Ramoche Temple is one of the places for Tibetan monks to study Mi Zong

  Situated about a third of a mile north of Jokhang Temple and covering a total area of 43,056 square feet, Ramoche Temple is one of the places for Tibetan monks to study Mi Zong (another Buddhist sect). Although the temple was originally built in the middle of the seventh century, it fell into ruin and went through many reconstructions; at present only the Buddha hall on the first floor of its main building remains in its original state. Inside the hall, there are ten pillars engraved with patterns such as lotus flowers, coiling clouds, and jewelry, which are reminiscent of the Tubo Dynasty. The third floor of the main building was once the bedroom reserved for the Dalai Lama. The building's golden peak, with its Han-style upturned eaves, can be seen from any direction in Lhasa city. This temple is a wonderful example of the combination of Han and Tibetan architectural styles.

  The temple was gutted and partially destroyed In the 1960s and the bronze statue disappeared. In 1983 the lower part of it was said to have been found in a Lhasa rubbish tip, and the upper half in Beijing. They have now been joined and the statue is housed in the Ramoche Temple, which was partially restored in 1986, and still showed severe damage in 1993.
  In the days of King Songtsan Gampo, Ramoche Temple was originally built to house the famous statue of Sakyamuni, now found in the Jokhang, which was originally brought to Tibet by Princess Wen Cheng. Legend has it that when Princess Wen Cheng and her entourage arrived at the North gate of Lhasa, her carriage got stuck in the mud. Her assistants could not remove the statue and so they covered it temporarily with 4 pillars and white brocade. Later, the Princess ordered the construction of Ramoche as a shrine for the statue. Twenty years later, in 652 A.D., the leader of Tibet was concerned with rumors that the Chinese Emperor was considering an invasion of Tibet. As a protection, he moved the Sakyamuni statue from the Ramoche to the Jokhang, and hid it from view. It had remained there ever since. In exchange Ramoche Temple received a smaller bronze statue of Sakyamuni, which has been brought to Tibet by Songtsan Gampo's other wife, the Nepalese Princess Tritsun.