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Potala

Potala Palace
布达拉宫.jpg
Potala Palace
Potala Palace is located in Tibet
Potala Palace
Potala Palace
Location within Tibet
Coordinates 29°39′28″N 91°07′01″E / 29.65778°N 91.11694°E / 29.65778; 91.11694
Monastery information
Location Lhasa, Tibet, China
Founded by Songtsän Gampo
Founded 637
Date renovated Modern palace constructed by the 5th Dalai Lama in 1645
Renovated:1989 to 1994, 2002
Type Tibetan Buddhist
Lineage Dalai Lama
Head Lama 14th Dalai Lama
Official name Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa
Type Cultural
Criteria i, iv, vi
Designated 1994 (18th session)
Reference no. 707
Region Asia-Pacific
Extensions 2000; 2001
Potala Palace
Potala palace (Chinese and Tibetan).svg
"Potala Palace" in Simplified Chinese (top), Traditional Chinese (middle), and Tibetan (bottom) script
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 布達拉宮
Simplified Chinese 布达拉宫
Tibetan name
Tibetan ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་

The Potala Palace (Tibetan: ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་Wylie: pho brang Potala) in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. It is now a museum and World Heritage Site.

The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythical abode of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The 5th Dalai Lama started its construction in 1645 after one of his spiritual advisers, Konchog Chophel (died 1646), pointed out that the site was ideal as a seat of government, situated as it is between Drepung and Sera monasteries and the old city of Lhasa. It may overlay the remains of an earlier fortress called the White or Red Palace on the site, built by Songtsän Gampo in 637.

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.


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