Although practicing Buddhists and historians of Tibet
are well aware of the Ra Mo Che Temple in Lhasa,
very little about the building and its history has
been published. Situated a short distance north-west
of the more-famous Ra Sa gTsug Lag Khang or Jo
Khang, the temple received, according to the
dBa' bZhed, the Buddha image
brought to Tibet in the time of the Tang princess
Ong Jo. Early in the reign of Khri Srong lDe bTsan,
while the king was still in his minority,
anti-Buddhist factions led by Zhang Ma Zham Khrom Pa
sKyes circumscribed royal power and murdered the
pro-Buddhist minister Zhang sNa Nam Khri Thong rJe
Thang la ‘Bar. They also arranged for the image at
Ra Mo Che to be removed from the temple. The plan
was to return the Buddha to China, along with the
head priest and his entourage. The statue's great
weight, however, thwarted the scheme. After being
dragged a short distance, the Buddha was left
half-buried in the earth. The state of affairs in
those days is indicated by dBa'
bZhed which reports that the Lhasa
vihāra was turned into a workshop
with sheep carcasses hung from the arms of the
principal holy images and entrails wound round their
necks! After Buddhism was reinstated, the Ra Mo Che
was returned to worship. Subject to campaigns of
refurbishment and additions through the centuries,
it was the centre of a number of important
developments, notably becoming the seat of the upper
Tantric college (rGyud sTod) established by rJe
bTsun Kun dGa' Don Drub in 1474.