Pilgrimage to the "Roof of the World"

Article and photos:DUC TUAN - HOA MINH

The sacred peak of the Tibetan people

Perched high in the Himalayas with an average altitude of about 4,900 meters, Tibet is considered the “roof of the world”. There are four routes to Tibet: Qinghai, Xuyen Tibet, Dien Tibet and Xin Tibet. We went to Tibet by the road from Qinghai, a distance of nearly 2,000 km. The journey had to cross many grasslands at an altitude of several thousand meters, very dangerous but in return, we had the opportunity to admire many beautiful, majestic and spectacular landscapes.

The concept of space that the Tibetan plateau offers is truly magnificent. It not only has three dimensions with snow-capped mountains 6 to 7 thousand meters high, but also has a deep fourth dimension, which is the mystery that reigns in the human mind. Things that we consider vague such as reincarnation, the existence of gods or the invisible pilgrimages of supernatural beings passing through the mountain peaks… are obvious to Tibetans. Their religious beliefs are simple and strong. They always think that since the gods have given them this highest place, there is no reason to go down the mountain to live crowded with the rest of the world!

On the way from Qinghai to Tibet, we had to cross many vast and silent steppes. All was wind, lonely snow, absolute silence covering the mysterious Hadat cloth (cloth for drying sutras - a sacred object of the Tibetans). The title of the quote by a Bolivian pilgrim of German origin written in the bookWhite Cloud Road:“I felt a strange joy and dignity in my heart, a feeling of belonging completely to myself when standing alone in the midst of endless nature, in the vastness of the sky and earth, as in the old days, when humans had not yet been created.”Only when wandering on the grasslands surrounded by giant walls of the Himalayas, Qilian Mountains, Pu Le Mountains, and Kunming Mountains covered with snow all year round, can we share some of the emotions and happiness that surged in our hearts at that time.

Lhasa - The Holy Land of Buddhism

As the car emerged from a winding gorge, Lhasa, the capital of the last remaining ancient kingdom, emerged in a beautiful valley. The city was a combination of modernity and ancient elegance. At the foot of the mountains, the Lhasa River meandered gently.

Lhasa is located in the central region of Tibet, is the capital and political, economic, cultural and transportation center of the entire region. This ancient city has a history of more than 13 centuries, located at an altitude of 3,700m above sea level. Lhasa is also known as the city of sunshine (Nhat Quang Thanh) because there are more than 3,000 hours of sunshine each year.

Lhasa is also known as the “Holy Land of Buddhism”, so ancient temples are everywhere. Behind the prosperous urban appearance is the solemn appearance of a sacred Tibetan Buddhist realm. The most prominent and splendid is the massive Potala Palace against the deep blue sky, considered the symbol of Lhasa.

Potala in Sanskrit means “Buddhist Holy Land”. This is the residence and workplace of the Dalai Lamas, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. Potala was built on Mount Mabuge, 9m higher than Lhasa city, so standing in any direction at a distance of several kilometers, you can see the palace. Potala is 13 stories high, the walls are painted in two colors: white and red, with rows of windows and roofs of different heights. From the top of Potala, we can admire the entire splendid beauty of Lhasa.

Potala was built by the Tibetan king Songtsandr Gampo in the 7th century and it was restored twice in the 17th century and late 20th century. Potala Palace is a magnificent architectural complex, resplendent with gold and jade. A series of construction items such as palaces, stupas, halls, monasteries, platforms... create an unprecedentedly complete complex, both splendid and quiet like a mystical painting. The Potala architectural complex includes the White Palace in the East and the Red Palace in the West. The main palace is built on the southern slope of the mountain, reaching to the top. The East-West length is 360m, the North-South width is 140m. The main materials used to build the palace are stone, earth, and wood. The building has more than 1,000 rooms, more than 10,000 Buddha halls, and 20,000 sculptures. Potala is the quintessence of ancient Tibetan architectural art, a pearl on the roof of the world.

Not far from Potala, there are two temples built in the 7th century, Xiaozhao Temple and Jokhang Temple, which were recognized by UNESCO as World Cultural Heritage in 2000. Both Jokhang and Xiaozhao Temple preserve countless rare Buddha statues, notably Mandala and Tangka paintings of high artistic value. The story of Princess Wencheng ordering goats to fill the swamp to build Jokhang Temple and the place where the goat wheel sank to build Xiaozhao Temple are both legends about the Tang Dynasty princess's kindness to the Tibetan people.

Another famous monastery is Tashilhunpo, built in 1447, which is the residence of the Panchen Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, second only to the Dalai Lama. The monastery is also a museum of Tibetan Buddhist art, with the world's largest bronze statue of Maitreya Buddha, 27 meters high, weighing 150 tons and covered with 6,700 gold leaves.

About 8km west of Lhasa city is Drepung Monastery, built by the disciples of Tsongkhapa (the greatest religious reformer in Tibetan history), which is as big as a village. At its peak, there were up to 10,000 monks from all over the world coming here to study. Buddhism was introduced to Tibet a long time ago, but it was not until the 14th century that the great master Tsongkhapa founded the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism, with the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas still surviving today. He was the most important religious reformer, the one who reformed the Buddhist canon, reviewed all the Tibetan Buddhist scriptures, and also the one who built many important temples and pagodas.

The procession of Tibetans on pilgrimage to Lhasa is endless. Every few steps, they clasp their hands above their heads, lower them to their foreheads, chins, chests, and then bow down to the ground respectfully. This way of worshiping is called “five-body entering the ground” and is unique to Tibetans. Only later did we truly understand why this plateau is considered the most mysterious on earth, existing in both nature and people. Another form of Tibetan belief that is also extremely mysterious is the practice of reciting Buddha’s name and chanting sutras in the form of “turning the prayer wheel”. Buddhists go to the temple and use their hands to rotate metal cylinders, which are objects used to rotate Buddhist scriptures. Inside these rotating cylinders is a text of Tibetan Buddhist scriptures. When Buddhists make them rotate, they are performing a form of chanting sutras and chanting Buddha’s name.

Interspersed among the Tibetan pilgrims are tourists from far away. From the foot of the Potala, you have to climb hundreds of steps to reach the main hall, which is 117m high. The Potala has a secret basement that not everyone can reach. That is the area where the coffins of the deceased Lamas are kept. When a high monk passes away, the mummy is wrapped in a layer of gold called Kim Tang, one of the five forms of burial in Tibet. Later, the person considered to be the reincarnation will come to the statue to identify it and hear the words: "This is the mummy of me from my previous life".

Most of the lamps in the temples in Lhasa are lit by candles made from ghee, which are smokeless. Buddhists and pilgrims who come to the temple do not forget to light candles. Because they believe that each candle lit brings good things. Nowhere else can you find such a magical and shimmering light, it makes our perception drift as if we are lost in the Buddha realm. During my journey in Tibet, I always wondered, what is the most noble thing that reigns in the consciousness of Tibetans: God, Buddha, the afterlife or the worries of daily life? And I got the answer when I heard a common saying that Tibetans often use to warn each other: “Be careful, your next life may come before tomorrow”…!

Sacred Mount Kailash andYamdrok Sacred Lake

When mentioning the religious beliefs of the Tibetan people, we must certainly mention their pilgrimage to the sacred mountain Kailash, more than 1,000km west of the capital Lhasa. This snowy mountain range is considered by Tibetans to be a sacred mountain range, with the title of "spiritual universe", where the Buddhist scriptures call Mount Sumeru and is also the only place where the Buddha and 500 Arhats set foot in ancient times.

Kailash is a sacred land surrounded by four mountains bearing the imprints of four Buddhas, Vajrapani in the Five Wisdoms of the Tathagatas, the caves of Master Milarepa, the monastery of Master Padmasambhava and the cave of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. These mountains are covered with snow all year round, along the cliffs there are many unique and mysterious murals and patterns. On the high mountains there are Buddha footprints, karmic axes, karmic rocks, time-curved mirrors, and roads where people walk as if they have no weight. According to legend, this is also the city of the Heavenly Emperor of the Xomachi people - those who practice enlightenment and turn themselves into stone.

No pilgrimage to Tibet would be complete without a visit to Yamdrok Lake, Tibet’s third largest lake, with a surface area of ​​about 638 km2, located at an altitude of 4,441m and considered a sacred lake of Tibet. It takes three days to get there from Lhasa, a journey of several hundred kilometers.

We arrived at Yamdrok on a beautiful but cold day. Before my eyes was Yamdrok Lake, which was covered in clouds all year round, also known as Jade Lake, because the lake's water was as blue as marble. There is a mysterious religious custom related to the sacredness of this Jade Lake: high Tibetan monks, when being ordained, must sit and meditate on the lake's shore. For them, the mysterious direction of the clouds seemed to carry a message from heaven and earth, from the Supreme Being to help them practice their religion.

Ancient temples, mystical religious customs, magnificent rivers and snow-capped mountains create the eternal mystery and silence of Tibet. If you have the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to this “roof of the world”, make the best use of your time here and immerse yourself in the colorful and mysterious life. The small Golden Wheel was neatly placed in my luggage, and I brought back home stories about spiritual life and a discovery that nirvana is closer when we go on the right path.

The Thanh