Dalai Lama's Palace 6. Potala Palace in Tibet: the highest ancient castle in the world
– priceless treasure Tibet, sami th tall ancientpalace in China, and throughout the world, which reaches a height of 3,767 m (12,359 ft). It is located on Red Hill - Marpo Ri to the center e Lhasa - and historical capital of Tibet. The Potala takes its name from the holy mountain in South India in Sanskrit “The Abode of Avalokiteshvara (Buddha of Mercy).”
The palace was built on the site where the ruler of Tibet, Songtsen Gampo, used to meditate. The first building was built here in 637. Later, he decides to make Lhasa the capital of Tibet and, as legend has it, in honor of his betrothal to Princess Wen Cheng of the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) in the 7th century, Songtsen Gampo builds a 9-story building - a palace with thousands of rooms.
Later, with the collapse of the Songtsen Gampa dynasty, ancient palace was almost destroyed in the wars. The image we see today is the architecture of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). The Potala Palace consists of 2 parts, the Red Palace - the center and the White Palace, located as two wings. 
Red Palace or Potrang Marpo- the highest part of the Palace, it is dedicated to teaching and religious Buddhist prayers.
According to her ideas, she represents majesty and strength. The Red Palace consists of a complex arrangement of various halls, chapels and libraries on many levels, with many small galleries and winding corridors: The Great West Hall, Dharma Cave, Saint's Chapel, Thirteenth Dalai Lama's Tomb, etc.
The Great West Hall - the largest hall of the Potala Palace , with beautiful frescoes on its inner walls. There are three chapels around it, the chapels of the East, the chapels of the North, and the chapels of the South. Dharma Cave and Saint's Chapel are the only two surviving 7th-century structures with statues of Songtsen Gampa and Princess Wen Cheng inside.
White Palace or Potrang Karpo once served as the administrative building of the local government, as well as the living quarters of the Dalai Lama. Its walls are painted white to convey peace and quiet. The Great Hall of the East on the fourth floor was the venue for special political and religious events.
The fifth and sixth floors are used as living quarters and the regents' offices while the seventh floor, the top floor, is the living quarters of the Dalai Lama, consisting of two parts called East Sunshine Ward and West Sunshine Ward due to the abundance of sunlight.
The Potala Palace has other structures, including schools of Buddhist logic, seminaries, printing houses, gardens, courtyards, and even prisons. For over 300 years, the palace has housed many cultural relics such as frescoes, stupas, statues, tanks and rare sutras.
Potala Palace today
- the center of the Tibetan religion, politics, history and art, and today - a large-scale local history museum. It contains more than 2,500 square meters of frescoes, about 1,000 stupas, over 10,000 sculptures and about 10,000 tanka paintings. The collection also includes paintings, wood carvings, classical scriptures, gold items, jade and local artisans that reflect the wisdom and intelligence of the Tibetans. Funeral stupas were built here to preserve the remains of the Dalai Lamas at the time of their death.
There are currently eight sumptuous stupas, one for each Dalai Lama except the sixth who has been removed from service. Funerary stupas differ in size, but have the same structure, consisting of the top, body and base. All stupas are decorated with gold and precious stones. The most majestic of all is the stupa of the fifth Dalai Lama.
It stands almost 15 meters (about 49 feet) tall, and is adorned with 15,000 pearls, carnelian and precious stones. The frescoes in the corridors depict historical figures, religious legends, Buddhist stories, folk customs and architecture.
The Potala Palace appears first in the list of the most important cultural historical monuments Tibet protected by the state. The Potala is a palace-castle unique in the world in terms of its high-altitude location and size; its image is the emblem of Lhasa and all of Tibet. The Potala Palace is an imperishable and magnificent monument of ancient Tibetan architecture. In December 1994, the Potala Palace was officially inscribed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.
The Potala Palace is built on the southern slope of the Red Mountain in the capital of Tibet, Lhasa. The back side of the Potala Palace rests on the slope of the mountain, has a trapezoid shape, tapering at the top, against the background of the blue sky and white clouds of Tibet, the palace, painted in white and red, looks like a majestic, fabulous castle.
What does the name of the Potala Palace mean? In Tibetan, "potala" is translated as "the dwelling place of Avalokiteshvara", in India "potalaka". And the mountain on which the Potala Palace is located is called Puto in religious literature, and is considered sacred because, according to legend, the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara appeared on this mountain. Interestingly, in Zhejiang Province of China, there is a second Mount Putuo (普陀山, Putuoshan), which is sacred for the same reason.
The Potala Palace is 119 meters high from its base, 350 meters long from east to west, 270 meters wide from north to south, has a construction area of 130,000 square meters, and together with the forecourt and the pond behind the palace, the total area of the Potala palace complex is 360 thousand square meters!
The beginning of the construction of the Potala Palace dates back to the 30s of the 7th century AD. According to historical sources, the Tufan leader Srontszangampo decided to make Lhasa his capital. First of all, he ordered to build on the top of the Red Mountain in Lhasa, where there were already his meditation caves, royal palace. After her betrothal to the Tang princess Wencheng took place and Wencheng arrived in Tibet, Srontszangampo built 999 rooms on Red Mountain. Together with the palace built earlier, a complex of a thousand rooms turned out! In addition, a wall with a length of 500 meters on each side was erected around. There were 4 gates decorated with turrets in the wall, and a bypass channel was dug. Unfortunately, in the second half of the 8th century, due to a lightning strike, the wooden buildings of the Potala Palace burned down. In addition, at the end of the existence of the Tufan kingdom, an internecine war of local tribes broke out, which led to the destruction of the original Potala palace. Only the Fawan Cave and the Pabalakan Hall have survived.
The Potala Palace that we see today was built over several centuries, starting from the 17th century. Dalai Lama 5th Agwan Lobsan Jamtso, in 1645 gave the order to restore the destroyed Potala Palace. In 1652 Dalai V made a trip to Beijing. Upon his return to Tibet, the Dalai 5th moved from his former abode, the Drapung Monastery, to the White Palace of the Potala, which had been completed by that time. Interestingly, after the reincarnation of the 5th Dalai Lama, no one dared to inform the people about this, as the rulers were afraid that the people would rebel and stop working on the construction of the Potala Palace. The power of the 5th Dalai Lama was so strong that his reincarnation was hidden for more than 10 years in order to complete the construction of the palace.
In 1690, in the 8th year after the death of Dalai 5th Disa Sanjie Jamtso, in the name of the 5th Dalai Lama, undertook the construction of the Red Palace and memorial stupas in the Potala complex, for which part of the dilapidated buildings were demolished. 7,000 craftsmen and workers were employed in the work, 2,134,000 liangs (1 liang = 150 grams) of silver were spent, by order of the Qing Emperor Kangxi, 114 Han and Manchu masters were sent for construction, Nepalese masters also took part in the work. In 1693, the work was completed, and on the 20th day of the 4th month according to the Tibetan calendar, the consecration of the Red Palace took place. A memorial pillar was erected in front of the facade of the Potala Palace in memory of the completion of construction. Since then, there have been no major changes in the layout of the Potala Palace.
When you enter the gates of the palace from the square in front of the Potala Palace, you find yourself inside a courtyard, fenced on three sides by a high wall. Directly to the north is a wide stone staircase. From here you can see the east entrance and the west entrance. The main one is the eastern entrance (in Tibetan “pintsodolan”). Entering it and passing a dark stepped corridor, you find yourself in Deyangxia. This is a flat area of 1600 square meters at the entrance to the White Palace. Here theatrical performances were arranged for the Dalai Lama, high clergy and officials. There are galleries on the southern and northern sides of the site, rooms on the eastern and western sides served as classrooms for titled monks. And the entrance, directly facing the west, is the main entrance to the White Palace of the Potala.
White Palace Potala
The White Palace of the Potala is located to the east of the Red Palace, in the White Palace there is the Great Eastern Pavilion, the Solar Pavilion, the living quarters of the regent and mentors of Dalai, and government offices.
Great Eastern Pavilion(in Tibetan "Tsotsinsha") - the largest pavilion of the White Palace. Important events of a political and religious nature were held here, in particular, the enthronement ceremonies of the Dalai Lamas. In the center of the pavilion, against the northern wall, is the Dalai Lama's throne. There are many murals on the walls of the pavilion, two groups of murals are of particular interest: the murals on the theme of "turning a monkey into a man" and the murals telling the story of Princess Jincheng.
solar pavilion located at the top of the Great Eastern Pavilion. There are two solar pavilions: east and west. They served as living quarters for the Dalai Lamas. The Western Solar Pavilion was built in the late years of the 13th Dalai Lama. Most of the year (summer and autumn) the Dalai Lama spent in the summer residence of Norbulingka, and the Potala Palace served as his winter Palace.
It was in this pavilion that the Dalai Lama spent his time reading sacred texts, administrative affairs, and vital functions. The western sun pavilion was the living quarters of the Dalai Lama on the 13th, and the eastern sun pavilion was the quarters of the Dalai Lama on the 14th. The pavilion houses a golden Buddha statue, a jasper figure of Avalokiteshvara, scrolls of sacred sutras, porcelain, a tea set made of gold and jasper, brocade blankets, and more.
Red Palace Potala
The Red Palace served as a place of prayers in the name of Buddha and other places of worship. The main premises of the Red Palace are pavilions with memorial stupas of the Dalai Lamas and places of worship for other purposes. In total, there are 8 memorial stupas in the Red Palace of the Potala, of which the most luxurious are the stupas of the Dalai Lama on the 5th and the Dalai Lama on the 13th. The size and splendor of the design of the stupa symbolizes the contribution to the development of the country and society made by this Dalai Lama. In addition, the Red Palace of the Potala houses numerous cult monuments and skillful products made of precious stones and metals, skillfully made carvings, rare editions of sacred texts, as well as sculptures of Buddhist saints, “tanka” icons, cult attributes, sacrificial accessories, and so on. In the fresco gallery on the fifth floor of the Red Potala Palace there is a whole group of frescoes reproducing episodes of the construction of the Potala Palace.
Stupa of the Dalai Lama on the 5th occupies the 4th floor, but it itself is equal in height to a 5-storey building! At 14.85 meters high, this stupa is made of solid gold and is the tallest of the stupas in the Potala Palace. They say that the decoration and contents of this stupa equals half of the wealth of all mankind.
The second highest stupa is Stupa of the Dalai Lama on the 13th. The beginning of the construction of the stupa dates back to 1934, it took 3 years to build. The height of the stupa is 14 meters, on the inner wall of the pavilion there is a fresco dedicated to the life of the 13th Dalai Lama, including an episode of the Dalai Lama's trip to Beijing, where he was received by Emperor Guangxu and Dowager Empress Cixi.
West Great Hall(in Tibetan "Sysipintso") is located to the east of the pavilions with stupas, its area is 680 square meters. This is the most spacious hall of the Red Palace in the entire Potala Palace. In this hall, the 5th Dalai Lama held receptions, sacrifices and so on. In the western hall there is also a pair of brocade panels woven from gold threads, which were donated by the Chinese emperor in 1696 on the occasion of the completion of the construction of the Red Palace of the Potala. There is also a banner presented by Emperor Qianlong with the emperor's autograph and the inscription "A place exuding paradise." This banner is above the throne of the Dalai Lama.
In the highest pavilion of the Red Palace of the Potala, in the hall near the western wall, statue of the eleven-faced and thousand-armed bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, which was made of pure gold and silver by order of the 13th Dalai Lama.
Of the earliest buildings of the Potala Palace, only the Fawan Cave (“Jujiezhupu”) and the Pabalakan Pavilion have survived. Fawan Cave with an area of 27 square meters, it is distinguished by its modest decoration. According to legend, the Tufan king Srontszamgambo himself comprehended the sacred texts in this cave. In the cave there are statues of Srontszangambo, Princess Wencheng, Princess Chizul, Ludongzang - persons known from the time of the Tufan Kingdom. In addition, utensils (hearth, stone vat, stupa), which, according to legend, were used by Srontszangambo, have been preserved. Pavilion Pabalakan also called the pavilion of Avalokiteshvara, it is located above the cave of Favana.
The pavilions with the stupas of the Dalai Lamas on the 7th, 8th, 9th, as well as the pavilions with the stupas of the Dalai Lama on the 5th and 13th have roofs completely covered with gilding. The same golden roofs crown the Pabalakan and Ramlakan pavilions. Together they form a brilliant ensemble of golden roofs. Most roofs have the traditional shape of Chinese roofs with soaring corners. On the ridges of the roofs there are decorations in the form of bell-shaped monasteries, which rest on lotus pedestals. The soaring corner structures of the roofs are decorated with figurines of mythical Buddhist animals.
The Potala Palace is a treasure trove of priceless pieces of art and art, as well as historical monuments. Even for frescoes, dyes made from precious metals and stones were used. These frescoes amaze with brightness and freshness. About 10,000 “tanka” icons are kept in the Potala Palace, most of which were made by prominent artists of antiquity. A rich collection of editions of sacred texts, many of which are made at a high artistic level and are worthy of being considered a work of art. Not a few publications are unique. There are about 100 canon scrolls made on palm leaves and brought from ancient India and other places. The earliest text on palm leaves dates back more than one millennium. The technique of publishing sacred texts includes handwriting in gold and silver ink, applying a gold coating to the text in raised type. For example, there is an edition of "Ganchzhur", made with dyes made from gold, pearls, silver, corals, iron powder, copper dust and sea shells. The paper on which the text is written is resistant to moisture, decay and damage by insects, durable and at the same time elastic.
The Potala Palace is a great creation of the Tibetan people and the center of their culture. It embodies the achievements of the Tibetans in architecture, sculpture, painting, metalworking and other fields of science and art. It can be called a museum of science and culture of Ancient Tibet. In addition, the Potala Palace captured the history of economic and cultural contacts of Tibetans with other nationalities of China, Nepal and India. The Potala Palace is the pride of the Tibetan people and the world cultural heritage of all mankind. Also, the palace is very often seen by foreigners who went on a tour of Tibet.
Located on the Red Mountain in the center of Lhasa, the Potala is not only the largest monumental structure in all of Tibet, but also the tallest ancient one.
Myths and facts
The palace is named after legendary mountain The Potala in the South, where the bodhisattva Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara) lives, who is represented on earth by the Dalai Lama. Legend has it that in the 7th century, in order to greet his bride, Princess Wen Cheng, Emperor Songtsen Gampo of Tibet built a 9-story palace with 999 rooms. After the collapse of the Songtsen Gampo dynasty, lightning struck the building and the wooden buildings burned down. Subsequent wars practically destroyed the ancient structure.
The construction of the current palace began in 1645 during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama. By 1648 the White Palace was built. Red Palace, added in 1694. More than 7,000 workers and 1,500 artists and artisans worked on its construction. In 1922, the 13th Dalai Lama renovated many of the chapels and halls in the White Building and made changes to the Red Building.
The Potala was the main residence of the Dalai Lama until the invasion of Tibet in 1959. The Dalai Lama XIV was forced to leave and received political asylum in India. The rest of the monks were expelled, and the palace was looted by Chinese soldiers. Unlike most Tibetan and, Potala was not destroyed by the Chinese army, and most of the artifacts are well preserved. Today, only a few monks are allowed to be there under strict supervision. The Chinese government uses the complex as a museum to attract foreign tourists.
In 1994, the Potala Palace was listed world heritage UNESCO and named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Today, the complex is visited daily by thousands of Tibetan pilgrims and travelers from all over the world.
What to see
The Potala Palace is located at an altitude of 3,700 m on the Red Hill (Marpo Ri) in the middle of the Lhasa valley. total area The complex is 360 thousand m² and consists of two parts: the Red Palace, as the center, and the White Palace, as two wings.
The heart of the complex is the Red Building (Potrang Marpo) - the highest part in the center. This part is entirely devoted to religious education and Buddhist prayers. The building consists of many halls, chapels and libraries on several levels with galleries and winding corridors. Richly decorated with paintings, gems and carvings, it contains several temples and tombs of eight past Dalai Lamas, including pagodas of 200,000 pearls.
Located here is the Great Western Hall with an area of 725 sq.m. is the largest hall in the Potala. The walls of the hall are decorated with beautiful frescoes and paintings. Three chapels surround it on three sides: in the east, in the north and in the south. The Dharma Caves and the holy chapel are the only 7th-century buildings with statues of Songtsen Gampo, Princess Wen Cheng and Princess Bhrikuti still standing inside.
The White Palace (Potrang Karpo) once served as the office building for the local government of Tibet and the living quarters of the Dalai Lama. White walls symbolize peace and tranquility. Great East Hall on the fourth floor with an area of 717 sq.m. was the site of important religious and political ceremonies.
There are also schools of Buddhist logic, a seminary, a printing house, gardens, courtyards and even a prison in the Potala. For over 300 years, the ancient palace has kept many cultural relics such as frescoes, stupas, statues, tanka and rare sutras. Special meaning has a Fa-Wana cave, in which, even before the construction of the building, King Songtsen Gampo read the sacred texts.
In Lhasa are also open to the public,.
The Potala Palace is open from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm in summer and from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm in winter.
Cost: 100 yuan (about 11.7 €).
Excursions to the palace are limited, tickets are sold by advance requests (1 day in advance) after 17:00 the next day. In one hand give 4 tickets. Only by registering can you redeem according to your documents admission ticket where the time will be put to visit the palace.
The ancient kings of Tibet were mostly mystics, and many of them had strong ties with the wonderful land of Ergor, or Shambhala.
I don’t know exactly what exactly influenced the decision of King Songtsen Gampo to choose the Red Mountain for his palace, but it is known that he built the Potala on the site of his meditation. This cave of his meditations is still safe and sound, despite the various periods of Tibetan history, which did not spare the Potala.
The name "Potala" is borrowed from Sanskrit, and in Tibetan it sounds like "Potola" or "Puto", which means "mystical mountain" in translation. It consists of 2 parts - the Red Palace and the White.
The White Palace surrounds the Red Palace like a protective wall. It is very symbolic: after all, the white palace is the seat of the administrative, secular power of Tibet. The head of the Tibetan administration was the Dalai Lama. But few people mention that, apart from the head of the Government, for some time the Tashi Lama, the spiritual Head of Tibet approved by the Lords of Shambhala, also lived in the Red Palace.
The last Tashi Lama was forced to flee the Potala after a plot by the penultimate Dalai Lama. Thus, the penultimate Dalai Lama rejected the great Patrons of Shambhala. And soon after this tragic event, Chinese troops entered Tibet. Karma. The young Dalai Lama, the heir of the traitor Lama, our contemporary, had to move to India, where his residence is still located.
And Shambhala closed its gates to the Tibetan people. But not very tightly, the invisible Hand is still there, and the Kalachakra Teaching, which came from the Tower of Shambhala, finds ways for life in the world. And it's good that way.
Below is an excellent account of the modern Potala.
Original taken from anton_ermachkov to the Potala Palace
The Potala Palace, located on the Red Mountain in the center of Lhasa, is not only the main attraction, the shrine, the largest monumental building in all of Tibet, but also the highest palace in the world. This palace is a unique monument of culture and art and a truly architectural masterpiece.
I don’t remember where and when I first saw a photo of the Potala Palace, but since then I wanted to definitely come to Tibet and see this miracle live!
Photo 2. The palace is located at an altitude of 3,700 m on the Red Hill (Marpo Ri) in the middle of the Lhasa valley. Numerous pilgrims go around the hill with the palace, making a kora - a ritual detour of the holy place. Along the bark are numerous prayer wheels and shopping arcades.
In 637, the king of Tibet, Songtsen Gampo, erected the first building here in the place where he used to meditate. When he decided to make Lhasa his capital, he built a palace. After his betrothal to the Chinese princess Wen Cheng, he expanded the palace to 999 rooms, erected walls and towers, and dug a bypass canal. In the second half of the 8th century, lightning struck the palace and the wooden buildings burned down, then, due to internecine wars, the palace collapsed. Now only the Fa-Vana cave and the Pabalakan hall have survived.
The palace in its present form began to be built in 1645 on the initiative of the V Dalai Lama. In 1648 the White Palace was completed, and the Potala began to be used as the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas. The Red Palace was completed between 1690 and 1694. 
Photo 3. 
Photo 4. The heart of the complex is the Red Palace (Potrang Marpo) - the highest part in the center. This part is entirely devoted to religious education and Buddhist prayers: 
Photo 5. The building consists of many halls, chapels and libraries on several levels with galleries and winding corridors. Richly decorated with paintings, gems and carvings, it contains several temples and tombs of eight past Dalai Lamas: 
Photo 6. The White Palace consists of a large eastern pavilion, a solar pavilion, the living quarters of the regent and mentor of the Dalai Lama, as well as government offices: 
Photo 7. The Large Eastern Pavilion was used for official ceremonies; the Dalai Lama actually lived and worked in the Solar Pavilion: 
Photo 8. 
Photo 9. We rise: 
Photo 10. Interesting wall material :) 
Photo 11. The palace was the main residence of the Dalai Lama, until the forced departure of the XIV Dalai Lama in 1959 to India and obtaining political asylum there. The Chinese government uses the complex as a museum. In 1994, the complex was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. 
Photos 12 
Photo 13. On one of the tiers of the complex: 
Photo 14. A good view of Lhasa opens from the upper tiers of the Potala: 
Photo 15. 
Photo 16 
Photo 17. And backlit: 
Photo 18. A little closer: 
Photo 19. On the square in front of the palace, the Chinese built an excellent fountain, which attracts crowds of tourists and citizens every evening. Tourists, having spread their tripods, are trying to capture the beauty of the night Potala, children are running under the jets of water, parents are running after the children, couples are secluded on benches, and the Chinese military and firefighters are vigilantly watching everything that happens :)) 
Photo 20. 
Photo 21. 
Tibet is home to one of the most beautiful Buddhist palaces in the world, the Potala. The building got its name in the 11th century. In 1994, the Potala Temple was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is located at an altitude of more than 3 thousand meters. The Potala Temple is the official winter representation of the Dalai Lama. It was here that all the ceremonies, meetings with the Tibetan government were held. Currently, a lot of tourists come here from different countries the world in order to see with their own eyes all the beauty and power of the Tibetan temple, to get acquainted with rare exhibits.
History of the Potala
This beautiful temple complex is located in the picturesque Lhasa Valley on Mount Marpo Ri. In Tibet, it is one of the tallest monumental structures. According to a mythical legend, Songtsen Gempo (a Tibetan ruler in the 7th century AD) meditated in a cave on Mount Marpo Ri. Later, he decided to build a temple complex on the hill. The building had its original appearance until the 17th century. With the help of the Dalai Lama in 1648, the temple was restored and slightly reconstructed. Today it is this building that travelers can see when they arrive in Tibet. About 7 thousand workers and 1,000 artists took part in the construction of the structure.
In 1922, the Supreme Head of Tibet repaired the halls and other places of worship in the White Palace, and the workers also restored the Red Palace. This great building was damaged only once - in 1959 during the invasion of the Chinese.
In addition, the temple remained in excellent condition even after the robberies of the Red Guards, who destroyed many Tibetan palaces in the 60-70s. 20th century. In the Potala temple complex, all the exhibits and sanctuaries at that time remained intact.
Once upon a time, administrators and religious mentors were trained in the castle. In the White Palace are small chapels that are valued for their safety and sacredness.
White Palace
The Potala Temple consists of the White and Red Palaces. In the White Palace you can see the rooms of the monks of the Supreme Head of Tibet, the Solar and the Great East Pavilions.
It is worth noting that the Solar Pavilion consists of an eastern and a western part. The rooms of the thirteenth Supreme Head of Tibet are located in the western part, and the rooms of the fourteenth Dalai Lama are located in the eastern part. Tourists will be able to see brocade blankets, jasper and gold tea utensils, porcelain sculptures, statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and much more in the Sun Pavilion.
The Great East Pavilion is the largest in the White Palace. It was here that cultural celebrations and political meetings took place. The walls of the Great Eastern Pavilion are decorated with frescoes on the themes: “the life story of a princess”, “how a monkey turned into a man”. In the center of the large pavilion stands a large statue of the Dalai Lama.
Red Palace
In the Red Palace, the monks of the Dalai Lama read prayers in the name of Buddha Shakyamuni. Here you can see many pavilions with memorial shrines and other unusual rooms.
The Red Palace has eight sanctuaries, among which it is worth highlighting the rooms of the thirteenth Dalai Lama and the fifth Supreme Head of Tibet. Their appearance just surprises. They are so large and luxurious that any tourist will definitely remember the memorial sanctuaries in the Potala for a lifetime. The stupa of the fifth Dalai Lama has a height of more than fourteen meters (five-story building). It is completely made of real gold. Tibetan memorial shrines alone are a large part of the world's wealth.
The Stupa of the thirteenth Dalai Lama rises to a height of about 14 m. It was built in 1934.
In the Red Palace, travelers will see various attributes, unique scriptures, unusual products and handicrafts, icons of Buddhist saints, frescoes depicting the construction of the Tibetan temple complex.
The highest and most spacious hall of the Red Palace is its western part. This is where the Dalai Lama once received guests, held ceremonial events and held sacrifices. Among the exhibits there is a banner with imperial painting, brocade and gold threads. You can also see the statue of the many-armed and many-faced Avalokiteshvara, made of silver and gold.
The most ancient attraction of the temple complex is the Pabalakan pavilion (Avalokiteshvar) and the Favana cave (27 sq. km.). The pavilion is located directly above the cave, which allows tourists to view the beauty of the complex. Fawan Cave houses rare statues of princesses of the Tufan Kingdom: Ludongzang, Chizul and Wencheng.
Most of the roofs of the pavilions of the palace are covered with gilding and have a traditional Chinese shape with flying corners, which are often decorated with animals from legends.
Potala Palace is a monument of Buddhist architecture. Many exhibits here are unique and amazing. Having visited this Palace, travelers want to come back here again.
