Perched
upon the Red Hill
of Lhasa valley of
Tibet, Putala Palace
rises a further 118
meters along with
the hill to the peak
and almost occupies
all of the Red Hill
with its cover area
of 130,000 square
meters. With a great
momentum, grandiosity
and venerability,
Putala Palace is a
halidom for worshipping
Buddha in the hearts
of Buddhist believers.
The main building
of Putala Palace,
the White Palace with
white walls, is the
palace where the past
Dalai Lamas dealt
with government affairs,
celebrated religious
activities and lived.
The imperial bedroom
of Dalai Lama is located
on the top floor of
the White Palace,
including such constructions
as the Worshipping
Hall, Scripture Study
Hall, Buddhist Protection
Temple, and Dalai’s
bedroom. They were
very luxury. The palace
has an ingenious pattern
with sunlight coming
in all the year round,
that's why it was
named "Sunlight
Hall". Moreover,
the Sunlight Hall
has a very luxury
layout with various
golden and silvern
jewelries, Buddha
statues, musical instruments,
which is really a
superb collection
of beautiful things.
The Red Palace with
red external walls
is located on the
west side of the White
Palace. It is a multi-floor
construction composed
of the Grand Hall,
Buddhism Temple, Tomb
Pyramid Hall. It is
the other main architectural
complex of independent
system of Potala Palace,
and the most artistic
building is the Tomb
Pyramid Hall where
the past Dalai Lamas'
Tomb Pyramids are
put in. All the bodies
of the dead Dalai
Lamas are preserved
well with flavors,
and put in the Tomb
Pyramid Hall for the
believers to worship.
It is decorated with
religious paintings
and gold. Also there
are many invaluable
diamonds and pearls
buried in it. Therein,
the biggest pyramid
of Dalai V is 16 meters
high, and covers an
area of 452 square
meters. The pyramid
body of Dalai V is
used with gold of
more than 119,000
taels, decorated with
lots of diamonds especially
over 4000 pearls,
which can be called
“priceless treasure”.
The interior construction
of Putala Palace is
a richly ornamented
building, just like
a sea of collection
of colors, carvings
and paintings, which
is really an artistic
palace.
Putala Palace, first
built in A.D. 641
when Emperor Songtsen
Gampo married with
Princess Wencheng
and afterwards rebuilt
for many times, has
centrally expressed
the great accomplishment
and special characteristics
of Tibetan people
in the multi fields
like painting, carving,
construction, etc.,
which is honored “A
Pearl on the Roof
of the World”.
