Lhasa - Potala Palace

The Red Palace was built by the king who ruled instead of the 6th Dalai Lama in the years up to 1694. It contains the most important shrines. The appearance of the Potala has hardly changed since its construction. The heart of the Red Palace is the Great West Hall, the enthronement hall. Its walls are covered with murals depicting scenes from the lives of the Dalai Lamas, the Tibetan kings and the various forms of apparition of the Bodhisattwa Avalokitshvara. The four rooms surrounding the Great West Hall can be said to have the history of Tibetan Buddhism as their religious message. Its beginnings are marked by the Hall of Padmasambhava - it is devoted to an Indian saint. The next station is the hall of the reformer Tsongkhapa. The third hall is devoted to this and his next four incarnations. The last hall contains the burial stupas of the 5th, 10th and 12th Dalai Lamas. The stupas are relic pagodas, up to 14m/46ft high, heavily gilded and inlaid with precious stones. The central stupa of the 5th Dalai Lama is the most magnificent treasure of the entire palace. Eight of the Tibetan priest-kings are buried in similar stupa shrines in the Red Palace. The gilded roofs of the palace announce their position. The so-called Bridal Chamber or Meditation Cave are also situated in the Red Palace. This room which is laid out like a cave is supposed to commemorate the founding years of Lhasa and the beginnings of the Potala and Tibetan Buddhism.

The White Palace in its present form with a fortified base was built by a large army of forced laborers for the 5th Dalai Lama in the years 1645 to 1648. Nothing remains of the older fortress which had been in existence on the fortress mountain at least since Songtsen Gampo's reign (7th C). The rooms of the White Palace are largely functional, amongst them the sleeping quarters, study and reception rooms of the Dalai Lama. There are also a monastery wing and administrative rooms. The private chambers of the 14th Dalai Lama have remained largely untouched since his flight in 1959.