Potala Palace Photo

Photographer’s Note

Perched upon Marpo Ri hill, 130 meters above the Lhasa valley, the Potala Palace rises a further 170 meters and is the greatest monumental structure in all of Tibet. Construction of the present palace began in 1645 during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama and by 1648 the Potrang Karpo, or White Palace, was completed. The Potrang Marpo, or Red Palace, was added between 1690 and 1694; its construction required the labors of more than 7000 workers and 1500 artists and craftsman. In 1922 the 13th Dalai Lama renovated many chapels and assembly halls in the White Palace and added two stories to the Red Palace. The Potala Palace was only slightly damaged during the Tibetan uprising against the invading Chinese in 1959. Unlike most other Tibetan religious structures, it was not sacked by the Red Guards during the 1960s and 1970s, apparently through the personal intervention of Chou En Lai. As a result, all the chapels and their artifacts are very well preserved.The Potala Palace is an immense structure, its interior space being in excess of 130,000 square meters. Fulfilling numerous functions, the Potala was first and foremost the residence of the Dalai Lama and his large staff. In addition, it was the seat of Tibetan government, where all ceremonies of state were held; it housed a school for religious training of monks and administrators; and it was one of Tibet's major pilgrimage destinations because of the tombs of past Dalai Lamas. Within the White Palace are two small chapels, the Phakpa Lhakhang and the Chogyal Drubphuk; dating from the seventh century, these chapels are the oldest surviving structures on the hill and also the most sacred. The Potala's most venerated statue, the Arya Lokeshvara, is housed inside the Phapka Lhakhang, and it draws thousands of Tibetan pilgrims each day. Thirteen stories of buildings containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues. The Potala Palace was inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994.
Note the size of Chinese flag.

Standardowe ujęcie Pałacu Potala w Lhasie, w Tybecie. Pałac jest (był?) zimową siedzibą Dalaj Lamy. Czerwony Pałac, w środku, poświęcony jest ceremoniom religijnym. Tu znajduja się grobowce poprzednich Dalaj Lamów, kazdy z kilkuset (może więcej?) kilogramów złota i drogocennych kamieni. Biały Pałac to część mieszkalna. Pałac mozna zwiedzać wewnątrz, ale jest ograniczona liczba turystów każdego dnia i nie jest łatwo kupić bilety. Mnie udało się to zrobić za czwartym podejściem. Wewnątrz zakaz robienia zdjęć.

Jeppo, cyborg83, tedesse, asajernigan, jaywalker, lilimih33, JanD, Bluejeans, riclopes, josepmarin, Waylim, giorgimer, touristdidi has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Jeppo (12072) 2008-03-31 3:59

Witam Malgorzata,

we hope they will have some peace and the persecution against them will stop.
anyway EU and USA should have the braveness to protest against Bejing and not to partecipate to the Olympic games!
ciao
Silvio

BennyV (4903) 2008-03-31 4:31

A great picture, Malgorzata, with size and frame doing full justice to the scale of the palace.

On the other hand, I don't agree at all with comments such as the one made above by Jeppo and I find it sad that people misuse TE to post their political slogans.

Benny

cyborg83 (3798) 2008-03-31 7:03

Witaj Malgorzato,
dosc dlugo mnie nie bylo na TE i widze ze wiele ciekawych zdjec mam do skomentowania....
Niestety ostatnio czasu brak na przyjemnosci i tak pozostanie jeszcze do polowy kwietnia - pracuje w delegacji i w wynajetym mieszkaniu nie mam internetu - w dzisiejszych czasach to nie do pomyslenia :)
A wiec naraziez mojej strony brak bedzie komentarzy ale wszystko nadrobie w drugiej polowie miesiaca :)

CO do zdjecia to strasznie mi sie podoba, takich palacow u nas nie uswiadczysz...
POV rewelka, swiatlo i kolory tez - klaniam sie i pozdrawiam

tedesse (13212) 2008-03-31 7:53

Witaj!
Super widok,piêkne kolory i dobra ostro¶æ.
Interesuj±ca notka.
Pozdrawiam
Tadeusz

slavko (468) 2008-03-31 8:00

Witaj!
Niesamowite miejsce! Dobry kadr, rameczka git, ¶wietna jako¶æ pracy i interesuj±ca nota!
Pozdrawiam
S³awek

asajernigan (14268) 2008-03-31 9:01

Malgorzata,
Outstanding photo of this unusual architecture. Your composition is great and the addition of the red flag is nice. The lighting and colors are fine with excellent sharpness and detail.
TFS,
Asa

jasmis (50967) 2008-03-31 9:58

Zdjęcie na czasie. Imponująca budowla. Ciekawa notka. Mocny przekaz.
Pozdrawiam.

bibik (2784) 2008-03-31 10:44

Ciekawe, egzotyczne, ważne i aktualne. Notka - wypas.
Pozdrowienia.

dario10 (2753) 2008-03-31 12:11

witaj Ma³gosia
³adny pa³ac,mam nadzieje ¿e przetrwa zamieszki,³adny kadr super kolory
pozdrawiam dario

jaywalker (12302) 2008-03-31 13:20

Hi Malgorzata, A very timely photo with the troubles surrounding Tibet at present, I think a great number of the worlds population hope for a quick & peaceful end, your photo have glorious light & the perfect POV to capture the beauty of this wonderful building, it is very interesting with the Chinese flag to the left of frame, I love the human element & the sharp focus, kind regards Wilson.

Fis2 (46341) 2008-03-31 13:32

Hej Malgoska!
To dzis pokazalas budowle. Swietna i robi na mnie wrazenie. Super kadr i swiatlo, ktore tutaj mocno pomoglo w uzyskaniu takego efektu. Dobra praca.
Pozdrawiam
Krzysztof

Ber (7576) 2008-03-31 14:40

a Ty znowu w Chinach! przemieszczasz sie z predkoscia swiatla, budowla imponujacych rozmiarow, ludzie jak mrowki
pozdrawiam

lilimih33 (9874) 2008-03-31 16:52

Hello Malgorzata!
Perfect clarity and wonderful colours, light, detail and point of view in your picture!
Excellent done!
Best regards!
Lili

JanD (15043) 2008-04-01 1:31

Czolem Malgosiu!
Piekna fotografia. Wspaniale miejsce. Rewelacyjna perspektywa. Ta przestrzen robi wrazenie. Bardzo ciekawe zdjecie, bardzo dobrze wykonane.
Poza tym: Niech zyje wolny Tybet!

batalay (21185) 2008-04-01 10:35

Hello Malgorzata,

At a time when Tibet is in he news, this is a virtual newsreel photography you have shared with us. What an impressive structure. I understand that increasingly droves of Chinese, especially the well-to-do travel, and establish themselves in Tibet. It is a sad state of affairs now, but a beautiful photograph from more peaceful times.

Warm regards,

Bulent

Bluejeans (33017) 2008-04-01 14:21

Ola Malgorzata,
A famosa praça com o palácio tibetano no topo , um lugar onde um dia quero visitar , as cores ficaram muito bonitas , bons detalhes , parabéns!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

Paz e independência para o Tibete

riclopes (33131) 2008-04-02 4:22

Olá Malgorzata, superb capture from a distance of this amazing and exotic place. Good to see the flag at left and people walking around in this imense ground. Everything is in the right place. Wonderful colors, very attractive architecture.
Regards,
ricardo

josepmarin (34063) 2008-04-02 9:04

Hi Malgorzata,
a nice panoramic sight of this well known Potala palace, with an amazing and very beautiful architecture, in an illuminated well image and with beautiful colors. The Chinese flag is outlined aside of the frame, and it is of current importance because the Tibet is fighting to recover its independence.
I wish the best thing to the tibetan people, and I hope that it stops the violence and the repression, and that they can live peacefully.
Un abrazo,
Josep

Waylim (11147) 2008-04-04 1:16

Malgorzata, I hope I spell you name right.
I love this image. I was here about 7 years ago. One of the very amazing place. There use to be a like where the plaza is I think I seen picture of it. The Chinese got rid of the lake and put the plaza there. Very good composition with good sharpness and clarity, color and light are well balanced. I really enjoyed ii very much, Thanks so much for posting it. I wish to go back there again one day.
Way

giorgimer (21478) 2008-04-07 13:51

Hi Malgorzata,

excellent shot, it allows us to see all the imponence of this great building. Sad to think about the bad times these people are living.

TFS

Gio

DannyOzzi (0) 2008-04-19 5:40

I heard the Potala Palace was built by Chinese. Emporer Kangxi built it for Dalai Lama 5th. Is it true?

Surrealist (105) 2008-04-28 10:07

Danny Ozzie,

No, no eemperor built it, it`s built by the Third Dalai Lama of Tibet.

China should be part of Mongolia in actual sense because before Ming dynasty, there were under the Mongolian dynasty called Yuan during the 13th century.