A Look at the Potala Palace’s History and Architecture

The Potala Palace is a palace and museum located on Marpo Ri (Red Mountain) in Lhasa, a city in the Tibet Autonomous Region of southwest China. Construction for the palace began in 1645 under the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama—the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. It served as the winter residence of each successive Dalai Lama from 1649–1959. The Potala Palace is also part of a Historic Ensemble that includes the neighboring Jokhang Temple Monastery and the Dalai Lama’s summer palace, Norbulingka, and enjoys legal protection as a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.

Built at an elevation of 12,139 feet above sea level in the Lhasa Valley, the Potala Palace is the world’s highest palace. It serves as one of the greatest examples of Tibetan architecture. The Potala Palace houses a remarkable collection of Buddhist historical documents and relics of Tibetan culture, including the tombs of eight Dalai Lamas, thousands of statues, thangkas (or painted scrolls), statues, sculpture, precious objects, and sutras (Buddhist scripture). Thousands of travelers flock to Potala each year to see these artifacts.

The history of the Potala Palace begins in the seventh century when Songtsen Gampo, the 33rd king of Tibet, built a palace, possibly known as the White Palace or Red Palace, on the Red Hill for his marriage to Princess Wencheng, niece of the Chinese Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. The palace ended up destroyed as part of the ninth-century civil war that brought an end to the Tubo Kingdom—the 200-year period that saw the unification of Tibet and the rise of Buddhism.

• The fifth Dalai Lama oversees the construction of the Potala Palace. Construction began on the new Potala Palace in the seventeenth century under the direction of the fifth Dalai Lama, who cited its location–situated between the city of Lhasa and Drepung and Sera, two of the country’s three great Buddhist monasteries—as a deciding factor in its location. The palace derived its name from the mythical Mount Polataka, located off the coast of India and the possible home of Avalokiteśvara (or Avalokiteshvara), the bodhisattva, or Buddhist saint, responsible for the compassion of all Buddhas. Construction on Potala Palace began in 1645. In three years, builders constructed the exterior of the structure and the Potrang Karpo, or White Palace, which contained the residence of the Dalai Lama.
• Builders complete the Red Palace 45 years later. The remainder of the palace, known as the Potrang Marpo (Red Palace), which houses its libraries, chapels, stupas, reliquaries, and assembly halls, didn’t get completed until 45 years later, shortly after the death of the fifth Dalai Lama. It served as both the winter palace and seat of power for successive Dalai Lamas over the following three centuries.
• Restoration for the thirteenth Dalai Lama. The palace underwent restoration for the thirteenth Dalai Lama in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and suffered only slight damage during the Tibetan uprising in 1959 when the Dalai Lama fled Tibet for Dharamshala, India. Four decades later, Potala Palace got added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1994, with Jokhang Temple and Norbulingka joining as extension sites in 2000 and 2001, respectively. Though it is no longer a Tibetan government building, it remains an important Tibetan Buddhist pilgrimage spot and the highlight of many travel guides.

There are several main structural components of the Potala Palace, including:

• The Red Palace: The Red Palace is the section of the Potala Palace devoted to religious study, history, and Buddhist prayer. This section of the palace houses the remains of eight Dalai Lamas in stupa-tombs, the largest of which is devoted to the fifth Dalai Lama. His memorial hall, which measures 680 square meters, is the largest in the palace and features several murals, including one which depicts the Dalai Lama meeting Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty in 1652. The Red Palace also houses the Chogyal Dupup, a cavern believed to be Songsten Gampo’s place of meditation and one of only two elements from the original palace that still exist today.
• Secondary buildings: Other structures located in the Potala Palace include the Namgyel Dratshang, the private Buddhist monastery of the Dalai Lama, the senior seminary and Buddhist monks’ dormitories, and a printing press. The grounds at the foot of Red Hill include a garden, stables, several buildings that housed local government offices, and even a jail.
• The White Palace: The White Palace served as the Dalai Lama’s living quarters and many administrative offices. The largest room in the seven-story structure, the Eastern Main Hall, contains the Dalai Lama’s throne in a 717-square meter room. Offices for government officials occupied the fifth and sixth floors. The Dalai Lama’s residence consisted of two apartments on the top floor, known as the Eastern and Western Sunshine Apartments.

There are several notable architectural features in the Potala Palace, including:

1. 1. Decoration: Groundskeepers preserve the colors of the Red and White Palaces with an annual application of paint made from a mix of milk, honey, and sugar. The paint also helps hold heat during the winter months and releases it during the summer. The Red Palace features eight golden roofs, each of which serves as the top of the stupas that house the remains of the Dalai Lamas. Each roof also has a bell-shaped spire, which can conduct lightning.
2. 2. Design: The Potala Palace resembles a large walled fortress, with its dominant structures—the White and Red Palace—built 384 feet up Red Hill into its sheer rock face so that the cliffs appear to be part of the buildings’ foundations. The structures, built of stone and wood, draw upon Chinese and traditional Himalayan architectural design, most notably in the shape of its four-sided towers, a nod to the culture’s rectangular buildings with flat roofs. Builders did not use nails in the palace’s construction; instead, they connected the dirt and stone with simple tools and utilized copper for reinforcement.
3. 3. Size: The Potala Palace occupies an area of more than 360,000 square meters atop the Red Hill. Its main section—the White and Red Palaces—are 13 stories, or more than 300 feet in height, and accessible only by zig-zagging staircases. They contain 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines, and more than 20,000 statues. Its granite walls are nearly 10 feet thick, with foundations filled with copper to prevent damage from earthquakes.

Today, the Potala Palace is a religious landmark and a destination for travelers who wish to see its massive collection of spiritual and cultural relics. Since the palace is a protected site, the Tibetan government limits the daily number of visitors to approximately 3,000 per day during its peak season, from July to October.

Palace rules allow visitors to tour the public areas of the palace for approximately one hour, but they must observe Tibetan cultural customs—which bars revealing clothing, sunglasses, and hats—and refrain from photography. Those wishing to get a good glimpse of the palace’s sprawling exterior can see it from Jokhang Temple or Chakpori, a mountain located south of the palace.

Get the MasterClass Annual Membership for exclusive access to video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Frank Gehry, Will Wright, Annie Leibovitz, Kelly Wearstler, Ron Finley, and more.