Lukhang (Tib. klu khang, residence of Nagas), formally Zongdag Lukhang (Tib. rdzong bdag klu khang /nowiki>, residence of Nagas, lords of the castle and administered territory /nowiki>) is the name of a secret temple of

Lozang Gyatso, 5th Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was the 5th Dalai Lama and the first Dalai Lama to wield effective temporal and spiritual power over all Tibet. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being a key religious and temporal leader ...

. Three walls of the temple are covered with murals of yogis engaged in their exercises. * One wall of

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s illustrates a commentary by

Longchenpa Longchen Rabjam Drimé Özer (), commonly abbreviated to Longchenpa (1308–1364, an honorific meaning "The Vast Expanse") was a Tibetan scholar-yogi of the Nyingma school ('Old School') of Tibetan Buddhism. According to tibetologist David Ge ...

on a Dzogchen tantra '' Rigpa Rangshar'', interpreted according to the 5th Dalai Lama's experience of practice. The murals show characteristic visions of the secret practice of tögal. * Another wall shows eight manifestations of

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...

Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...

and eighty four main

Mahasiddha Mahasiddha ( Sanskrit: ''mahāsiddha'' "great adept; ) is a term for someone who embodies and cultivates the "siddhi of perfection". A siddha is an individual who, through the practice of sādhanā, attains the realization of siddhis, psychic ...

s. * The third wall illustrates positions and movements of Yantra Yoga. The temple is situated on a small island on a lake behind the

Potala The Potala Palace is a ''dzong'' fortress in Lhasa, Tibet. It was the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas from 1649 to 1959, has been a museum since then, and a World Heritage Site since 1994. The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythic ...

palace in

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...

References

The Crystal and The Way of Light. Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen by

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Namkhai Norbu (; 8 December 1938 – 27 September 2018) was a Tibetan Buddhist master of Dzogchen and a professor of Tibetan and Mongolian language and literature at Naples Eastern University. He was a leading authority on Tibetan culture, pa ...

. Compiled and Edited by John Shane, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, NY, USA, 2000, , pp. 82–87, 190, 191. The Dalai Lama's Secret Temple: Tantric wall paintings from Tibet, Ian A.Baker; Thames & Hudson, Year: 2011,

External links

http://www.asianart.com/articles/baker/ The Lukhang: a hidden temple in Tibethttp://www.asianart.com/shalu/lukhang/ SHALU Association: THE LUKHANG TEMPLE
Tibetan Buddhist temples {{Tibetan-Buddhism-stub