China Guide
Tibet
Ramoche
Opening time: Daily 9am–4.30pm
Price: ¥20
Address: North of the Barkhor, on Ramoche Lu (between Beijing Dong Lu and Lingkuo Bei Lu)
The three-storey, robust Ramoche temple is small but intriguing, and second only in importance to the Jokhang. it was built in the seventh century by Songtsen Gampo's Chinese wife, Princess Wencheng, to house the Jowo Sakyamuni statue that she brought to Tibet. The statue later ended up in the Jokhang and was replaced by the Akshobhya Buddha, a representation of Sakyamuni at the age of 8. This much-revered statue was broken in two during the Cultural Revolution, with one part taken to China and narrowly saved from being melted down, while the other was later discovered on a factory scrapheap in Tibet. The statue in position today in the main shrine, the Tsangkhang at the back of the temple, is likely to be a copy.