LHASA – TIBET
Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, lies on the Lhasa River’s north bank in a valley of the Himalayas, rising atop Red Mountain at an altitude of 3,700m, Lhasa is the centre of the Tibetan Buddhist world for over a millennium, Lhasa remains largely a city of wonders. The first view of the red-and-white Potala Palace soaring above the Holy City and the charming whitewashed old Tibetan quarter continues to preserve the essence of traditional Tibetan life.
POTALA PALACE
The Potala Palace is a winter palace of the Dalai Lama of Tibet since the 7th Century, and a place of worship by the Buddhists. At approximately 12,150 feet above sea level, Potala Palace is the highest palace in the world. The 1,300-year-old structure was originally built as a gesture of love, commissioned by Tibetan king Songtsen Gambo for his marriage to Princess Wencheng of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. Eventually monks came to rule Tibet and the palace was expanded and converted into the winter residence for the Dalai Lama. But when the Dalai Lama was exiled to India in 1959, the Chinese government took over and made the grounds into a museum. At the outset of the 1959 Tibetan uprising, fearing for his life, the Dalai Lama and his retinue fled Tibet with the help of the CIA’s Special Activities Division, crossing into India on 30 March 1959, settling at Dharamsala in Punjab,still, the Potala Palace remains an iconic part of the region and a mecca for Buddhists around the world.
With more than a thousand rooms, 10,000 painted scrolls, 698 murals, and thousands of exquisite statues made from precious alloys and jewels, the structure has become one of the most famous spiritual sanctums in the world. Inside are the tombs of eight Dalai Lamas, hundreds of sacred Buddhist scrolls, and numerous shrines.
The Potala Palace was named a World Heritage site in 1994 by UNESCO, and the neighboring Jokhang Temple and Norbulingka and were added on as extensions in 2000 and 2001, respectively. The Jokhang Temple is considered the most sacred temple in Tibet and the Norbulingka was the former summer residence of the Dalai Lama. All three structures are outstanding embodiments of Tibetan culture and despite waves of natural and human-induced damage, they areinternational icons that have remained spiritually relevant and intact over the centuries.
