A fire broke out on Saturday at one of the most sacred sites for Tibetan Buddhism, Lhasa’s revered Jokhang monastery, state media said, but no casualties were reported and the extent of the damage remained unclear.
Xinhua news agency said the fire began at 6:40pm, but was soon put out at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has more than 1,300 years of history and lies at the heart of old Lhasa.
Video and images posted on social media of the blaze showed the roof of a section of the building lit with roaring yellow flames and emitting a haze of smoke.
Photo: Screengrab from Twitter
“The fire was quickly extinguished; there were no casualties and order is normal in the area,” the state-run Tibet Daily said, adding that Tibet’s Chinese Communist Party Secretary Wu Yingjie (吳英杰) had rushed to the scene.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known.
Early reports of the blaze in Chinese state-run media did not give details and many social media posts discussing the fire appeared to be quickly censored.
Robert Barnett, a London-based expert on contemporary Tibet, told the Guardian newspaper that Beijing’s “almost total suppression of information” about the incident meant many Tibetans feared “the heart of Tibetan Buddhism” had suffered significant damage.
He also tweeted that sources in Lhasa “claim police have threatened anyone distributing pictures or unofficial news about the fire.”
For almost four hours after the fire began, it was not even acknowledged by China’s heavily controlled media, “even though you could see it from miles away across the whole city,” he said.
“This has increased the fear of people that something really serious has happened,” Barnett said. “People are hugely concerned, rightly or wrongly, that the damage might be much more severe than the media is letting on.”
The blaze comes as Tibetans across the country are celebrating Losar, the traditional Tibetan New Year that began on Friday.
The temple, an important pilgrimage site, had been closed to the public on Saturday, Xinhua reported, citing a schedule from local authorities from before the holiday began.
Jokhang houses one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most venerated icons — the Jowo Shakyamuni, a statue believed to be one of just three crafted during Buddha’s actual lifetime, depicting him at age 12.
It is also home to numerous other priceless cultural artifacts, including more than 3,000 images of Buddhas, deities and historical figures as well as treasures and manuscripts, according to UNESCO.
China’s efforts to control the narrative surrounding the fire underscores the Jokhang’s huge political as well as religious significance.
In recent decades the 2.5 hectare complex has been the site of repeated protests against Chinese rule.
As images of the conflagration spread on Saturday. Barnett said he received calls from distraught Tibetans mourning the apparent destruction of one of their most sacred sites.
Barnett said China’s bid to suppress news of the blaze would further hurt relations with Tibetans.
“It has restimulated the dominant tone in Tibet … which is intimidation really,” he said.
Foreign journalists are banned from visiting Tibet except on state-sponsored tours.
Additional reporting by the Guardian and AP
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