Rómulo Rejón
20071016 - Lhasa 020
The Potala Palace (Tibetan: པོ་ཏ་ལ) in Lhasa, Tibet, was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India during in 1959. 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.
20071016 - Lhasa 020
The Potala Palace (Tibetan: པོ་ཏ་ལ) in Lhasa, Tibet, was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India during in 1959. 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.