The Potala Palace

The Potala Palace was the traditional winter residence of H.H. the Dalai Lama and the main spiritual and political center of Tibet until the escape of the 14th Dalai Lama from Tibet in 1959. ‘Mt Potala’ is the earthly paradise of the bodhisattva Avalokishvara, who H.H. the Dalai Lama is seen to embody. The Potala is famous for its architectural beauty and grandeur and has been inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. The Potala was originally built in 637 by king Songtsen Gampo on the side of Marpo Ri , the ‘Red Mountain’, in the center of Lhasa Valley. It measures 1310 by 1150 ft wide and soars 385 ft high in thirteen stories above the top of Marpo Ri. The Potala houses more than 1,000 rooms, hundreds of elaborately decorated chapels, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues within The Potala houses more than 1,000 rooms, hundreds of elaborately decorated chapels, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues, within the White Palace and Red Palace. The White Palace hosts the former living quarters of the Dalai Lama, government offices and a printing house. The Red Palace is entirely dedicated to spiritual study and practice. It contains the monks’ assembly hall, numerous halls and holy chapels and stupas, libraries for Buddhist scriptures, and the tombs of previous incarnations of the Dalai Lama.