Photos from the Potala Palace - Tibet - China

The Potala palace was built during the time of Songtsan Gampo in the 7th century. In the 17th century the 5th Dalai Lama extended the palace to it's present size, he also made it into his residence as well as the main political and religious center of Tibet, which it has remained until today. The palace actually consists of two main buildings, the red palace and the white palace. It is 116 meters high with thirteen stories. This space includes living quarters, temples, funeral stupas (such as those seen in the fore ground of the first photo) and monk dormitories. The palace contains countless cultural relics such as images, murals, and sutras and are priceless in value.

Photography inside the palace is strictly prohibited (unless you are the personal guest of one of the high level military officers stationed in the area) and hence not many photos exist of the inside of the palace. However, anyone who has ever been inside a Buddhist temple will notice a great similarity between the inside of a temple and the palace.

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