Potala Palace is located in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. In Buddhism, the Potala hill is considered religious and also the palace ahs got its name from here.
Till 1959, when the 14th Dalai Lama came to stay in Dharamshala in India it used to be his main residence. Now, the Chinese government has changed it into a museum.
The palace is 13 floors high and has got more than 1,000 rooms; 10,000 places of worship and 2 lakh statues. In 637 King Songtsen Gompa used to meditate here. After marrying Princess Dencheng of the Tang Dynasty he had a palace built here. Lozang Gyatso, the 5th Dalai Lama, started the construction the Potala Palace in 1645. In 1649 he started living here with his government missionaries. The construction of the palace continued till 12 years after his death i.e. 1694. There are two palaces here that are the White Palace which was constructed in 1649 and the Red Palace which was constructed during 1690 to 1694.
Potala Palace China Photo Gallery
The Potala Palace is built on the Red Hill (3,700 meter high) which gives it a fort look. The white half of the fort depicts political activities while the red one was for religious activities. The Great East Hall of the White Palace on its fourth floor is a major attraction. Its carvings are exceptional. During the period of Dalai Lama great conferences were held here. The whole city can be seen from its gallery.
The Red Palace has got the essence of the religious activities of the 7th century. It has got numerous statues of Lord Buddha and Dalai Lama. There are many stupas also. There is the Great West Hall in the center of the palace which is the biggest room of the palace. The room has got huge paintings of the 5th Dalai Lama and his life events. People get amazed to see his personality and power. There are many places of worshipping here including the famous Buddha temple. The one in the West was made out of 3,000 kilograms gold and many precious stones. This palace is included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites and is a favorite tourists spot.
