The Dazhao Temple is located at the center of Lahsa City, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region.It is one of the most popular sights when you travel to Tibet.

The Dazhao Temple is the early Buddhist Temple of the Tubo Dynasty. According to historical documents, in year of 647, Tubo Songtsan Gambo gave order to build up a Buddhist hall in the royal court to collect josses and classical scriptures so as to marry in Princess Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty and Princess Bhrikuti of the Nepal Kingdom. The land selected, the architecture designed by Princess Wencheng, and the construction supervised by Princess Bhrikuti, the temple was originally named the White Hair Goddess Palace, and renamed as the Dazhao Temple in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and formed the present scale through the expansions and repairs during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties (1271-911). The temple, covering an area of over 25,000 square meters, includes buildings like the Hall of Sakyamuni, the Hall for Worshiping Buddha and bKa'-gshags governmental agencies.

The Dazhao temple is well-known for the impressive buildings, splendid statues, delicate murals, musical instruments and fine collection of Buddhist scriptures among which the most notable are the "Three Marvelous Treasures"- the Silver Buddha, the carved dragons on the huge golden pillars on either side of the statue and the murals commemorating the Emperor's visit.

The whole temple adopted the Han nationality architectural style of the Tang Dynasty in several aspects such as roof beams, sunk panels, and wooden square blocks inserted between the top of a column and a crossbeam, etc, while the eaves of interior corridor are decorated with rows of divine animals and wooden sphinx carvings, etc, assuming the flavor of architectures in the Western Regions. Tibetan frescoes were painted all around on the corridor and the halls' walls, describing Princess Wencheng Enter Tibet and other historical facts. The total length of these frescoes is about 1,000 meters, and of high historical and artistic value.

Despite recent renovations, there are a few halls that retain their original style, especially the well preserved Ming wooden hall that holds the silver Buddha and various murals depicting the emperor's visit.If this does not hold your attention, then the houses around the temple are also of interest, old, adobe constructions with colored glass windows, and small windy lanes.

Admission Fee: CNY 30
Opening hours: 08:00 am-18:00 pm