Peace reigns in Lhasa two years after the riots
Source: Xinhua |
March 15, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
Sogyal began his pilgrimage to Jokhang Temple in downtown Lhasa at 8am, praying for peace and health for his family.
"I'm certainly not an early bird," said Sogyal, a 20-something Tibetan from Aba Prefecture in southwest China's Sichuan Province. "Some people arrived at 5am."
Sogyal and his family, including his parents, brothers and sisters, traveled to Lhasa by train and have made pilgrimages to all its major monasteries in two weeks.
By 11am, they had kowtowed to the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni in the Jokhang Temple and walked, clockwise, 11 times along a famous pilgrim route on the Porgor Street. "It's the dream of my life," said Sogyal.
Yesterday, the 29th day of the Tibetan New Year, is not a particular occasion for mass pilgrimages - which happen on the eighth, 15th and 30th days of every month.
But pilgrims are constantly seen, holding prayer wheels and walking clockwise around the Potala Palace and the Porgor Street, two major pilgrim routes in Lhasa's city center. Young parents carry babies on their back and some elderly people make the pilgrimage in wheelchairs.
Exactly two years after a deadly violence, with charred shops refurbished and a new travel peak a few weeks away, many people say they cherish the peaceful life the holy city has regained.
The police officers and People's Liberation Army soldiers who stand guard on every downtown street are probably the only reminder of the violence.
A spokesman for Tibet's regional public security bureau said last week that they had sent extra police force to patrol Lhasa's streets ahead of yesterday's riot anniversary to "prevent crime and maintain social stability."
"I'm certainly not an early bird," said Sogyal, a 20-something Tibetan from Aba Prefecture in southwest China's Sichuan Province. "Some people arrived at 5am."
Sogyal and his family, including his parents, brothers and sisters, traveled to Lhasa by train and have made pilgrimages to all its major monasteries in two weeks.
By 11am, they had kowtowed to the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni in the Jokhang Temple and walked, clockwise, 11 times along a famous pilgrim route on the Porgor Street. "It's the dream of my life," said Sogyal.
Yesterday, the 29th day of the Tibetan New Year, is not a particular occasion for mass pilgrimages - which happen on the eighth, 15th and 30th days of every month.
But pilgrims are constantly seen, holding prayer wheels and walking clockwise around the Potala Palace and the Porgor Street, two major pilgrim routes in Lhasa's city center. Young parents carry babies on their back and some elderly people make the pilgrimage in wheelchairs.
Exactly two years after a deadly violence, with charred shops refurbished and a new travel peak a few weeks away, many people say they cherish the peaceful life the holy city has regained.
The police officers and People's Liberation Army soldiers who stand guard on every downtown street are probably the only reminder of the violence.
A spokesman for Tibet's regional public security bureau said last week that they had sent extra police force to patrol Lhasa's streets ahead of yesterday's riot anniversary to "prevent crime and maintain social stability."
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