Where is the Potala Palace located? Potala Palace in Tibet: the highest ancient castle in the world
In the mountains of Tibet, at an altitude of 3700 meters, in the middle of the Lhasa Valley, the Potala Palace rises on a hill. For several centuries it was the residence of the Dalai Lamas and the Tibetan government.
The history of the palace goes back to the distant past. According to legend, there is a sacred cave here where the bodhisattva Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara), who is represented on Earth by the Dalai Lamas, lived. The Emperor of Tibet, Songtsen Gempo, often meditated in this cave. Since the place was considered sacred, the emperor decided to build a palace on the hill and declare this place his capital. And this happened back in the 7th century AD. Unfortunately, many buildings were built of wood, so in the 8th century they burned down due to lightning. Little remains of the former palace. But the cave was well preserved, and this place, as before, was considered holy.
In the middle of the 17th century, on the initiative of the 5th Dalai Lama, construction began on the palace, which has survived to this day. In 1645-1648, the White Palace was built, which became the residence of the Dalai Lamas.
The White Palace contains the personal chambers of the Dalai Lama, the living quarters of the regent and mentor of the Dalai Lama, government offices and a library containing Buddhist scriptures. The seminary and printing house are also located here. Official ceremonies were held in the Great Eastern Pavilion.
The second component of the Potala Palace is the Red Palace, which was built in 1690-1694. They pray and perform religious rituals there.
The Red Palace houses eight memorial stupas in which the Dalai Lamas are buried. In addition, there are many large and small halls. They are dedicated to Buddhas, Bothisattvas and Dalai Lamas. There are halls for audiences and various ceremonies. They display jewelry and relics, statues of deities and Dalai Lamas, books and ritual objects.
The Potala Palace was the residence of the Dalai Lamas until 1959 - that is, until the Chinese invasion of Tibet. The 14th Dalai Lama was forced to leave Tibet and seek asylum in India. We can say that the palace was very lucky. Unlike most Tibetan monasteries and temples, it was not destroyed by the Red Guards in the 1960s and 1970s. Probably because the Chinese government included the palace on the list of cultural monuments that require special state protection.
Potala Palace is the highest ancient castle in the world, located at an altitude of 3767 meters. The Potala Palace is a huge Buddhist temple complex, occupying 360 thousand m2 and consisting of two parts: the Red Palace as the center, and the White Palace as two wings. The height of the palace is 115 meters - that’s 13 floors.The Potala was the main residence of the Tibetan Dalai Lama for several centuries.Now it's sacred place attracts thousands of pilgrims and tourists. Situated on the Red Mountain in the center of Lhasa, the Potala is the largest monumental structure in all of Tibet, ancient palace world. The word “Potala” itself means “Mystical Mountain”.
Once upon a time, within the walls of this huge palace, surrounded by peace and tranquility, sat the religious ruler of Tibet. The centuries-old peace was disrupted in 1959 by the invasion of Tibet by Chinese troops, as a result of which the XIV Dalai Lama was forced to leave the country and received political asylum in India, where he still resides.
The first building on the site of the current palace was built in 637 by the king of Tibet Songtsen Gampo, who decided to build not Grand Palace above Fa-Wan's cave, where he used to meditate. After some time, the king came up with the idea of making Lhasa the capital, so a large palace was erected on the site of the old building, which was significantly expanded after Songtsen Gampo became engaged to the Chinese princess Wen Cheng- by order of the king, the palace building was expanded to 999 rooms, and high walls with towers were erected around it and a bypass canal was dug.
Unfortunately, since almost everything in those days was built of wood, the palace, which was no exception, could not survive a severe thunderstorm in the second half of the 8th century, during which it was struck by lightning, and the resulting fire burned all the wooden buildings. What remained of the palace was finally razed to the ground by internecine wars - only the Pabalakan Hall and the Fa-Vana Cave have survived to this day.
The Potala Palace that we see today began to be built only in 1645, during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama. By 1648, the White Palace was built. Red Palace, added in 1694. More than 7,000 workers and 1,500 artists and craftsmen worked on its construction. In 1922, the 13th Dalai Lama renovated many of the chapels and halls in the White Building and made changes to the Red.
After the White Palace was completed in 1648, it became the winter residence of the Dalai Lama. The ruler lived and worked in the Sunny Pavilion of the White Palace, and received guests and held ceremonies in the Great Eastern Pavilion. The white walls symbolize peace and tranquility. The walls of the hall are decorated with beautiful frescoes and paintings. It also houses the Potala statue, the most revered artifact that attracts thousands of Tibetan tourists. It is completely covered with gold leaf with a total weight of 550 kg. and inlaid with tens of thousands of precious stones. The remaining funeral stupas, while significantly smaller in size, are also decorated with huge amounts of gold and jewelry.
The Great East Hall on the fourth floor has an area of 725 square meters. was the site of important religious and political ceremonies.It is surrounded on three sides by three chapels: in the east, in the north and in the south. The Dharma Caves and Holy Chapel are the only surviving structures from the 7th century with statues of Songtsen Gampo, Princess Wen Cheng and Princess Bhrikuti inside.
The heart of the complex is the Red Building (which was built from 1690 to 1694) - the most high part in the center. This part is entirely devoted to religious education and Buddhist prayers. The building consists of many halls, chapels and libraries on several levels with galleries and winding corridors. Richly decorated with paintings, precious stones and carvings, it contains several temples and tombs of the eight past Dalai Lamas, including a pagoda made of 200,000 pearls.
The Potala Palace occupies the entire hill on which it is located. The majesty of the huge structure, stretching across the entire hill, still amazes both travelers and tourists, as well as Buddhists and pilgrims themselves.
Countless treasures are stored in many halls, there are stupas of the Dalai Lamas and many high teachers, many Buddhas and deities. Particularly impressive are the voluminous tantric mandalas:
Samvara Mandala
Guhyasamaja Mandala
Yamantaka-Mandala
Kalachakra Mandala
The Potala houses schools of Buddhist logic, a seminary, a printing house, gardens, courtyards and even a prison. For over 300 years, the ancient palace has preserved many cultural relics such as murals, stupas, statues, thangkas and rare sutras. Of particular importance is the Fa-Wan cave, in which King Songtsen Gampo read sacred texts even before the construction of the building.
In 1994, the Potala Palace was listed World Heritage UNESCO and named one of the new seven wonders of the world. Today, the complex is visited daily by thousands of Tibetan pilgrims and travelers from all over the world.
This is what the Potala looks like at night
Tibet is home to one of the most beautiful Buddhist palaces in the world - the Potala. The building received its name in the 11th century. In 1994, the Potala Temple was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is located at an altitude of more than 3 thousand meters. The Potala Temple is the official winter residence of the Dalai Lama. It was here that all ceremonies and meetings with the Tibetan government were held. Currently, many tourists come here from different countries world in order to see with my own eyes all the beauty and power of the Tibetan temple, to get acquainted with rare exhibits.
History of the Potala
This beautiful temple complex is located in the picturesque Lhasa Valley on Mount Marpo Ri. In Tibet it is one of the tallest monumental structures. According to mythical legend, Songtsen Gempo (a Tibetan ruler in the 7th century AD) was meditating in a cave on Mount Marpo. Later he decided to build a temple complex on the hill. The structure had its original appearance until the 17th century. With the help of the Dalai Lama in 1648, the temple was restored and slightly reconstructed. Today, it is this structure that travelers can see upon arriving in Tibet. About 7 thousand workers and 1,000 artists took part in the construction of the structure.
The Supreme Head of Tibet in 1922 repaired the halls and other places of worship in the White Palace, and workers also restored the Red Palace. This greatest structure was damaged only once - in 1959 during the Chinese invasion.
In addition, the temple remained in excellent condition even after the robberies of the Red Guards, who destroyed many Tibetan palaces in the 60-70s. 20th century. In the Potala temple complex, all exhibits and sanctuaries remained intact at this time.
The castle once housed administrators and religious teachers. The White Palace contains small chapels that are valued for their preservation and sacredness.
White Palace
The Potala Temple consists of the White and Red Palaces. In the White Palace you can see the rooms of the monks of the Supreme Head of Tibet, the Solar and Great Eastern Pavilions.
It is worth noting that the Solar Pavilion consists of an eastern and western part. In the western part are the rooms of the thirteenth Supreme Head of Tibet, and in the eastern part are the rooms of the fourteenth Dalai Lama. Tourists will be able to see brocade blankets, tea utensils made of jasper and gold, porcelain sculptures, statues of Buddha Shakyamuni and much more in the Solar Pavilion.
The Great Eastern Pavilion is the largest in the White Palace. It was here that cultural celebrations and political meetings took place. The walls of the Great Eastern Pavilion are decorated with frescoes on the themes: “the life story of the princess”, “how a monkey turned into a man”. In the center of the large Pavilion stands big statue Dalai Lama.
Red Palace
In the Red Palace, monks of the Dalai Lama read prayers in the name of Buddha Shakyamuni. Here you can see many pavilions with memorial shrines and other unusual rooms.
The Red Palace has eight sanctuaries, among which it is worth highlighting the rooms of the thirteenth Dalai Lama and the fifth Supreme Head of Tibet. Their appearance simply amazing. They are so large and luxurious that any tourist will definitely remember the memorial sanctuaries in the Potala for the rest of their lives. The stupa of the fifth Dalai Lama is more than fourteen meters high (a five-story building). It is made entirely of real gold. Tibetan memorial shrines alone constitute a large part of the world's wealth.
The stupa of the thirteenth Dalai Lama rises to a height of about 14 m. It was built in 1934.
In the Red Palace, travelers will see various attributes, unique scriptures, unusual products and crafts, icons of Buddhist saints, frescoes depicting the construction of the Tibetan temple complex.
The highest and most spacious hall of the Red Palace is its western part. Here the Dalai Lama once received guests, held ceremonial events and performed sacrifices. Among the exhibits is a banner with imperial painting, panels made of brocade and gold threads. You can also see a statue of the many-armed and many-faced Avalokiteshvara, made of silver and gold.
The most ancient attraction of the temple complex is the Pabalakan (Avalokiteshvar) pavilion and the Favana cave (27 sq. km.) The pavilion is located directly above the cave, which allows tourists to admire the beauty of the complex. Fawana Cave contains rare statues of the princesses of the Tufan Kingdom: Ludongzang, Chizul and Wencheng.
Most of the roofs of the palace pavilions are gilded and have a traditional Chinese shape with flying corners, which are often decorated with animals from legends.
The Potala Palace is a monument of Buddhist architecture. Many of the exhibits here are unique and amazing. Having visited this Palace, travelers want to come back here again.
Potala Palace rises in the background mountain range that is approaching the city from the south. The palace stands on the Red Hill (Marpo Ri) in the middle of the valley, it is only part of a huge fortified complex, which also includes a fenced rectangular area at the foot of the mountain.The main and central part of the complex is represented by the White Palace (Potrang Karpo) in the east and the Red Palace (Potrang Marpo) in the west.
The Potala Palace was created as a symbol of Tibetan statehood. This happened at a time when the country was once again united by the administration of the Buddhist Dalai Lamas.
In order to finally elevate the already high temple-palace, which is also high in the mountains, above all mortals, it is named after the mythical palace in the south of India that belonged to the patron of Tibet, the Buddhist deity Avalokiteshvara, which stood on the top of a mountain on the coast Indian Ocean(in Chinese Buddhism - the paradise of Putuo on an island in the East China Sea). According to Buddhist mythology, the Potala is a paradise where the bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Tara live.
Story
The Tibetan temple-palace Potala was built on the site of the huge (more than 1000 rooms) palace of the king of the Yarlung dynasty of Tibet, Songtsen Gampo, who ruled in 604-650. and brought Buddhism to the people of Tibet. Today, visitors to the Potala are shown the Chogyal Drupuk Cave, in which King Songtsen Gampo meditated, and the Phakra Lhakhang Hall as surviving fragments of that ancient palace complex. Songtsen Gampo was considered the reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara.The ideological inspirer and initiator of the beginning of the construction of the Potala in 1645 was Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (1617-1682) - the fifth Dalai Lama, or Great Fifth, Tibetan religious and political figure. He was also considered to be the reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara. Consequently, the Potala Palace - heaven on earth - became a clear confirmation of the integrity and revival of the Tibetan state.
However, there is also an obvious political subtext in the construction of the Potala Palace. First half of the 17th century became a period of fierce struggle between rival schools of Tibetan Buddhism, supported by the rulers of different regions of Tibet. It was in 1642 that the Fifth Dalai Lama received supreme power over all of Tibet: his school of Tibetan Gelug Buddhism defeated all others, and a new supreme Tibetan religious government emerged. Lhasa was declared the capital, where a palace was erected for the new nobility.
The first of the entire complex was built by the White Palace in 1645-1648: the Fifth Dalai Lama turned it into his winter residence.
The Red Palace was erected between 1690 and 1694.
Before construction began, the site was prepared: the mountain ridge was leveled using the technique of cutting down descending terraces, traditional for Tibetan mountain architecture. In this way, the amazing effect of the building “growing” from the mountain was achieved.
In terms of construction technology and materials, the Potala Palace is similar to ordinary peasant houses in Tibet.
The powerful external load-bearing walls are made of roughly processed stones. They are held together with clay. Thick wooden beams are inserted into the walls to support the floor and ceiling. Indoors, the beams are supported by wooden columns.
Sloping external walls are also typical for the houses of ordinary Tibetans: the walls are sloping inwards by 6-9°. The space between the outer and inner walls reaches 5 m (!), it is filled with earth, stones and intertwined willow branches.
The Potala Palace, by its very appearance, should inspire reverence and submission to the will of the gods and their representatives on earth. That is why he was elevated to a hill in the middle of a valley high in the mountains of Tibet.
Created with the support of the Mongols, the Potala Palace combined the Indian roots of Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese architectural decor and traditional Tibetan construction technology in its appearance.
Since 1951, it has been part of the People's Republic of China as an autonomous region. Its spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has been in exile since 1959. But the Potala Palace survived: unlike most Tibetan monasteries and temples, the Potala was not destroyed by the Red Guards and the Chinese army, thanks to the personal order of the first Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai (1898-1976).
The Potala remains today the architectural embodiment of the Buddhist essence of Tibet.
The White Palace consists of a spacious Eastern Pavilion, a Solar Pavilion, residential quarters of the regent and mentor of the Dalai Lama, and office premises government of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Great East Pavilion has always been used for official ceremonies. The Dalai Lama’s personal chambers were located in the Solar Pavilion, where he lived and worked, read sacred texts, and resolved governance issues.
The Red Palace served as a place for prayer meetings and religious rituals. There are also several pavilions here.
In the western annex of the Red Palace is the tomb of Thupten Gyatso, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama (1876-1933), who reigned from 1895 to 1933.
He was also awarded this honor for the fact that in 1912 he achieved the proclamation of the independence of Tibet and the formation of an independent Tibetan state.
The walls of the Potala Palace are covered with a layer of lime in the White Palace and ocher in the Red Palace. The walls always look like new because they are poured from above, and instead of brushes they use strands of yak wool.
You can always find out which places in the palace are given special significance: they have small gilded Chinese roofs, but at the same time with gilded Indian ornaments, made in the old days by the hands of Nepalese craftsmen.
The windows of the palace are curtained with carpets made of black yak wool.
Eight memorial stupas containing the embalmed bodies of the Dalai Lamas are considered very important for the Potala Palace and Temple. Among them is the stupa of the Fifth Dalai Lama, the builder of the White Palace.
The Potala Palace stands surrounded by monastic living quarters (centered in the western wing), storerooms and external fortifications. Due to the crowding of the buildings, it is sometimes difficult to judge to what period they belong, but in all likelihood it is the end of the 17th century. It should be taken into account that the palace-temple was constantly being completed, making changes to the overall complex.
Visitors can enter the Potala Palace complex through a narrow gate, to which several stepped ramps lead.
In interior spaces The palace's wooden beams and columns, as well as the walls, are decorated with intricate carvings and designs. The halls are filled with many relics: these are spatial mandalas for contemplation, funeral stupas, statues of Dalai Lamas and teachers, statues of deities and yidams, books, ritual objects.
In all the centuries of its existence, the Potala Palace has never been significantly damaged. Its beautiful appearance and good condition of the interiors are maintained only by necessary repairs.
Lhasa has grown considerably in recent decades, with many modern-style buildings appearing, but the Potala still stands majestically above the changing cityscape just as it did in the old days.
The Potala Palace was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.
general information
Location: southeast Tibet.Administrative location: Lhasa city, Tibet Autonomous Region, China.
Status: religious building, historical monument.
Construction: VII, XVII, XIX centuries.
Languages: Tibetan, Chinese.
Ethnic composition: Tibetans, Han Chinese.
Religion: Buddhism.
Currency unit: Yuan.
Numbers
Total area of the palace: 360,000 m2 (including front yard and pond).Total height of the complex: 117 m.
Length: 400 m.
Width: 350 m.
Wall thickness: 3-5 m.
Floors: 13.
Height above sea level: 3650 m.
Area of the Eastern courtyard (terrace): 1600 m 2 .
Area of Chogyal Drupuk Cave: 27 m2.
Number of monks(Namgyal Monastery) : 200.
Climate and weather
Mountain.Average January temperature: -2.5°C.
Average temperature in July: +15°C.
Average annual precipitation: 420 mm.
Relative humidity: 60%.
Attractions
■ Potala Palace and Temple Complex(VII, XVII centuries).■ White Palace(1645-1648)
■ Red Palace(1690-1694)
■ Tomb of Thupten Gyatso- Dalai Lama XIII (1934-1936)
■ Other buildings: monastery living quarters, storerooms and external fortifications (late 17th century).
Curious facts
■ In 1652, the Fifth Dalai Lama, the builder of the Potala, arrived in Beijing, where the Yellow Palace was built especially for him. Emperor Shun-chi of the Qing dynasty, who then ruled China, as a sign of special gratitude, awarded the Fifth Dalai Lama the title of the Penetrating, Bearing Thunder Scepter, Ocean-Like Lama. In gratitude, the Fifth Dalai Lama awarded the emperor the title of Heavenly God, Manjushri, the Most High, the Great Lord.■ Building stone was delivered to the construction site from a quarry northeast of Lhasa. They were delivered by porters - on their own backs and in drags. The clay used as mortar was mined on site, and the remaining pits were turned into a pond called the Dragon King Pool.
■ The Thirteenth Dalai Lama played a very important role in the so-called Great Game - the diplomatic and military confrontation between Russia, Great Britain and the Qing Empire at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. At the same time, he was on the side of Russia. In 1904, after the British invasion of Tibet, the Dalai Lama fled to Urga, the capital of Mongolia. Having contacted the Russian consulate, he asked the tsarist government for permission to move to Russia. The Dalai Lama was refused: if this request had been granted, Russia would have ruined relations with China for a long time, if not forever.
■ The main difference between the Potala architecture and the walls of traditional Tibetan houses is that the walls of the small bastions in the east and west wings are rounded rather than straight.
■ Only diligent adherence to Tibetan house-building traditions in the Potala can explain the presence of a vertical parapet on the flat roofs, into whose front surface are inserted branches of willow and tamarisk, with the ends directed outward and painted red. They symbolize bundles of brushwood and armfuls of hay, which even today Tibetan peasants pile on the roofs of their simple houses.
■ In the lower basement level, an underground sanctuary of the ancient pre-Buddhist Bon religion has been preserved.
■ Potala Relics - one hundred sacred palm leaf scrolls from ancient India. They were written over a thousand years ago, using gold and silver ink, dyes made from pearls, iron powder, coral, seashells and copper dust. The paper of the scrolls is not susceptible to damage by insects or dampness.
■ After the reincarnation of the Fifth Dalai Lama (death and search for a new one), his entourage hid it for almost ten years, fearing that the people would rebel and stop working on the construction of the Potala Palace.
■ The stupa of the Fifth Dalai Lama occupies the fourth floor, its height is about 15 m, it is made of gold.
In Buddhist mythology, the paradise where the bodysattvas Avalokiteshvara and Tara live (corresponds to the Chinese paradise of Puto) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
- (Sanskrit potala, potalaka, pautalaka), in Buddhist mythology the name of paradise where Avalokiteshvara and Tara live. According to Indian and Tibetan sources, it is located on the top of a mountain on the coast of the Indian Ocean, in Chinese Buddhism on an island in... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology
POTALA, in Buddhist mythology, the paradise where the bodhisattvas (see BODHISATTVA) Avalokitesvara (see AVALOKITESVARA) and Tara (see TARA (in mythology)) live (corresponds to the Chinese paradise of Puto) ... encyclopedic Dictionary
- (Sanskrit) 1) in buddhas. mythology the name of paradise, where the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and his female energy Tara live; 2) palace and winter residence of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa (until 1959), one of Ch. shrines of Tibet; named after the paradise of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara... Buddhism
Potala- in buddhas myth. name heaven where Avalokiteshvara and Tara reside. According to ind. and Tibetan origins, is located on the top of a mountain on the Indian Ocean coast... Ancient world. encyclopedic Dictionary
sweated- and, f. Destitution, poverty. || Hard times, hard times, troubles. Vіddavati na potala… Ukrainian Tlumach Dictionary
sweated- the name of the female family... Spelling dictionary of Ukrainian language
Coordinates: 29°39′35″ N. w. 91°07′01″ E. d. / 29.659722° n. w. 91.116944° E. d. ... Wikipedia
City in southwest China, c. Tibetan auto. r on. It is the main religious center of Lamaism (one of the forms of Buddhism) in Asia, which is reflected in the name: Tibet. lha god, sa earth, i.e. divine, sacred land. Geographical names… … Geographical encyclopedia
City Lhasa 拉薩, 拉萨, Lāsà Country ChinaChina Status ... Wikipedia
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