Potala Palace

by Joan Carroll

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Dimensions

14.000 x 11.000 inches

Title

Potala Palace

Artist

Joan Carroll

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph

Description

If you ever pored over National Geographic or Life Magazine as a kid you surely saw a picture of the Potala Palace In Lhasa Tibet. There are so many amazing things about this palace, not the least of which is that it is right in the center of Lhasa! In the picture you can see the people walking and cycling past! It is also at 12,000 feet in altitude which is a challenge for most visitors, and to add to that there are another 300 or so steps up to visit the palace, the red railing of which can be seen on the right side of the picture. There there are the dimensions: The building measures 400 metres east-west and 350 metres north-south, with sloping stone walls averaging 3 m. thick, and 5 m. (more than 16 ft) thick at the base, and with copper poured into the foundations to help proof it against earthquakes. Thirteen stories of buildings � containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues � soar 117 metres (384 ft) on top of Marpo Ri, the "Red Hill", rising more than 300 m (about 1,000 ft) in total above the valley floor. This is clearly the greatest monumental structure in all of Tibet. Construction of the present palace began in 1645 during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama and by 1648 the Potrang Karpo, or White Palace, was completed. The Potrang Marpo, or Red Palace, was added between 1690 and 1694; its construction required the labors of more than 7000 workers and 1500 artists and craftsman. In 1922 the 13th Dalai Lama renovated many chapels and assembly halls in the White Palace and added two stories to the Red Palace. The Potala Palace was only slightly damaged during the Tibetan uprising against the invading Chinese in 1959. Unlike most other Tibetan religious structures, it was not sacked by the Red Guards during the 1960s and 1970s, apparently through the personal intervention of Chou En Lai. As a result, all the chapels and their artifacts are very well preserved. The Potala Palace is an immense structure, its interior space being in excess of 130,000 square meters. Fulfilling numerous functions, the Potala was first and foremost the residence of the Dalai Lama and his large staff. In addition, it was the seat of Tibetan government, where all ceremonies of state were held; it housed a school for religious training of monks and administrators; and it was one of Tibet's major pilgrimage destinations because of the tombs of past Dalai Lamas. Within the White Palace are two small chapels, the Phakpa Lhakhang and the Chogyal Drubphuk; dating from the seventh century, these chapels are the oldest surviving structures on the hill and also the most sacred. The Potala's most venerated statue, the Arya Lokeshvara, is housed inside the Phapka Lhakhang, and it draws thousands of Tibetan pilgrims each day. We visited Lhasa after the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and perhaps in part because of the crush of humanity in Beijing, Lhasa was a welcome relief. Maybe it was my imagination or my wishful thinking or maybe a reality, we found Lhasa and Tibet and the Potala Palace to have a peaceful and spiritual air. The Potala Palace was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.

FEATURED PHOTO, World Religious Architecture group, 11/14/14

FEATURED PHOTO, Out of the Ordinary group, 10/29/14

FEATURED PHOTO, I Wish I Was There group, 10/29/14

FEATURED PHOTO, Images That Excite You group, 10/29/14

FEATURED PHOTO, UNESCO World Heritage Sites group, 10/29/14

Uploaded

August 1st, 2013

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