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Statue of Buddha Shakyamuni in the Norbulingka temple

The visual focal point and spiritual centre of Norbulingka Institute is the main temple. The 44-foot high main hall contains one thousand, one hundred and seventy-three images of the Buddha. Other paintings depict the twelve deeds of the Buddha, the fourteen incarnations of the Dalai Lama, and a host of saints, sages, and great teachers. The gilded copper statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, made by Norbulingka Institute statue making master Penpa Dorje, is the largest of its kind in exile. Sculpted clay images decorate the arch behind the golden statue. Altogether, the temple is a masterpiece. It is a tribute to the many artists who worked more than a year, sometimes long into the night, to bring it to completion.

Library in the Norbulingka temple

The temple building also contains a guest apartment where His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other high lamas can stay when visiting Norbulingka, as well as the library of the Academy of Tibetan Culture. Visited daily by residents of Norbulingka Institute, the temple is an object of local pilgrimage and an awe-inspiring sight for guests from around the world.