Lhasa is the heart and soul of Tibet, and Barkhor Square is Lhasa’s main artery. Pilgrims flock from all over to perform the kora in Barkhor Circuit and pray at Jokhang Temple (the most revered religious site).

Around Jokhang, there is a constant stream of pilgrims following the Barkhor Circuit circumambulation route in a clock-wise direction. They each have a prayer wheel and Tibetan prayers beads in hand and murmur the mantras softly as they walk. Circumambulation is done in a clock-wise manner and in odd number of rounds (ie: 1/3/5/7/9). This ritual is called the ‘kora’.

We checked out Barkhor Square on our first evening and witnessed the deep faith of pilgrims right before our eyes. There was an endless stream of them going round the circuit while the rest prayed in front of Jokhang.

I never knew how strong people’s beliefs were until I arrived here. It’s as if the whole country is a huge monastery. Every Tibetan carry their prayer beads with them everywhere they go. Everyone knows how to chant the mantra. And they pray all the time.

Everytime we pass by Barkhor, I would stand there just watching them pray. They would clasp their palms together, raise them above their head to say a prayer, lower their clasped hand down to their chest, kneel down on their knees, thrust their entire body forward till it touches the ground and stretch both hands out to the front. Then, repeat this all over again for a really long time. All of them had a sort of mat on the ground. If they are making a long journey of pilgrimage (such as around the mountain), they would affix wood panels on their elbows and knees for protection.

We walked round Barkhor Circuit on 3 separate occasions and each time was different from the other coz there were just so many things to be discovered and the crowd always made it an exciting walk. We went back on the last day for shopping and we all managed to find the stuff we wanted.