For your first few visits to the Barkhor circuit, it’s best to let yourself be dragged along by the centrifugal tide of pilgrims, but there are also several small, fascinating temples to pop into en route.
As you follow the flow of pilgrims past sellers of religious photos, felt cowboy hats and electric blenders (for yak-butter tea!), you’ll soon see a small building on the right, set off from the main path. This is the Mani Lhakhang , a small chapel that houses a huge prayer wheel set almost continuously in motion. To the right of the building is the grandiose entrance of the former city jail and dungeons, known as the Nangtse Shar.
If you head south from here, after about 10m you will see the entrance to the Jampa Lhakhang (also known as Jamkhang or Water Blessing Temple) on the right. The ground floor of this small temple has a huge two-storey statue of Miwang Jampa, the Future Buddha, flanked by rows of various protector gods and the meditation cave of the chapel’s founder. Pilgrims ascend to the upper floor to be blessed with a sprinkling of holy water and the touch of a holy dorje (thunderbolt).
Continue down the alley following the prayer wheels, then pass through a doorway into the old Meru Nyingba Monastery . This small but active monastery is a real delight and is invariably crowded with Tibetans thumbing prayer beads or lazily swinging prayer wheels and chanting under their breath. The chapel itself is administered by Nechung Monastery, which accounts for the many images of the Nechung oracle inside. The building, like the adjoining Jokhang, dates back to the 7th century, though most of what you see today is recently constructed.
On the west side of the courtyard up some narrow stairs is the small Sakyapa-school Gongkar Chöde chapel . Below is the Zhambhala Lhakhang , with a central image of Marmedze (Dipamkara), the Past Buddha, and a small inner kora path. From here you can return north or head east to join up with the Barkhor circuit.
The eastern side of the circuit has more shops and even a couple of small department stores that specialise in turquoise. In the southeast corner is a wall shrine and a darchen (prayer pole), which mark the spot where Tsongkhapa planted his walking stick in 1409.
On the southern side of the circuit look out for the Gendun Choephel Memorial Hall , a dull museum on a particularly fascinating character. Choephel (1903–51) was a monk, poet, translator, scientist, travel writer, painter, linguist, medic, sexologist, scholar of Sanskrit and all-round nonconformist. The museum suffers from dogmatic spin; you may find your eyes glazing over when museum text expounds on the 'caesaropapium feudal serf system'.
The empty southern square of the Jokhang used to host annual teachings by the Dalai Lama during the Mönlam festival. The circuit finally swings north by a police station back to Barkhor Sq.
