Photo of the Day 384

Stone Buddha, Lhasa, Tibet, 2003

Photograph by Galen Rowell

A tourist admires a brightly painted Buddha etched into the rock of a pilgrimage site near Lhasa, Tibet. The statue shows the Buddha in the earth-touching position with characteristic elongated earlobes and holding a begging bowl.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "275 Miles on Foot Through the Remote Chang Tang," April 2003, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 374

Buddhist Pilgrims, Jokhang Temple, Lhasa, Tibet, 2000

Photograph by Maria Stenzel

Pilgrims pray outside Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Tibet. Inside this massive temple are some of Buddhism's most important icons, including the famed Jowo Rinpoche statue—a seated Buddha installed when Buddhism was adopted by Tibetan royalty in the seventh century.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Tibet Embraces the New Year," January 2000, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 362

Ritual Dancers, Tsurphu Monastery, Lhasa, Tibet, 2000

Photograph by Maria Stenzel

Tibetans believe both the negative and positive things done during Losar, the Tibetan New Year celebration, reverberate through the year to come. Here, Buddhist monks from the Tsurphu Monastery near Lhasa chase away bad spirits with a dance honoring the dharmapala divinity.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Tibet Embraces the New Year," January 2000, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 344

Prayer Candles, Lhasa, Tibet, 2003

Photograph by Galen Rowell

Built in 1416, the Drepung Monastery outside Lhasa, Tibet, was once the largest monastery in the world, housing up to 10,000 monks. Here, candles illuminate one of the giant building's chanting halls.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "275 Miles on Foot Through the Remote Chang Tang," April 2003, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 322

Buddhist Temple, Lhasa, Tibet, 2003

Photograph by Galen Rowell

Pedestrians walk near a temple on the famed Barkhor promenade in Lhasa, Tibet, with the grandiose Potala Palace sprawled atop nearby Red Mountain. Once a spiritual epicenter, the Barkhor is in the midst of a Chinese government-led modernization effort that many believe has stripped the ancient neighborhood of much of its unique Tibetan culture.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "275 Miles on Foot Through the Remote Chang Tang," April 2003, National Geographic magazine)