Jokhang Temple
| Jokhang | |
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The Jokhang, with Barkhor Square in front
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| Tibetan transcription(s) | |
| Tibetan | ཇོ་ཁང། |
| Chinese transcription(s) | |
| Pinyin | Dàzhāosì |
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| Coordinates | 29°39′11″N 91°2′51″E / 29.65306°N 91.04750°E |
| Monastery information | |
| Location | Barkhor, Lhasa, Tibet, China |
| Founded by | Songsten Gampo |
| Founded | 7th century |
| Type | Tibetan Buddhist |
| Sect | Gelug |
| Dedicated to | Shakyamuni; home of the most-venerated statue in Tibet |
| Architecture | Vihara, Tibetan, Nepalese |
The Jokhang (Tibetan: ཇོ་ཁང།, Chinese: 大昭寺), also known as the Qoikang Monastery, Jokang, Jokhang Temple, Jokhang Monastery and Zuglagkang (Tibetan: གཙུག་ལག་ཁང༌།, Wylie: gtsug-lag-khang, ZYPY: Zuglagkang or Tsuklakang), is a Buddhist temple in Barkhor Square in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. Tibetans, in general, consider this temple as the most sacred and important temple in Tibet. The temple is currently maintained by the Gelug school, but they accept worshipers from all sects of Buddhism. The temple's architectural style is a mixture of Indian vihara design, Tibetan and Nepalese design.
The Jokhang was founded during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo. According to tradition, the temple was built for the king's two brides: Princess Wencheng of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal. Both are said to have brought important Buddhist statues and images from China and Nepal to Tibet, which were housed here, as part of their dowries. The oldest part of the temple was built in 652. In the next 900 years the temple was enlarged several times with the last renovation done in 1610 by the Fifth Dalai Lama. Following the death of Gampo, the image in Ramcho Lake temple was moved to the Jokhang temple for security reasons. When King Tresang Detsan ruled from 755 to 797, the Buddha image of the Jokhang temple was hidden, as the king's minister was hostile to the spread of Buddhism in Tibet. During the late ninth and early tenth centuries, the Jokhang and Ramoche temples were said to have been used as stables. In 1049 Atisha, a renowned teacher of Buddhism from Bengal taught in Jokhang.
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