The Jokhang Temple changes Tibetan colorful cloth to welcome Water Snake Losar. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

The Jokhang Temple in Lhasa will be equipped with electric heating soon to solve the heating problem in winter.

The Jokhang Temple, located at the center of the Barkhor Street in Lhasa, enjoys a supreme prestige in the mind of disciples. It was approved by the China's State Council as one of the first batch of key cultural relics units under state protection in 1961.

The electric heating project in the Jokhang Temple is part of the power line transformation and protection project under construction in the old town of Lhasa.

According to an investigation of the current buildings in the old town of Lhasa, these buildings are mainly civil engineering structures with narrow and intertwined paths.

In terms of heating safety and construction feasibility, it is finally decided by the Lhasa Housing Bureau that the heating system in the old town will mainly depend on electricity supply. Therefore, the Jokhang Temple will be installed with electric heating equipments.

Nyima Tsering, a monk living in the Jokhang Temple for over 20 years, feels very happy about the heating project. He said monks used to burn firewood and cow dung to get warm in winter, which had potential safety problems.

"It is great to have electric heating equipments in our temple!" Nyima Tsering said.

According to the staff of Lhasa Power Supply Company, the electric circuit blueprint has already been completed. Since the Jokhang Temple is a world cultural heritage and key cultural relic, the heating project should not only improves the living conditions for the monks, but also keeps the temple's original appearance. The fact that many Buddhist believers come to worship Buddha in the temple will add difficulty to the installation work. Once there is a power cut, it will bring enormous inconvenience.

For those reasons, the electric circuit of the temple will be made into redundant power supply with switchable circuits to ensure the normal running.

Currently, the preliminary work of electric heating installation project is under construction, namely the power circuit transformation, which will solve the problem of chaotic power lines once and for all to ensure the power supply security in future.