The Potala Palace stands tall on the Red Mountain at an elevation of 3,700 meters, symbolizing the remarkable intellect and rich heritage of the Tibetan community.
In the 7th century A.D., Songtsen Gampo founded the Potala Palace after moving the capital to Lhasa. The fifth Dalai Lama rebuilt the Potala Palace in 1645 AD. After years of continuous construction and expansion, the current Potala Palace was finally completed after the death of the thirteenth Dalai Lama in 1933.
Inside the Potala Palace
The Potala Palace spans 13 levels and measures an impressive 110 meters from base to summit. It consists of the White House, located in the eastern part, and the Red Palace in the centre. The White House serves as the residence of the Dalai Lama, while the Red Palace houses the Buddha Hall and the Stupa Hall used by the Dalai Lama in the past.
Red Grass on the wall of Potala palace
In Tibet, the wall-building material is made of red grass. This grass is a type of tamarisk branch that is dried in the sun during autumn. Once the tips are peeled off, the grass is tied into bundles with cowhide ropes. These bundles are then stacked neatly under the eaves, giving the appearance of an additional wall outside the main wall. The grass is then compressed layer by layer, fastened with wooden nails, and finally dyed.
Straws with plush are a crucial component of the parapet wall of the Potala Palace, as well as the eaves of temples and castles. The grass is woven with plush and has an ochre-red colour, giving it a dignified and solemn appearance. Additionally, the grass has a structural benefit as it allows the top floor of a building to have thinner walls, ultimately reducing the weight of the overall structure.
Due to the complicated production process and low utilization rate, the grass is considered a symbol of social class in old Tibet and is too expensive for common people to afford.
The confluence path “Phuntsok Dulang Gate” is located at the east entrance of the White House. The door frame flaunts eight Auspicious carvings and seven lions, representing the political treasures. A plaque with the Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese inscription “Hundreds of Consummation Convergence” is fixed below the lintel. The gate wall is two meters thick.
The wall at the entrance of the White Palace’s east gate is adorned with paintings of Buddhist Dharma defenders, including four guardian kings. Each painting measures 6 meters in height and 2.5 meters in width. The image of the heavenly king is imposing, and ferocious, and holds a treasure umbrella, a wisdom sword, a pipa, and a dragon, and rides a mythical creature to safeguard all directions against malevolent heretics.
Go out of the corridor and enter a square sixty to seventy meters above the ground. This is the place for the Dalai Lama to watch the performances of dancing gods and Tibetan operas during the festival. The Tibetan name “Deyang Shar” means East Happy Square.
The ground of the square is all made of Aga soil unique to Tibet. The area is 1,600 square meters.
“Aga” is actually a kind of weathered stone. It is mainly used for flooring. Tibet’s “Aga” is extremely rich in resources, but due to the labour and time, it takes to make it, only temples and some noble families could afford it in old Tibet. Due to its supreme status, the Potala Palace is almost full of “Aga” ground.
The left and right sides of the square are surrounded by two-story monks’ houses.
White Palace
The White Palace is comprised of various halls, temples, and courtyards, and is primarily used as the residence of the Dalai Lama. Upon entering through the east gate, which is adorned with depictions of the Four Heavenly Kings, visitors will be led up a spacious corridor to the Deyang Shar courtyard. This courtyard was once used as a venue for operas watched by the Dalai Lamas and is surrounded by a seminary and dormitories. The White Palace is situated to the west of the courtyard and can be accessed via three ladder stairs, with the central one reserved for the Dalai Lamas and high-ranking officials.
The first hallway of the White Palace features grand murals depicting the construction of the Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple. On the southern wall, there is an edict signed by the Handprint of the Great Fifth and Thirteenth Dalai Lama. While the White Palace does serve as the living quarters of the Dalai Lama, it is primarily utilized as the political headquarters. The West Chamber of Sunshine and the East Chamber of Sunshine make up the roof of the White Palace, with the former belonging to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and the latter to the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. The largest hall in the White Palace is located beneath the East Chamber of Sunshine, and it is here that the Dalai Lamas would ascend to the throne and rule over Tibet.
Red Palace
The Red Palace is a well-known religious site, featuring a stunning pagoda and valuable cultural artefacts. Its seven gilded roofs are a distinctive feature. Among the many structures within the palace are halls dedicated to the memory of Dalai Lamas and for worshipping Buddha. This impressive building was erected after the passing of the Fifth Dalai Lama.
The heart of the complex is the Great West Hall, which boasts exquisite murals depicting the life of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama. The East Chapel is home to a 6.5-foot statue of Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug lineage to which the Dalai Lama belongs. Meanwhile, the South Chapel contains a silver statue of Padmasambhava and eight bronze statues of his reincarnations.
On the upper level, a gallery showcases a collection of 698 murals portraying various Buddhist figures, including Bodhisattvas, Dalai Lamas, and great adepts. These paintings also recount Jataka stories and important events in Tibetan history. To the west of the Great West Hall is the stupa hall of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. In the North Chapel, visitors can see statues of Sakyamuni, Dalai Lamas, and Medicine Buddha, as well as the stupas of the Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh Dalai Lamas.
Stupa-tomb chapels
The Potala Palace houses eight stupa-tomb chapels, where the remains of the Fifth to Thirteenth Dalai Lamas are preserved. The silver stupa-tomb of the first Dalai Lama is present in the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, while the Second, third and fourth Dalai Lama tomb Stupa are placed in the Drepung Monastery in Lhasa. The stupa-tomb of Dalai Lama XIII is situated in another Palace, which is also a part of the Potala Palace.
Tomb Stupa Fifth Dalai Lama
The stupa-tomb of Dalai Lama V is the earliest and largest one among the seven stupa tombs present in the Potala Palace. It was built in 1691, made of sandalwood, wrapped in gold foil, and adorned with thousands of precious stones like diamonds, pearls, and agates. The stupa, with a height of 14.86 meters (49 feet), is covered in more than 3,700 kilograms of gold.
The stupa-tombs are intricately designed with lively patterns and decorated with precious stones like amber, pearl, coral, agate, and diamond, which add more value to them. The cultural relics housed in the stupas, such as the stupa of Sakyamuni, a thumb from the figure of him, a piece of the posthumous decree of King Songtsan Gambo, a portrait embroidered by Princess Wencheng, and belongings of the previous high-rank monks, make them more valuable. The mummified and perfumed body of Dalai Lamas is kept in stupas, following the Tibetan custom of Stupa Funeral.
The stupa-tomb chapel of the Fifth Dalai Lama is surrounded by chapels that house thousands of precious books and scriptures written in Chinese, Manchu, and Mongolian. It also contains many handwritten copies and printed books about history, medicine, culture, Buddhism, and more, totalling over 200,000 books.
Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s Tomb
The stupa chapel of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama is the location where his stupa is enshrined. Following his demise in the autumn of 1933, his stupa was erected, making it the most recent structure within the Potala Palace. Similar to the Great Fifth’s stupa, this stupa required three years of construction and stands tall at 14 meters (46 feet), a mere 0.86 meters shorter than that of the Fifth Dalai Lama.
The stupa is composed of a substantial amount of silver, adorned with approximately 600 kilograms of gold, and embellished with numerous precious stones, including coral, amber, agate, diamond, and others. Its value is ten times greater than that of the Fifth Dalai Lama. A mandala, made up of over 200,000 pearls and 40,000 other gems, is situated in front of the stupa. Murals in the chapel depict significant moments in his life, and the valuable complete volumes of KanGyur are also preserved in the chapel.
