Sacred Lake Baiku Co

The main hall of the 700-year-old Lhapu Deqen temple.

Karmainba Village

Despite its reclusive locale, Karmainba is associated with two luminaries in Tibetan history – Milarepa, a major figure of the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism, and his contemporary, Yuthok Yonten Gonpo the Younger, the great Tibetan physician. The former spent a long time meditating in the lake region including Norbu, while the latter left behind a lasting legacy in the village – a temple he built with health services fees from his clinic.

Yuthok Yonten Gonpo the Younger was a native of Karmainba Village, and began to show an aptitude for medical science at an early age. After diligent study, he became an excellent doctor seeking neither fame nor fortune.

Herding is the leading means of livelihood for the people of Karmainba. Young adults spend the whole summer in the pastures of the mountains with their livestock; the community was therefore almost deserted in May when I visited.

Kelsang Doje, 77, was among those elders left behind, and is said to know local history better than anyone else. He volunteered to show me around the temple, which sits at the heart of the community. Squeezed by houses compactly aligned along narrow labyrinthine flagstone paths, it is an understated construction that could easily be overlooked by uninformed tourists. The multistory building is badly damaged, with only the first floor still standing, which includes a worship chamber, two storehouses and a kitchen. A major attraction of the temple is the lavishly carved wooden adornments in the worship room. Archeologists confirm the building was erected between the 12th and the 13th centuries, when the great Tibetan physician lived, strong evidence for the truth of the tale that he sponsored the construction with his own wealth.