Kat wishes

Potala palace

The Potala Palace, winter palace of the Dalai Lama since the 7th century, symbolizes Tibetan Buddhism and its central role in the traditional administration of Tibet. The complex, comprising the White and Red Palaces with their ancillary buildings, is built on Red Mountain in the centre of Lhasa Valley, at an altitude of 3,700m. The Potala Palace used to be such a sacred place that it was beyond the reach of the common Tibetans. They could only worship on the square at the foot of the hill. After the fourteenth Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, the central government turned the Potala Palace into a state museum of historic relics and opened it to the public. Now it is one of the most attractive tourist sites in China and is also a site listed in the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage by UNESCO.