The Jokhang is the spiritual heart of Tibet. Built in 647 AD by King Songtsen Gampo, it is the most sacred temple in Tibetan Buddhism — older than the Potala and, for pilgrims, more important. From dawn onwards the courtyard fills with the steady thud of full-body prostrations as devotees press themselves flat against the flagstones, wooden hand-protectors clacking with each forward slide.
Inside, the layout is a series of dim, butter-lit chapels arranged around a central hall. The air is thick with juniper smoke and yak-butter lamps. The most sacred chamber holds the Jowo Shakyamuni, a small gilded Buddha image draped in silks and crowned in gold. Lines of pilgrims shuffle past, touching foreheads to its base. Upstairs, the roof offers a sweeping view across Barkhor Square to the Potala.
The temple sits at the centre of the Barkhor circuit, the city's main pilgrimage path. Plan to arrive early — by mid-morning the queues for the inner sanctum are long, and the policed entrance from the square can be slow. Modest dress, no photography inside the chapels.