Potala Palace

The Potala Palace (Tibetan: པོ་ཏ་ལ; Wylie: Po ta la, traditional Chinese: 布達拉宮; simplified Chinese: 布达拉宫; pinyin: Bùdálā Gōng) is located in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, in People's Republic of China. The Potala Palace was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India after a failed uprising in 1959. Today the Potala Palace has been forcibly converted into a museum by the Chinese. It was named after Mount Potala, the abode of Chenresig or Avalokitesvara.
Thirteen stories of buildings containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues, soar 117 metres (384 ft) on top of Marpo Ri, the "Red Hill", rising more than 300 m (about 1,000 ft) in total above the valley floor.[2] Tradition has it that the three main hills of Lhasa represent the "Three Protectors of Tibet." Chokpori, just to the south of the Potala, is the soul-mountain (bla-ri) of Vajrapani, Pongwari that of Manjushri, and Marpori, the hill on which the Potala stands, represents Chenresig or Avalokiteshvara.
The building measures 400 metres east-west and 350 metres north-south, with sloping stone walls averaging 3 m. thick, and 5 m. (more than 16 ft) thick at the base, and with copper poured into the foundations to help proof it against earthquakes.
"The Potala gives the impression not of having been built by man but have grown there, so perfectly does it fit in with its surroundings. It has the pleasing lack of symmetry of a great tree or mountain, yet this apparent aimlessness is focused, first by the red central block and then by the golden pavilions on the roof, so that the eye is naturally led from the less important to the essential, both visually and spiritually; for in so much as the gilded roofs over the mortal remains of the Dalai Lamas are the dominant figure of the architecture, so is the incarnate spirit of these rulers the very soul of Tibet.The site was used as a meditation retreat by King Songtsen Gampo, who in 637 built the first palace there in order to greet his bride Princess Wen Cheng of the Tang Dynasty of China.
The former quarters of the Dalai Lama. The figure in the throne represents Tenzin Gyatso, the incumbent Dalai Lama
Lozang Gyatso, the Great Fifth Dalai Lama, started the construction of the Potala Palace in 1645[6] after one of his spiritual advisers, Konchog Chophel (d. 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. The Dalai Lama and his government moved into the Potrang Karpo ('White Palace') in 1649.Construction lasted until 1694,[9] some twelve years after his death. The Potala was used as a winter palace by the Dalai Lama from that time. The Potrang Marpo ('Red Palace') was added between 1690 and 1694.
"The new palace got its name from a hill on Cape Comorin at the southern tip of India—a rocky point sacred to the God of Mercy, whom the Indians call Avalokitesvara and the Tibetans worship as Chenrezi. The Tibetans themselves rarely speak of the sacred place as the "Potala," but rather as "Peak Potala" (Tse Potala), or usually as "the Peak."
It is a popular tourist attraction, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and was named by the American television show Good Morning America and newspaper USA Today as one of the "New Seven Wonders".
All precious books and art pieces were taken out of Potala to other parts of mainland China.