Visit the Buddha Rock Carving located to the south from Potala Palace, on the other side of the Chak Pori hill. The place is called Sangye Dhongku in Tibetan. It is one of the city’s hidden gems, a lovely collection of painted rock carvings centered around a huge image of Tsepakme (Buddha of Longevity).
To the right from the carvings, there is a beautiful stupa built entirely of the carved mani stones. Mani stones are rocks painted with various Buddhist mantras.
WHERE TO FIND ROCK CARVINGS
To find the carvings, join Tibetans walking the long kora or, lingkor, pilgrimage route around Potala Palace. There are two kora routes around the palace. The most popular one is the shortest kora around the palace, running along its walls.
The larger kora starts near the Lhasa River. It then turns around the Chak Pori hill, the large hill across from the Potala Palace with antenna tower on it. After you make the turn, you will follow the narrow street decorated with small paintings of Buddha on the walls and various mani stones. This street leads to the Buddha Rock Carvings.
On some maps, it is called by its Chinese name, Yangwang Mountain. Some guidebooks call it Chak Pori Rock Carvings.
GALLERY
ROCK CARVINGS
There is another famous Buddha rock carvings site near Lhasa. It is located off the old road connecting Lhasa and airport. With the recently built highway to the airport there are less tourists visiting the site.
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