Barkhor Street

Barkhor Street is located in the old area of Lhasa City, Tibet.

 

Bakhor, also named as Baghor, is the oldest street in Lhasa. It’s said that in 647, the first Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo (617 - 650) built the Jokhang Temple. Due to its magnificence, it quickly attracted thousands of Buddhist pilgrims. As a result, a trodden path appeared. That is the origin of Barkhor Street. Today even still many pilgrims hold the prayer wheels to walk clockwise there from dawn to dark. Also you can see some pilgrims walking or progressing body-lengths by body-lengths along the street. Even some of them are teenagers or have experienced thousands of miles’ walk to reach this sacred place. The way they express their piety could make you understand the holiness of religion. Now it’s also a shopping center with nation characteristics. It’s an old district with colorful Tibetan features. Tibetan houses line the street, and the ground is paved with man-made flagstones, preserving the ancient look.

 

Bakhor Street is a miniature of Lhasa, even in the whole Tibet. The street was paved by hand-polished stone boards. The old circumambulation circuit is always crowded with pilgrims from everywhere. Some are monks, and some are businessmen from Kham. In the street, you can find satisfactory souvenirs, and experience the mysterious "one step one kowtow" faith to religion. All kinds of fantastic commodities show us all aspects of the Tibetan life, such as: Thangkas, copper Buddha, prayer wheels, butter lamps, beads, Tibetan joss sticks, cypress, etc. Household goods in shops are in abundant, such as: cushion, Pulu, aprons, leather bag, harness, snuff bottles, steels, Tibetan-style quilts, Tibetan-style shoes, clasp knives, Tibetan-style hats, butter, butter pots, wooden bowls, milk residue, air-dried beef and mutton, etc. All kinds of tourist products, cheap but good, can be found in the 1,000-meter-long street.