Lalung (Lha-lung) must once have been a major Buddhist centre. Today only two older temples remain on the hill, both containing clay sculptures attributable to the earliest phase of Buddhism in the area (10th to 13th centuries). One is a tiny provisional chapel on the side of a house at the edge of the flat hill-top. One may call this building the Vairocana Chapel, after the images contained inside it.

The second site is the exceptional Golden Temple or Serkhang (gSer-khang) located on the crown of the hill. Serkhang thereby denotes two different structures: on one hand the temple building as a whole with two chapels, several other rooms and a former ambulatory also containing partially preserved early paintings. However, it also denotes the main chapel inside this building, a room crammed with sculptures and paintings. The second temple, the room to the north of the passage leading to the Serkhang, is called 'Dungyur', denoting the mani wheel contained inside it, as well as more recent sculptures and murals.

Text: Christian Luczanits