Potala Palace

With its worldwide reputation, the Potala Palace stands on the Red Hill overlooking Lhasa in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. At an elevation of about 3,770 meter, the Potala Palace occupies an area of more than 360,000 square meters. Its 13-story main portion rises 115 meters high and covers an area of 130,000 square meters.

The whole complex, first built in the mid-7th century and consisting of halls, stupa-tomb halls (where the relics of the supreme lamas are preserved), shrines, prayer rooms, monks' dormitories, and courtyards, is recognized as the world's highest and largest castle palace. It was put under the State's protection in 1961 as a major national cultural site and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

The name of the large sacred Buddhist building complex is a derivation from Samskrit Potalaka, which is the mythical mountain abode of Avalokitesvara, one of the Bodhisattvas. In this connection Lhasa is popularly referred to as Second Mount Potalaka.

The earliest construction of the Potala started in 631 under Tubo King Songtsan Gambo, which included 999 royal rooms plus a meditation chamber. The original Potala was destroyed in the 9th century, during the breakdown of the Tubo Kingdom (629-846).

The 5th Dalai Lama (1617-1682), in his effort to consolidate his theocracy, in 1645 entrusted his minister, with the rebuilding of the portion known as the White Palace of the Potala and also the enclosures, towers, and turrets. The extension was followed by new projects sponsored by later Dalai Lamas.

It became known as the "Winter Palace" by the 1750s, when the 7th Dalai Lama built the Norbu Lingka Park as his summer residence.

The Potala assumed its present form and scale in 1936 when the 13th Dalai Lama's (1870-1933) stupa-tomb was completed.


Built against the terraced slope of the hill, the structures combine to from a huge sky-scraping mass, reminiscent of the divine realm above the mortal world. The granite walls elaborately decorated with soft white thatch, the golden roofs decorated with big gilded bottles, and the splendid curtains and banners join to form a unique structural wonder bearing the striking colors red, white, and yellow characteristic of Tibetan architectural art, making the Potala an eminent representation of traditional Tibetan and Chinese construction.

As the winter residence of the successive Dalai Lamas, the Potala formerly served as the center of local Tibetan theocratic rule, hosting major religious and political ceremonies since the reign of the 5th Dalai Lama, while at the same time housing the relics of those spiritual leaders.

The main portion of the Potala contains the White Palace and the Red Palace.

 White Palace

The 7-story White Palace contains the living quarters of successive Dalai Lamas and their tutors. The offices of the old Tibetan governments and their assembly halls are also located there.

The most spacious hall, the Eastern Main Hall (Sishe Phuntsok), occupies a central area of 717 square meters on the 4th floor. It was there that the Dalai Lamas were enthroned as supreme Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader and the region's temporal ruler.

The 5th and 6th floors bore government offices and rooms for the officials. Two particular apartments on the top floor, reserved for the Living Buddhas, were known as Eastern and Western Sunshine Apartments for their long access to sunlight.

 Red Palace

In contrast, the Red Palace consists mainly of the spiritual leaders' stupa tombs and the shrines.

Of the 8 stupa-tomb halls, the most magnificent is that for the cult of the 5th Dalai Lama. To the west his memorial hall, the Western Main Hall, covers over 680 square meters, constituting the largest hall in the Potala. Of the extensive murals there the most notable one shows the patriarch's meeting with Emperor Shunzhi in 1652 of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in Beijing. It was after this meeting that the title "Dalai Lama" was bestowed on him and successive leaders of Tibet.

The remains of the 13th Dalai Lama are preserved in a stupa in the neighboring hall. The stupa is 0.86 meters lower than that of the 5th Dalai Lama, and has gold leaves made from more than 590 kilograms of gold. Construction of the hall, begun in 1933, was not completed until three years later. Thus it is the newest hall in the whole complex.

The topmost hall in the Red Palace is called "The Best of the Three Realms" (Sasum Namgyal). It contains a portrait of the Qing Emperor Qianlong bearing the words "A long, long life to the present emperor" written in Han, Manchu, Mongol, and Tibetan. Dalai Lamas came to pay homage to this portrait on each Tibetan New Year's Day.

In the middle part of the Red Palace are the Dharma-raja's Cave (Chogyal Dupup) and several other apartments dating back from the reign of the Tubo Dynasty, the earliest Potala structures still extant. They house a valuable collection of statues, including the sculptural representation of King Songtsan Gambo, his consorts Tang Princess Wencheng and Nepalese Princess Khridzun, and his prime minister.

 Subordinate constructions

Subordinate constructions to the Potala include the Lamrgyal Abbey, the Senior Seminary, the monks' dormitories, and the eastern and western courtyards on the hill, while at the foot of the hill stands the houses once occupied by the local government bureaus and institutions; there is also a printing press for Buddhist canonical writings, as well as a jail, some stables, and a backyard garden.

For more than 300 years the Potala has accumulated an enormous collection of monuments and relics. There are murals covering totally more than 2,500 square meters, nearly 1,000 stupas, about 10,000 statues, and as many thangka (cloth-like) paintings. Also, the religious library there includes scriptures and volumes of Buddhists' Teachings.

There is also a unique collection of golden diplomas and jade seals that were granted to successive Dalai Lamas by Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) emperors to re-affirm the official ties between the local Tibetan administration and the Chinese Central Government. The gold and silver artifacts, porcelain vessels, enamelwork, jade ware, brocade, and other handicraft articles preserved in the Potala are enormous and richly diverse.

The Potala has been a sacred place for hundreds of years. Thousands of pilgrims from Tibet, other parts of China, and abroad come every year to pay homage. Their devotion is shown by the difficult journeys they have to make to reach their "Holy City."

After the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, the Potala was listed as a cultural relic under the special protection of the State. Architecturally, it is considered as one of the wonders of the world -- admired by Chinese people and foreigners alike.