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The Jokhang Temple, (Tibetan: ཇོ་ཁང་; Wylie: Jo-khang; Chinese: 大昭寺; pinyin: Dàzhāosì), is the first Buddhist temple in Tibet, located on Barkhor Square in Lhasa. It was built during the reign of king Songsten Gampo (605?-650 CE) to celebrate his marriage with Chinese Tang Dynasty princess Wencheng, who was a Buddhist. The temple was called the Tsulag Khang or 'House of Wisdom' but it is now known as the Jokhang which means the 'House of the Buddha'.^[1]

For most Tibetans it is the most sacred and important temple in Tibet. It is in some regards pansectarian, but is presently controlled by the Gelug school.

Along with the Potala Palace, it is the most popular tourist attraction in Lhasa. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace" and a spiritual centre of Lhasa.

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The 1st Dalai Lama, Gendun Drup, also Gendun Drub and Kundun Drup (1391–1474) is retrospectively considered to be the first of the Dalai Lamas of Tibet, who are believed to be reincarnations of Chenresig (Sanskrit: Avalokiteshvara), the Bodhisattva of Compassion.

Gendun Drup was born in a cowshed in Gyurmey Rupa, near Sakya in the Tsang region of central Tibet, the son of Gonpo Dorjee and Jomo Namkha Kyi, nomadic tribespeople. He was raised as a shepherd until the age of seven. His birth name was Pema Dorje (Tibetan: པད་མ་རྡོ་རྗེ་; Wylie: pad ma rdo rje, Vajra Lotus/Lotus Vajra) . Later, he was placed in Nartang (Nar-thang) monastery. In 1405 he took his novice vows from the abbot of Narthang, Khenchen Drupa Sherab. When he was 20, about 1411, he became fully ordained into the monkhood. He received the name Gendun Drubpa upon taking the vows of a fully ordained monk (gelong) from the abbot of Narthang monastery. At twenty years of age he became a disciple of Tsongkhapa (1357 – 1419) and the first abbot of Ganden Monastery, founded by Je Tsongkhapa himself in 1409.

By the middle of his life he had become one of the most esteemed scholar-saints in the country. Gendun Drup was a student of the great scholar and reformer Tsongkhapa.

It is said that Palden Lhamo, the female guardian spirit of the sacred lake, Lhamo La-tso, promised the First Dalai Lama in one of his visions "that she would protect the reincarnation lineage of the Dalai Lamas".

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Schools

Tradionally, Tibetan Buddhism knows four principal schools: Nyingma, Karma Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug. Since the 20th century the traditional religion of Tibet, Bön, has been adopted as the fifth school of Tibetan Buddhism.

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Did you know?

... that Ganden had been a monastery university during many centuries? ... that Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is missing since 17 May 1995 when he was six years old? ... that the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama are member of the gelugpa

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Monks hurrying to services, Tashilhunpo Monastery

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Dalai Lamas

There have been 14 recognized reincarnations of the Dalai Lama: Gendun Drup 1391–1474 Gendun Gyatso 1475–1541 Sonam Gyatso 1543–1588 Yonten Gyatso 1589–1616 Lobsang Gyatso 1617–1682 Tsangyang Gyatso 1683–1706 Kelzang Gyatso 1708–1757 Jamphel Gyatso 1758–1804 Lungtok Gyatso 1806–1815 Tsultrim Gyatso 1816–1837 Khendrup Gyatso 1838–1856 Trinley Gyatso 1857–1875 Thubten Gyatso 1876–1933 Tenzin Gyatso born 1935

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Panchen Lamas

There have been 11 recognized reincarnations of the Panchen Lama: Khedrup Je 1385–1438 Sönam Choklang 1438–1505 Ensapa Lobsang Döndrup 1505–1568 Lobsang Chökyi Gyalsten 1570–1662 Lobsang Yeshe 1663–1737 Lobsang Palden Yeshe 1738–1780 Palden Tenpai Nyima 1782–1853 Tenpai Wangchuk 1855?–1882 Thubten Chökyi Nyima 1883–1937 Lobsang Trinley Lhündrub Chökyi Gyaltsen 1938–1989 Gedhun Choekyi Nyima 1989–?

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Tibetan and Himalayan Library — prayer wheel — Tibet

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