Ramoche Temple (, ) is a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

monastery in

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

. It dates back to the seventh century and is considered to be the most important temple in the city after the Jokhang Temple. Situated in the northwestern part of the

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

an capital, it is east of the Potala and north of the Jokhang.Dowman, Keith. 1988. ''The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide,'' p. 59. Routledge & Kegan Paul. London. (ppk). The site occupies an area of 4,000 square meters (almost one acre).

History

Ramoche is considered to be the sister temple to the Jokhang which was completed about the same time. Tradition says that it was built originally to house the much revered Jowo Rinpoche statue, carried to Lhasa via Lhagang in a wooden cart, brought to Tibet when

Princess Wencheng Princess Wencheng (; ) was a princess and member of a minor branch of the royal clan of the Tang dynasty, who married King Songtsen Gampo of the Tibetan Empire in 641. She is also known by the name Gyasa or "Chinese wife" in Tibet. Both Wencheng ...

came to Lhasa. Unlike, the Jokhang, Ramoche was originally built in Chinese style. During Mangsong Mangtsen's reign (649-676), because of a threat that the Tang Chinese might invade, Princess Wencheng is said to have had the statue of Jowo Rinpoche hidden in a secret chamber in the Jokhang. Princess Jincheng, sometime after 710 CE, had it placed in the central chapel of the Jokhang. It was replaced at Ramoche by a statue of Jowo Mikyo Dorje, a small bronze statue of the Buddha when he was eight years old, crafted by Vishvakarman, and brought to Lhasa by the Nepalese queen, Bhrikuti. It was badly damaged by the

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

.''Tibet'' (6th edition), p. 104. (2005) Bradley Mayhew and Michael Kohn. Lonely Planet. . The temple was badly damaged during the Mongol invasions and there is no certainty that the statue that remained in 1959 was the original one. The original temple was destroyed by fire, and the present three-storied building was constructed in 1474. Soon after it became the Assembly Hall of the Gyuto Tratsang, or Upper Tantric College of Lhasa and was home to 500 monks. There was a close connection with Yerpa which provided summer quarters for the monks. Jowo in Ramoche temple1

Destruction and restoration

The temple was gutted by fire and destroyed in the 1959 Lhasa uprising against Chinese occupation and the bronze statue disappeared. In 1983 the lower part of it was said to have been found in a Lhasa rubbish tip, and the upper half in Beijing. Thanks to the efforts of Ri ‘bur sprul sku, the parts were joined in the Ramoche Temple, which was partially restored in 1986, yet still showed damage in 1993. A major restoration was undertaken in 1986 and the temple now has three stories. Near the main entrance to the building are ten pillars displaying local relics and symbols such as

lotus flower ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as the pink lotus, sacred lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant taxon, extant species of aquatic plant in the Family (biology), family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a ...

s, jewellery, coiling clouds and Tibetan characters. The first floor has an atrium off which opens a scripture hall and the winding corridors of a

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

palace. The second floor is mainly residential but has a chapel with an image of Buddha as King of the Nagas, and the third floor provides sleeping quarters reserved for the use of the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

.Dorje (1999), p. 93.

Footnotes

References

*Dorje, Gyume (1999). ''Footprint Tibet Handbook with Bhutan''. Footprint Handbooks, Bath, England. .

External links

Short history and some photos of Ramoche
{{Buddhist monasteries in Tibet Buddhist monasteries in Lhasa Buddhist temples in Tibet Gelug monasteries and temples Chengguan District, Lhasa Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Tibet