On this day in early August, I went to Zaki Monastery.

Zaki Monastery is inconspicuous compared to the famous attractions in Lhasa, and many books about Tibet's famous places of interest do not mention this name. So much so that many tourists who have been to Lhasa do not know the existence of Zaki Monastery. Zaki Monastery is located in the northern suburbs of Lhasa City on Zaki Road, although the temple is small, but the incense is very prosperous. Zaki Monastery is a temple of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism and is a temple that can be visited for free. One of the great features of Zaki Monastery is that the main deity, Zakiram, is worshipped with wine.

The area of Zaki Temple is not large, but the incense is prosperous. As soon as you enter the Zaki Temple, the melodious sound of bells and chanting is endless. The mural in the corridor outside the temple gate depicts four animals: a monkey sitting on an elephant, a rabbit sitting on a monkey, and a bird sitting on a rabbit, each with a peaceful expression. According to reports, this mural implies the harmony and tolerance of nature.

As soon as you walk in, the whole temple is filled with the strong smell of wine.

The statue of Zakiram, the main deity of Zaki Monastery, is located in a shrine in the main hall of the temple. The man with the bottle in his hand, Hada, was several meters away in front of the statue of Zakiram. In front of the shrine, a monk opened the wine bottle handed by the believers and poured the liquor into the wine jar, which was regarded as accepting the offerings of the believers. Then ask the believers to pray in turn in front of the statue of the main god Zakiram.

I chose the prayer tube room and turned around. Inside the prayer wheel house is a huge prayer wheel with a bell on each of the four corners above the prayer wheel, which jingles every time a pious person turns the prayer wheel. I once heard from a friend that prayer wheels come in large and small sizes, and the big ones have more scriptures printed on them. It is said that in the past, there were very few literate people, and in order to make it easier for those who could not read to recite the scriptures, the scriptures were printed on prayer wheels. In this way, each turn of the prayer cylinder is equivalent to reading the scriptures.

I listened to the melodious ringing of bells and chanting, and watched the flow of devout believers with Buddhist beads in their hands and scriptures in their mouths. Look at Lhasa's eeriely blue sky and dazzling sunshine. Time trance......

The legend of "Zakiram" was originally in the Han region, and then entered Tibet with Princess Wencheng and was enshrined in Zaki Temple. Legend has it that "Zakiram" is the god of wealth, and it is particularly effective. But in fact, this temple did not prosper because of the desire for wealth and incense in the first place. Originally, this temple was specially set up for outsiders to pray for peace, but most of the outsiders were Han Chinese and businessmen, and they felt particularly good after worshipping the gods at Zaki Monastery. As a result, it has gradually become what everyone calls the Temple of Wealth.

When I walked out of the Zaki Monastery, the sky outside was eerily blue, and the sun was dazzling.

In Lhasa, what makes people feel the most profound is the devotion of those believers to religion, and the same is true in Zaki Monastery. In the monastery, believers of Tibetan, Han and other ethnic groups are constantly praying here, and the kind of piety is enough to shock.