Potala Palace

“A winter palace of a thousand rooms, resting quietly on the ridge”

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Photo: Coolmanjackey · CC BY-SA 3.0

Scenes

The white ramparts and eaves of the Potala seen from below — Where the white ramparts wind toward the skycattan2011 · CC BY 2.0

Meaning

White ramparts wind up the red hill tier upon tier, and at the top of the zigzag stone stairways the deep-red walls of the Red Palace touch the sky.

Held to have taken its present form in the seventeenth century under the Fifth Dalai Lama, this was the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas and long the heart of Tibetan Buddhism and governance. The White and Red Palaces rise in tiers over the red hill of Marpori, holding more than a thousand rooms, and the golden reliquary stupas of past Dalai Lamas rest in the Red Palace. Though its master has not dwelt here since 1959, pilgrims still circle it in reverence. A UNESCO World Heritage site.

Roads through this light

Tibet — The Lamp That Crossed the Mountains

“The winter palace of the Dalai Lamas, its thousand rooms resting quietly on the ridge”

Field notes

Location: Lhasa · Tibet · N29.7° · E91.1°
Best time: Early morning, as first light touches the red hill and warms the white walls
Getting there: Reached on foot from central Lhasa; entry is managed by timed admission.
Etiquette: Silence is kept within the halls, and photography is restricted.

Sources

· UNESCO World Heritage
· Encyclopaedia Britannica

Wikipedia

Photographs are freely licensed works from Wikimedia Commons and similar sources; the author and license appear beneath each image.