The revered Tsuglagkhang is the exiles’ concrete equivalent of the Jokhang temple in Lhasa and was built in 1969. The central image is a gilded statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha (the name refers to the Buddha's birthplace Sakya). To its left are statues of Avalokitesvara (Chenrezig in Tibetan; the bodhisattva of compassion and Tibet's patron deity), and Padmasambhava, the Indian sage believed to have spread Buddhism in Tibet in the 8th century.
The silver Avalokitesvara is a replica of the 7th-century Avalokitesvara image in the Jokhang temple that was destroyed in 1966 during the Cultural Revolution. It contains relics rescued from the destruction and smuggled out of Tibet. The central Sakyamuni is flanked by collections of sacred texts, and on the right-hand wall are paintings of the three early kings credited with bringing Buddhism to Tibet.
Cameras and phones must be left at a counter before the temple entrance.
