4 Days Lhasa and Tsongkhapa Butter Lamp Festival Tour

When you arrive in Lhasa, your tour guide will hold a board with your name on it at the exit to welcome you. A private car will take you to the reserved hotel.You may view the Yarlung Tsangpo River/ Bhamaputra River (the longest and largest river in Tibet) and Lhasa River on their way to Lhasa.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Today, you’ll pay a visit to the famous Potala Palace, the world culture heritage. You can explore its audience halls, the jeweled and Golden burial chortens (stupa Tombs) of past Dalai Lamas, and tremendous number of Buddhist frescoes, thangkas, combinations of mandala, etc.

Then tourists will head to the holiest temple in Tibet, the Jokhang Temple, built during Songtsen Ganpo's reign by princess Wencheng of Tang dynasty, 647 A.D. Here you can observe sincere pilgrims making prostration in front of Jokhang Temple. While entering inside the temple, you can see the holiest statue of Buddha. Around the monastery is the famous Barkhor Street, where you can do the kora with pilgrims and locals. And then we’ll go to explore the old market and you may have chance to see the traditional jewelry trading between people from different parts of Tibet.

You will join the Tsongkhapa Butter Lamp Festival at the Jokhang Temple, the key pilgrimage center. Tsongkhapa Butter Lamp Festival (Tsongkhapa Memorial, Ganden Nga-Choe) falls on the twenty-fifth day of the tenth Tibetan month. The festival dates back to the 15th century when residents would light butter lamps in honor of nirvana or the enlightenment day of the Gelukpa school founder of Tibetan Buddhism - Je Tsongkhapa, who is believed by Tibetan Buddhists to be the second Buddha.

Activities during the festival include religious gatherings, blowing holly horns, lighting butter lamps, burning juniper branches and circumambulating the temples.

You can feel the piety and the belief of the Tibetans directly and deeply. The air is filled with the burning juniper branches. Myriads of butter lamps are lit on rooftops with prayers chanting. Empty all your negative emotions, light up your own lamp and make a pious pray for the future.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Optional: After finishing the sightseeing, if time allows, you may go with tour guide to visit Tibetan Handicraft Art or Tibetan Traditional Medicine Center. Besides, you can also choose to upgrade your tour to enjoy Tibetan Culture Show in the evening (fr. 60USD).

Today, you will visit two important monasteries in Lhasa, the Drepung and the Sera. Drepung Monastery, the largest monastery in Tibet, was founded by Jamyang Choje in 1416. Situated at the foot of Gebeiwoze Mountain, it was once home to more than 10,000 monks. Here you can see the biggest monastery kitchen inside and then pay a visit to the Buddhist Sculpture Carving near Drepung.

After having lunch, you’ll continue to visit the Sera Monastery, which was founded in 1419 by Tsongkhapa's disciple Jamchen Choje. The most interesting thing is to see monks debating in the courtyard at around 3-5 in the afternoon. Besides, you can also see the colorful Rock Painting of Buddha and the three sand Mandalas and then visit the Tibetan religious text printing house.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

The driver will take you to airport or train station.

Service end.