Tibet Group Tours – Notice for Visiting Monastery

When joining Tibet group tours, tourists need to pay attention to many things when visiting monasteries.

The Direction of Visiting the Monastery

Monasteries are the main tourist attractions of humanity and culture in Tibet. When pay a visit to the monasteries, you could not walk the way as you like. In most monasteries, you need to walk clockwise. While in some monasteries of Bonpo, an indigenous religion of Tibet, people walk just the opposite way. People need to walk anticlockwise when making a visit or prayer. So before you go into the monasteries to visit, you need to know the direction to walk, clockwise or anticlockwise.

Do Not Eat Garlic Before Entering into Monasteries

You need to pay good attention on the food you eat if you are making a plan to visit monasteries. It is better not to eat garlic before you go. A saying is that: “do not let people who have eaten garlic go into the monasteries even if the monastery caught fire.” Though this is just a proverb, but it indicates the religious practice in Tibet.

Etiquettes within the Monasteries

Before entering into the buddha-hall, you are suggested to take off your hats. In the hall, do not speak loudly, touch figures of Buddha or litter about. Do not take photographs or videotaping without permission.

In many monasteries, dogs are fostered. Because prayers often feed food to the dogs, the dogs may follow strangers. When you are involved in this situation, do not drive away the dogs or even hit them even though you do not have things to feed them. There is a proverb in Tibet: “do not hit the dogs in the monasteries, this may hurt the heart of Lama.”

As a region where religion is extensive, the details of life of the common people have close connection with religion. For instance, when many Tibetan old people circling to pray, there are always sheep which hangs red ribbon follow behind. This sheep is called “released sheep”. People could not harass them.