The Potala Palace is a symbol of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, and it still houses the bodies of eight Dalai Lamas. Few buildings exude such an atmosphere… Located on the world’s roof, it exudes mystery but peace. It is wrapped in red and white colours and has a long history. This magnificent complex has aroused curiosity for centuries. The incredible Potala Palace is one of the most important symbols of Tibet. It is also the highest palace in the world, rising above the city of Lhasa. These are some of the facts you should know about this incredible building:
The residence of the Dalai Lama
The Potala Palace is located on the top of Mount Marpo Ri, or the Red Mountain, at an enviable height of 12,000 feet. This building is known as the residence of the Dalai Lama. However, the Dalai Lama has not lived there for decades and is in exile in India. Throughout history, 10 Dalai Lamas resided there for 317 years. From 1653 to 1889, the palace was known as the highest inhabited building in the world. It was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994.
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The construction of the famous palace, which still fascinates the whole world, is due to Songtsen Gampo. He decided to build it in the 7th century. According to one version, it was where the new capital of the empire of the Tibetan states he united would be located. According to others, Songtsen Gampo, who also introduced Buddhism to Tibet, had it built as a gift to his future wife. Construction began in 637 but was left to decay two centuries later. What we see today is a newer, more magnificent building from the 17th century. Some parts of the original construction have been preserved within the present-day complex.
Red and White Palaces
The palace we can admire today was built by the Fifth Dalai Lama. In the 17th century, he decided to build a new building on the site of the old palace. At the time of his death in 1682, the complex—which consists of two parts, the Red and White Palaces—was not completed. Hence, the monks decided to keep his death a secret for fear that the complex would remain unfinished. The Dalai Lama was even replaced by a double.
As for the construction itself, the White Palace, Potrang Karpo, was built first. We could say it embraces the heart of the complex, the Red Palace. The Red Palace, or Potrang Marpo, began construction in 1690 and was completed—at least from the outside—after four years. The interior decoration is said to have taken decades. It is also said that thousands of artists and craftsmen worked on the complex, which is reached by numerous stairs. As much as 132,000 pounds of gold were used to decorate it.
The palace itself is 384 feet high. Out of respect, no building in Lhasa is allowed to be higher than it. Its total area is 1,400,000 square feet. It has 13 floors and more than 1,000 rooms and halls. The outer walls, at the base of the building, are as much as 16 feet thick. It is built of stone (granite) and rammed earth with wooden roofs. Its walls are painted with a mixture of milk, sugar, honey, certain herbs, and lime. They are painted once a year, which takes 10 days.
Each part of the complex, the White and Red Palaces, had a specific role. The White Palace functioned as the seat of government. It housed the Dalai Lama’s residence, offices, and monks, and inside it, you can find some original parts of the palace from the 7th century. The Red Palace was the Dalai Lama’s place of prayer and a place to study Buddhism. The courtyards also played an essential role in the complex, where religious and secular gatherings were held.
At the top of the Red Palace, which is richly decorated, there is an open courtyard. It includes a pagoda adorned with 200 thousand pearls. In this courtyard, there are 35 chapels and shrines. Among these are eight gilded wooden stupas, where the bodies of the Dalai Lamas (from the Fifth to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama) are buried. Among them, the stupa of the Fifth Dalai Lama stands out. It is 50 feet high and encrusted with as much as 8,000 pounds of gold and almost 19,000 semi-precious stones.