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Why the Potala
Palace is special
This massive palace (now a museum) was once the winter religious and political seat of
Tibet under the leadership of the Dalai
Lama.
Potala Palace
tips & insights
 The word Potala is
pronounced
p'oh-t'ah-l'ah.
The 1000-room Potala
Palace is really two palaces: A red one at the top and a white one below it (see photo).
The views from the Potala Palace's roof and balconies
are
spectacular. Below lies Lhasa city and, beyond, the
valley countryside and
distant snow-capped Himalayan mountains.
The
Red Palace is used for religious purposes. It has
chapels, shrines and prayer halls. It also
contains sacred scriptures, outstanding murals,
and the gold covered stupa tombs of eight Dalai Lamas.
The
White Palace was used for secular functions. Its
facilities included bureaucratic offices, monk dormitories, a seminary, and the
Dalai Lama's living quarters.
The building’s air is
today filled with the same sounds (chanting)
and scents (incense and yak-butter burning lamps) that visitors encountered centuries ago.
The Potala Palace is 3,700 meters (12,000 feet)
above sea level. Therefore, it is advisable to rest during your first day in
Tibet to acclimate yourself to the thin air before exploring the Potala Palace.
The
13 story Potala Palace has no elevator, so walk up, not down its stairways.
There are three
sets stairways, which are steep and ladder type. Only the Dalai Lama
was allowed to use the middle one.
The Potala Palace
also has outdoor ramp steps skirting its flanks (see photo).
The current
building was constructed in the 17th century on the
foundation ruins of a fortress palace built a
thousand years earlier.
The Potala Palace
was the world's tallest occupied building from 1653 to 1889.
The
cliff face behind the front bottom half of the
Potala Palace slopes backward. This enables the
hill to bear some of the building's massive gravity induced weight load.
The architects added more support by embedding some
of the building's structural beams into the cliff.
The government has launched a major renovation
project to repair the serious damage caused over
the years by wind, rain, timber-eating worms, and a sinking
foundation (evidenced by cracks in the walls).
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