The palace is named afterMount Potalaka, regarded in Buddhist tradition as the mythical abode of the bodhisattvaAvalokiteśvara.[2] Construction of the present structure was begun in 1645 at the order of the5th Dalai Lama,[3] advised by Konchog Chophel, the Thirty-fifthGanden Tripa of theGelug school.[4] It was built on the site of an earlier palace attributed toSongtsen Gampo (traditionally dated to 637).[5][6]
Built at an altitude of about 3,700 metres on Marpo Ri in the centre of the Lhasa Valley,[7] the palace measures 400 m east–west and 350 m north–south. Its sloping stone walls average 3 m thick, 5 m at the base, with copper poured into the foundations for earthquake protection.[8] Rising 13 storeys, the complex contains more than 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines, and some 200,000 statues, reaching a height of 119 m above the mountain and over 300 m above the valley floor.[9]
The Dalai Lama inhabited an estate atDrepung Monastery known asGanden Podrang.[10] During 1621 Lhasa was made the jurisdiction of Ganden Podrang byTsang.[11] During the third month of 1642Gushri KhanDhamma King, Holder of the Faith, had taken from the[12] Sde-sridTsang-pa regime of theGarma Gagyu Sect[13][b] (Tsang) by military forces the places in Tibet, which was the Land of Wooden Doors, held by that governship; and then offered the thirteen parts of Tibet, which is the whole, to the Dalai Lama.[12] On the fifth day of the fourth month of the Water-Horse year in the 11th cycle[c] the Dalai Lama was made sovereign of Tibet on the golden fearless snow lion throne.[16] Sometime during or soon after 1644, the Dalai Lama, the then regent of Ganden Podrang,[d] and Gushri Khan all decided to build a palace.[17]
The Potala is built on the site of palace Songtsen Gampo on the Red Hill.[5][7] The Potala contains two chapels on its northwest corner that conserve parts of the earlier palace. One is the Phakpa Lhakhang, the other the Chogyel Drupuk, a recessed cavern identified asSongtsen Gampo's meditation cave.[18]Ngawang Lozang Gyatso,[19] the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, started the construction of the modern Potala Palace in 1645,[3][e] after one of his spiritual advisers, Konchog Chophel, pointed out that the site was ideal as a seat of government, situated as it is betweenDrepung andSera monasteries and the old city of Lhasa.[25]
The external structure was built in 3 years, while the interior, together with its furnishings, took 45 years to complete.[26]
The new palace got its name from a hill onCape Comorin at the southern tip of India—a rocky point sacred to the bodhisattva of compassion, who is known asAvalokitesvara, or Chenrezi.[27][f]
The Dalai Lama and his government moved into the Potrang Karpo ('White Palace') in 1649.[25] The Potala was used as a winter palace by the Dalai Lama from that time. Construction lasted until 1694,[28] some twelve years after his death.[28] The Potrang Marpo ('Red Palace') was added between 1690 and 1694.[28]KalachakraMandala was constructed during the 1690s.[29]
The lower white frontage on the south side of the palace was used to hoist two gigantic thangkas joined representing the figures ofTara andSakyamuni during the Sertreng Festival on the 30th day of the second Tibetan month.[30][31]
Amongst at least one group of Tibetans c. 1950 the "Potala" is known colloquially as "Peak Potala" (Tse Potala), or most commonly as "the Peak".[32]
Potala Palace in the 1920s
The Sertreng ceremony on 28 April 1949 withthangkas on the front of the palace
The palace was moderately damaged during theTibetan uprising against the Chinese in 1959, when Chinese shells were launched into the palace's windows.[33][g] It escaped damage during theCultural Revolution in 1966 through the personal intervention ofZhou Enlai,[35][36] who was then thePremier of the People's Republic of China. According to Tibetan historian Tsering Woeser, the palace, which harboured "over 100,000 volumes of scriptures and historical documents" and "many store rooms for housing precious objects, handicrafts, paintings, wall hangings, statues, and ancient armour", "was almost robbed empty".[37]
Rapid modernisation has been a concern for UNESCO, however, which expressed concern over the building of modern structures immediately around the palace which threaten the palace's unique atmosphere.[38] The Chinese government responded by enacting a rule barring the building of any structure taller than 21 metres in the area. UNESCO was also concerned over the materials used during the restoration of the palace, which commenced in 2002 at a cost of RMB180 million (US$22.5 million), although the palace's director, Qiangba Gesang, has clarified that only traditional materials and craftsmanship were used. The palace has also received restoration works between 1989 and 1994, costing RMB55 million (US$6.875 million).
The Potala Palace in 2008View showing recent Western Gate shops, highway, 2015
The number of visitors to the palace was restricted to 1,600 a day, with opening hours reduced to six hours daily to avoid over-crowding from 1 May 2003. The palace was receiving an average of 1,500 a day prior to the introduction of the quota, sometimes peaking to over 5,000 in one day.[39] Visits to the structure's roof were banned after restoration efforts were completed in 2006 to avoid further structural damage.[40] Visitorship quotas were raised to 2,300 daily to accommodate a 30% increase in visitorship since the opening of theQingzang railway into Lhasa on 1 July 2006, but the quota is often reached by mid-morning.[41] Opening hours were extended during the peak period in the months of July to September, where over 6,000 visitors would descend on the site.[42]
The Potala has inward-sloping walls with straight rows of many windows at the upper parts of the walls, and flat roofs at various levels. At the south base of the rock is a large space enclosed by walls and gates with greatporticos on the inner side. A series of staircases with intervals leads to the summit of the rock. The whole width of this is occupied by the palace.[citation needed]
The central part of the group of buildings is a quadrangular terminating in gilt canopies similar to those onJokhang Temple Monastery. The crimson coloured central member of Potala is called the "red palace" and contains the principal halls and chapels and shrines of past Dalai Lamas.
The colours: red, white, yellow, are caused by the application oflimestone.[5]
The former quarters of the Dalai Lama. The figure in the throne representsTenzin Gyatso, the incumbentDalai Lama. The throne bears the Chinese character夀, meaning "long life".
^The region is variously known in English as Tibet, in Tibetan as Bod (བོད་), and in Chinese as Xīzàng (西藏). For details on these names and their usage, seeEtymology ofTibet.
^Tradition has it that the three main hills of Lhasa represent the "Three Protectors of Tibet".Chokpori, just to the south of the Potala, is the soul-mountain (Wylie:bla ri) ofVajrapani, Pongwari that ofManjusri, and Marpo Ri, the hill on which the Potala stands, represents Avalokiteśvara.[27]
^Before Chamdo Jampa Kalden was shot and taken prisoner by soldiers of thePeople's Liberation Army, he witnessed "Chinese cannon shells began landing on Norbulingka past midnight on 19 March 1959... The sky lit up as the Chinese shells hit the Chakpori Medical College and the Potala."[34]
^Stein, R. A.Tibetan Civilization (1962). Translated into English with minor revisions by the author. 1st English edition by Faber & Faber, London (1972). Reprint: Stanford University Press (1972), p. 84
^abLaird, Thomas. (2006).The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama, p. 175. Grove Press, New York.ISBN978-0-8021-1827-1.
^Michael Dillon,China: A Cultural and Historical Dictionary, Routledge, 1998, p. 184.
^abStein, R. A.Tibetan Civilization (1962). Translated into English with minor revisions by the author. 1st English edition by Faber & Faber, London (1972). Reprint: Stanford University Press (1972), p. 206
^Booz, Elisabeth B. (1986).Tibet, pp. 62–63. Passport Books, Hong Kong.
^Buckley, Michael and Strauss, Robert.Tibet: a travel survival kit, p. 131. Lonely Planet. South Yarra, Vic., Australia.ISBN0-908086-88-1.
^Penpa Lhamo; Amit A Shapira."Writing Numbers".tibetan101.com. Retrieved10 March 2025.
^"Tibetan astrology: a history".www.men-tsee-khang.org. men-tsee-khang Conference on the Tibetan system of medicine, astronomy and astrology. 8 June 2023. Archived fromthe original on 11 March 2025. Retrieved11 March 2025.
^"Timeline".tibetmuseum.org. Central Tibetan Administration campus, Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India: The Tibet Museum. Retrieved11 March 2025.
^W. D. Shakabpa,One hundred thousand moons, translated with an introduction by Derek F. Maher BRILL, 2010, Vol.1, pp. 48–9.
^abStein, R. A. (1972).Tibetan Civilization, p. 228. Translated by J. E. Stapleton Driver. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.ISBN0-8047-0806-1 (cloth);ISBN0-8047-0901-7 (paper).
^abcStein, R. A.Tibetan Civilization (1962). Translated into English with minor revisions by the author. 1st English edition by Faber & Faber, London (1972). Reprint: Stanford University Press (1972), p. 84.
^Aukatsang, Youdon;Aukatsang, Kaydor (2014).The Lion From Chamdo: Remembering a True Son of Tibet. New Delhi, India: Mahayana Press. p. 8.
^Larsen, Ingrid (28 October 2013)."Climbing to Great Heights - The Potala Palace".smithsonianjourneys.org. Retrieved8 May 2021.The Potala was spared at the insistence of Chairman Mao's comrade, Zhou Enlai, who reportedly deployed his own troops to protect it.
Bishop, Peter. "Reading the Potala". In:Sacred Spaces and Powerful Places in Tibetan Culture: A Collection of Essays. (1999) Edited by Toni Huber, pp. 367–388. The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, H.P., India.ISBN81-86470-22-0.
Das, Sarat Chandra.Lhasa and Central Tibet. (1902). Edited by W. W. Rockhill. Reprint: Mehra Offset Press, Delhi (1988), pp. 145–146; 166–169; 262–263 and illustration opposite p. 154.
Larsen and Sinding-Larsen (2001).The Lhasa Atlas: Traditional Tibetan Architecture and Landscape, Knud Larsen and Amund Sinding-Larsen. Shambhala Books, Boston.ISBN1-57062-867-X.
Richardson, Hugh E. (1984)Tibet & Its History. 1st edition 1962. Second Edition, Revised and Updated. Shambhala Publications. BostonISBN0-87773-376-7.
Richardson, Hugh E. (1985).A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions. Royal Asiatic Society.ISBN0-94759300-4.
Snellgrove, David & Hugh Richardson. (1995).A Cultural History of Tibet. 1st edition 1968. 1995 edition with new material. Shambhala. Boston & London.ISBN1-57062-102-0.
von Schroeder, Ulrich. (1981).Indo-Tibetan Bronzes. (608 pages, 1244 illustrations). Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Publications Ltd.ISBN962-7049-01-8
von Schroeder, Ulrich. (2001).Buddhist Sculptures in Tibet. Vol. One:India & Nepal; Vol. Two:Tibet & China. (Volume One: 655 pages with 766 illustrations; Volume Two: 675 pages with 987 illustrations). Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Publications, Ltd.ISBN962-7049-07-7
von Schroeder, Ulrich. 2008.108 Buddhist Statues in Tibet. (212 p., 112 colour illustrations) (DVD with 527 digital photographs). Chicago: Serindia Publications.ISBN962-7049-08-5
Yule, Henry; Waddell, Lawrence.This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lhasa".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 529–532. (See p. 530.)
Potala Palace Tour in Tibet is one of the most prominent attractions to be visited not only by the tourists from all around the world but even to the native Tibetans and the Potala Place had been list in UNESCO's World Heritage in 1994.
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