
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White Palace, Red Palace: Reading the Potala
On Lhasa’s Red Mountain, the Potala joins ceremonial rooms, residences and religious spaces in a single stepped complex.
ReadPusong Woodcarving: A Family Skill Finds New Forms
In Nyemo, carvers apply inherited cutting skills to printing, decorative objects and customised designs, while training another generation.
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Namtso: One Lake across Two County Landscapes
Namtso lies between Damxung in Lhasa and Baingoin in Nagqu; its shores connect highland scenery with the everyday work of caring for a lake.
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At Sera, Learning Takes the Form of an Argument
Standing questions, seated replies and the sound of a handclap give Sera’s debate court a visible rhythm rooted in study.
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Shoton: Opera, Yoghurt and Time in the Garden
Lhasa’s summer festival connects a large religious image at Drepung with the more intimate pleasures of opera and picnics in planted grounds.
ReadRiver Water and Incense Paste at Thonpa
In Nyemo’s Thunda village, watermills reveal how a local river enters the preparation of incense ingredients.
ReadXuela Paper: Plant Fibres, Family Work and a New Generation
Papermaker Gesang Denzin’s workshop in Nyemo turns prepared roots into sheets, while notebooks, lamps and cultivation trials extend the craft’s possibilities.
ReadPlaces
Barkhor
Around Jokhang, Barkhor brings devotional movement, trading streets and the thresholds of old courtyards into close proximity.
Drepung Monastery
At Drepung, assembly halls, colleges and debate courts form a settlement climbing the stony slopes west of Lhasa.
Ganden Monastery
Ganden’s position in Dagzê brings its mountain hollow, layered buildings and exposed ridges into one architectural view.
Jokhang Temple
Nangkhor, Barkhor and Lingkhor connect Jokhang’s inner devotional circuit to the wider streets and landmarks of Lhasa.
Historic Lhasa
Nangkhor, Barkhor and Lingkhor describe devotional routes at the scale of an inner shrine, a temple and the wider historic city.
Namtso
Namtso lies between Damxung in Lhasa and Baingoin in Nagqu; its shores connect highland scenery with the everyday work of caring for a lake.
Nyemo Thunba
A Nyemo maker’s career connects childhood apprenticeship, a Lhasa workshop and new forms of incense made for changing everyday uses.
Norbulingka
Lhasa’s summer residence brings palace rooms, planted grounds, paths and performance spaces into a different rhythm from the Potala.
Nyemo Nichi Calligraphy
The Nichi tradition links the shape of a bamboo nib with disciplined letter forms and a history of teaching centred on Nyemo.
Potala Palace
UNESCO places the Potala at 3,700 metres on Red Mountain, where the White and Red Palaces rise above Lhasa’s broad valley.
Sera Monastery
Standing questions, seated replies and the sound of a handclap give Sera’s debate court a visible rhythm rooted in study.
Shoton Festival
Lhasa’s summer festival connects a large religious image at Drepung with the more intimate pleasures of opera and picnics in planted grounds.
Tibet Museum
A thangka’s religious image may be painted, woven, embroidered or assembled, giving familiar compositions very different material lives.
Tibetan Opera
Masks are one part of a theatrical form that joins a narrator, enacted drama, singing, dance and an audience gathered around a shared space.
Photo credits and rights
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Devotional practice gives the Barkhor circuit one of its characteristic rhythms.Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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Barkhor’s street network forms the setting for its many historic courtyards.Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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A distant view places Drepung’s settlement-like ensemble within the mountain slope.Jan Kranendonk ( https://www.jankranendonk.nl ) · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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A wide view shows the hollow and the different levels occupied by Ganden.McKay Savage from London, UK · CC BY 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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Roof ornaments at Jokhang; the view shows the roof rather than the temple’s inner courts.Jan Kranendonk ( https://www.jankranendonk.nl ) · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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Barkhor gives the middle circuit an urban setting around Jokhang.Gerd Eichmann · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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Tibetan opera joins costume with narration, music and movement.Bernt Rostad from Oslo, Norway · CC BY 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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The wider Lingkhor circuit includes the Potala among the city’s religious landmarks.Laika ac from UK · CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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Small groups give Sera’s debate court a visible pattern of question and response.Göran Höglund (Kartläsarn) · CC BY 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
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Opera is one of the arts associated with Shoton’s summer gatherings.Bernt Rostad from Oslo, Norway · CC BY 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
