Home  »  Tibet Tourist Attractions  »  Lhokha  »  Lhamo La-tso

Lhamo La-tso

Many pilgrims come each year to Lhamo La-tso believing that, with proper devoutness, and after fasting for 3 days and refraining from talk, they will be rewarded with a revelation of their future in the skull-shaped mirror of the lake.

3.56407 933

Lhamo La-tso One of the most important pilgrimage destinations, Lhamo La-tso has been revered for centuries as an oracle lake.    

The Dalai Lamas have traditionally made pilgrimages to Lhamo La-tso to seek visions that appear on its surface. The Tibetan regent journeyed to the lake in 1993 after the death of the 13th Dalai Lama and had a vision of a monastery of the present Dalai Lama. The lake is considered the home of the protectress Palden Lhamo.    

The gateway to Lhamo La-tso is the dramatic, but mostly ruined Chokorgye Monastery. Founded in 1509 by the 2nd Dalai Lama, Gendun Gyatso, the monastery served later Dalai Lamas and regents as a staging post for visits to the lake. On the nearby slope is a mani wall that consecrates a footprint stone of the 2nd Dalai Lama.    

Just short of the mountain pass that overlooks Lhamo La-tso is a ritual throne built for the Dalai Lama. It is now buried under a mound of silk scarves. It’s a 15-minute walk from the silk scarves to the pass and another 5.5 hours to get down the lake (roughly 3.5 km in total), which is encircled by a kora. The lake is a perfect place to camp and spending a night here allows you to watch the dramatic weather patterns change overhead; the micro-climate here ensures that the weather is in constant flux.    

Many pilgrims come each year to Lhamo La-tso believing that, with proper devoutness, and after fasting for 3 days and refraining from talk, they will be rewarded with a revelation of their future in the skull-shaped mirror of the lake.    

Previously there was a temple to Maksorma or Machik Pelha Shiwai Nyamchen, an unusually peaceful form of Palden Lhamo, at the eastern end of the lake which is now marked only by prayer flags and offerings left by pilgrims.    

Lhamo La-tso is a brilliant azure jewel set in a ring of gray mountains. The elevation and the surrounding peaks combine to give it a highly changeable climate, and the continuous passage of cloud and wind creates a constantly moving pattern on the surface of the waters. On that surface visions appear to those who seek them in the right frame of mind.

Tips of Lhamo La-tso

1. There are some decent guesthouses for you to choose if you plan to spend the night in Zetang County.

2. The temperature in Lhamo La-tso is relatively low. Take some clothes with you.

Tickets:CNY 50.00

Opening Hours:All yers

Address:Gyaca County, Shannan Prefecture

Best time to visit it:May and Jun. are the best time to go. It’s also a time harvesting Cordyceps.

Opening Hours: All day long

You may like it

Yamdroktso Lake

Yamdroktso Lake is located at the Nangartse County of Shannan Prefecture, some 110 km to the southwest of Lhasa. It is 1 of 3 Holy Lakes in Tibet (the other 2 are Namtso Lake and Lake Manasarovar). The lak...

Yumbulagang

Yumbulagang A fine, tapering finger of a structure that sprouts from a craggy ridge overlooking the patchwork fields of the Yarlung Tsangpo Valley, Yumbulagang is considered the oldest building in Tibet. M...

Samye Monastery

Samye Monastery is thought to be Tibet’s 1st monastery and its 1st university. It has been deconstructed and reconstructed a number of times. The monastery is thought to have been founded in the 8th ...

Chim-puk Hermitage

Chim-puk Hermitage is a warren of caves northeast of Samye that was once a meditation retreat for Gulug Rinpoche. After crossing through desert-like territory for a couple of hours, the path ascends into t...

Lhamo La-tso

Lhamo La-tso One of the most important pilgrimage destinations, Lhamo La-tso has been revered for centuries as an oracle lake.     The Dalai Lamas have traditionally made pilgrimages to Lhamo La-tso to...

Tombs of the Tibetan Kings

Tombs of the Tibetan Kings Many ancient tombs have been found in Tibet. Most of them date back to the Tubo period or even earlier. For example, the stone coffin tombs in Gonjog County of Qamdo date back to...

Trandruk Monastery

Trandruk Monastery  is one of the earliest Buddhist monasteries in Tibet, having been founded at the same time as the Jokhang Monastery and Ramoche Monastery in Lhasa. Dating back to the 7th century r...

zhamasang palace site

Located in the north valley SangYeSi miles at a hill. About built in the 8th century, it is hidden Wang Chide ZuZan and princess jincheng palace, one of the legend is the birthplace of akamatsu's. Acco...

Unwrap the Experience with the

Tibet dream footprint,Snowy paradise,Sacred to the extreme

Travel Tibet China(traveltibetchina.com) provides a platform for those tourists who want to visit Tibet in groups,which helps them solve the problem of being unable to group together with others. Grouping travel countries include America、England、Germany etc.The dream of visiting Tibet will come true for you if you have it, Travel Tibet China!

We are here to help you...
Start planning your tailor-made China Tours with 1-1 help from our travel advisors.

Create Your Trip

Top
x