The Naming of Lhasa
( 2005-10-14 )

Lhasa was originally called Gyaixoi Wotang. When the Jokhang Monastery was built, the monastery was named Rosa (the Goats Temple) in memory of the goats that had carried clay to fill up the lake for the monastery's construction.

When Princess Jincheng brought the statue of Sakyamuni from the Ramoche Monastery to the Jokhang Monastery, the Jokhang Monastery became the worshipping center. Because of this development, Rosa was renamed Lhasa, meaning "Holy Land of Buddha."

The name "Lhasa" didn't make its debut in Tibetan classics until 806, when the Tubo King Tride Songtsan erected the "Tablet to the Geqoin Monastery.'' The tablet's inscriptions read: "During the life of His Holy Tsampo Songtsan, Buddhist doctrines were spread and the Jokhang Monastery was built in Lhasa." So "Lhasa" has been in use for almost 1,200 years.