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The Potala Palace, a pearl on the plateau
The construction of the world famous Potala Palace was started in the 7th century during the time of the Tubo King srontsan gampo. on the top of Mt. Putup, it is looming over the whole Lhasa city. As high as 110m, the Potala Palace consists of two palaces-the Red Palace and the White Place.. With over 1000 rooms, the 1 storied palace covers an area of 10,000 square meters. it witnessed the life of the Dalai Lamas and the important political and religious activities in the past centuries. There are grand palaces within palaces. the Palace stands up so high that it resembles a magnificent castle in the heaven. It makes itself a good example of the ancient Tibetan culture and architecture. The statues of the Tubo King Srongtsan gamoi and his wife Princess Wen Cheng are being worshipped in the Palace. Among the 8 tomb pagodas of the Dalai Lamas, the 5th tomb is the most extravagant. It stands as high as 14m and used 11,000 ounces of gold in its gold plating. the designs and decorations on them all are inlaid with diamonds, peals, turquoises, agates, corals etc. There also stored the world treasure-the gold hand-written Buddhist scriptures, valuable gifts from the Chinese emperors and a lot of priceless antiques. You will be amazed by the colorful sculptures and paintings. The Potala Palace deserves the title of art gallery and museum. It is a symbol of the wisdom and power of the Tibetan people.
The Norbulingka Park
There is a beautiful park in the western suburbs of Lhasa.It used to be the Summer Palace for the Dalai Lamas where they handled political affairs,and practiced religious activities The construction started in 40s of the 18th century,covering a floor space of 46 ha. The whole park has more than 370 rooms of different sizes,and lawns,shaded by green trees and embodied by various flowers.With the clear water,and the flowers and trees around,it is known as the "park within the park"
The Tashihunpo Monastery
The Tashilhunpo Monastery sprawls on the slope of Mt.Niser,southwest of Shigatse .It covers an area of about 300,000 square meters with a floor space of about 30,000 square ,meters.Painted in red and white, the buildings in the monastery stand closely together in terraced rows,offering a grand and majestic view.
The monastery was founded in 1447 by Gendun Zhuba, one of the principal disciples of the Founder of the Yellow Sect Zongkaba, and was then enlarged consistently by different generations of Banchan Lama until it acquired its present dimensions.Gendun Zhuba was first abbot of the monastery,and in 1600 at the invitation of the monastery,the 4th Panchen lama became the 16th abbot of it,thus made the monastery abode of the succeeding Panchen lamas ever since.
There are many valuable and rare historical articles in the monastery,among them are found a lot of gold and jade signets, and imperial certificates bestowed by Emperors of the Min and Ding Dynasties as well as a seal of "Daitu" of the Yuan Dynasty scribed in the new Mongolian language reformed by Basba.They are of great value for the study of history.
The Sakya Monastery-an Art Gallery
The Sakya Monastery is divided into the south and the North two parts.The construction of the monastery was started in 1073 by Kung GungQuijiepuo with the order from Basra.It is of typical Yuan Dynasty style resembling castles. There are a lot of historical articles in the monastery,among them are found a lot of the imperial certificates,gold signets,crowns,costumes bestowed by the Yuan Dynasty emperors.There are also a lot of statues of Buddha,ritual articles,and articles of selections of handwritten scriptures in gold powder or cinnabar.It has over 10,000 volumes of Tibetan books on astronomy, medicine, calligraphy, and history.So the Shaja Monastery enjoys the title " the Second Dunhuang Cave"
The Xialu Monastery
The Xialu Monastery is situated in Rikuozuo. The construction was started in 1000.Its architecture is of typical combination of the Tibetan and Chinese styles with the archways,carved pillars,tiled roofs and the Song and Yuan style murals. Besides the various sorts of statues of Buddha,it also has 4 treasures to be enshrined. The first is a scripture printing board carved out of sandalwood.The 2nd is a copper jar to contain holy water.It is said that the water is changed every other 12 years,but the quantity and quality of the water do not change even if it has been in the jar for 12 years.The 3 rd is a stone basin which is said to be used by Shaja Banzhida.The 4th is a stone Board with the 6-character principle engraved on it.On the 4 corners of the board are also engraved four claret pagodas.It is said that when the construction first started,the board was Unearthed.
The Kubum Monastery and the 10,000 Baddha Pagoda
The Kubum Monastery was built in the 15th century,It is situated in the west of Gyantse Town With mountains enclosing from the east,west and north 3 sides,its uniqueness is that its three Sects of Buddhism-shaja,Ningma and Guolu are living harmoniously under one roof.Each sect Has 6-7 courtyards in the monastery. There are various kinds of thangas, a huge bronze statue of Jiangba,the jainrese of a Thousand Hands and a Thousand Eyes in the monastery.There is a hall of Arhat mad during the Ming Dynasty.The Arhats are so vivid that they look very much alive.
Besides the monastery is the world famous 9-story 10,000-Buddha Pagoda.It stands 32 m,has 108 Doors,77 Buddhist chambers and countless shrines.Enshrine in the Pagoda are 10,000 statues of Buddha.The Pagoda opens 8 doors which are decorated with relief sculptures of lively flying dragons,running lions and walking elephants.It is a masterpiece of the joint efforts of the Nepalese,Tibetan and Chinese.
No.1 Castle-Yungbulakang
Yungbulakang is the palace for the 1st Tubo King Niechi in the Yalong River Valley.It is also called "the Mosher and Song Holy Hall". Yungbulakang is standing on the top of a hill on the east bank of the Yalung River in the southeast of Naidong county.The castle can be divided into front and vack 2 parts.the front part is a 3-story building,while the back part is a castle like tall building.Enshrined in the shrine are the statues of Thiesung Sangjie Buddha,King Niechi,King Srontsan Gampo and the Tobu Kings after them.
The legend goes that the "mysterious object" was on the roof of the castle, so Buddhists regard here as the Holland.
The Samye Monastery
The Sangsu Monastery is at the foot of Mot.Haibusi on the north bank of the Yaluzangbu ribbed in Jialang county.Being the 1st monastery,it was built in 761.The 5th TobuKing Chisong Duosan sent envoys to Kashmir and India to invite famous lamas to teach Buddhism in Tibet. The monastery had been combined the Chinese ,Tibetan and Indian styles ,in the center of the Monastery is a big square 3-store hall with a floor space of over 8,900 square meters.the first floor Is of Tibetan style,the 2nd Chinese and 3rd Indian.To the direction of the 4 corners of the hall,4 towers were built respectively in red,white,green and black colors.
The Sangsu Monastery is a typical Buddhist building ,it deserves its place in the history of architecture.
The Changzhu Monastery---The Pearl Monastery
The Changzhu Monastery on the east bank of the Yalong River in the district of Shannan.there is a legend behind the Monastery.It is said that once upon a time,the site of the Monastery was an extremely deep lake.In the lake there is a five-head dragon.After Srontsan Gampo got the control of Tibet,he wanted to drain the lake and build a castle there.So he invited two Masters to lure a big bird to attack the dragon.the two Masters first of all imitated the sound of the bird and lured the dragon out, then they imitated the sound of the dragon to lure the bird out. So the dragon and the bird started a fight.The bird at last chopped off two of the dragon's heads with its wings.Seven days later , the lake disappeared.Some pearls were buried as the cornerstone for the monastery.That is how the Monastery got its name.
The Tombs of the Tobu Kings
There is a group of tombs on the top of Mt.Muri in Qungjie county,the former capital of the Tobu Kingdom.There are the tombs of the kings and queens of the Tobu Kingdom.There are the Tombs of the kings and queens of the Tubo Kingdom.The tombs are perfected by the mountains in back and fed by the water in lions to guard against evils.You can not miss the steles which sing praises of the everlasting sleepers down under.All these prove that by that time,the Tibetans had Already had sophisticated system in burying the dead.There is a magnificent tomb on the slope squatting a pair of lively stone lions facing the 3rd step.They are 1.55 metros tall.There are two steles standing among the tombs.The one for Chiduo Srongtsa is carved with floating clouds.The four corners of the roof of the stele are turning up towards the sky.
It is a good text for studying the Tubo society and its burying customers.
The Guguo Kingdom Relics
The rulers of the Guguo Kingdom are descendants of the Tubo Kings.After the downfall of the Tubo Kingdom,their descendants set up the Guguo Kingdom in the Ali region.Now the famous Guhuo Kingdom ruins are standing on an earth hill of 300 metres in Jada county.The ruins of the castles and palaces can still be seen.The Guguo Kingdom ruins occupies an area of 180,000 and 3 rows of Buddhist pagoda as high as over 10 metres.Their are over 300 houses are sprawling from bottom to the top of the hill.Under this group of buildings are a network of secret underground tunnels.Circling this group of buildings is the city wall made of clay.A lot of carvings of Buddha are still apparent.The main buildings of the Guguo kingdom ruins is those monasteries and palaces.
The better preserved monasteries are the white temple and red temple.The palace for the Guguo King is on the top of the hill. The big hall to the south end is for the king is on the top of the hill.All the buildings are made of earth and timber.The roofs are all with colorful lions,horses,elephants,dragons,peacocks,etc. The caves are either of semi-hemisphere or square.
There are over ten caves around the palaces storing a large quantity of arms, ammunition,tools,cooking utensils and Tibetan books.
The Jokhang Temple
The Jokhang Temple claims one of the oldest buildings in Tibet. It is the joint effort of the Han And Tibetan people. It said that when Princess Wen Cheng came to inspect the landform of Lhasa, she drew the conclusion hat the Wuotang Lake was the heart of the devil. It was them filled with the earth carried by white goats. To commemorate the white goats, the temple was named "Ruosha" meaning "goat caring earth" in Tibetan, Then the name developed into "Lhasa" meaning the holy land.
In the central hall on the first floor, there is a gold sitting statue of a 12-year old Sakyamuni, brought in by Princess Wen Cheng. It is one of the most precious antique in Tibet. In the temple, they also keep the portrays of Buddha in silk from the tang Dynasty, the pearl gown and gold lamp from the Ming Dynasty as well as the painting by the famous painters several hundreds of year ago. The stone Tablet of Unity between the tang Dynasty and Tubo kingdom with the inscriptions both in Chinese and Tibetan was erected in 823. It marks the friendship between the Chinese and Tibetans. The willow tree beside the Tablet, called Tang Willow, is said to be planted personally by Princess Wen Cheng and the Tubo King Srontsan Gamoi,\. There are 5 big copper pots for making tea for 5,000 people in the front of the temple. They are so big that when cleaning them, ladders have to be use. In 1409 Zongkaba, the founder of the Yellow Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, originated the Geat Prayer Festival. The debate between the candidates- for the degree of "Guoxi" was conducted among the Yellow Sect Buddhists. For more than 1,000 years, the Jokhang Temple remains to be the favorite spot for the worshippers from far and near.
The 3 Monasteries of the yellow Sect Buddhism
Standing in the eastern, western, and northern suburbs of Lhasa are 3 grand monasteries, They are the 3 main monasteries of the Yellow Sect Buddhism--the Gandan, Drpung, and Sera Monasteries.
The Gandan Monastery is situated on the slope of Mt.Wanpur to the east of Lhasa. Looking from distance, it looks very much like a castle. Some one says that Mt.Wanpur resembles a sitting elephant with the Gandan Monastery on its Back. It is an auspicious symbol to the Tibetans some other one says that the view shows Mt.Wanpir as the kind Dorlijiaing with the Gandan in her arms. In the early 15th century, Zonkaba had the Monastery built. His tomb pagoda is in it. Under the north wall of the Tomb Pagoda Hall, there is said to be a flying rock from India. It is also being worshipped by the Buddhists.
The Trepung Monastery is the biggest of the 3 monasteries, situated on the slope of Mt.Guopei, it is 10 km to the west of Lhasa. The Monastery is so big that it resembles a town. It was built by Zongkaba's disciple Jiangyang Qujie in 146. The Monastery consists of a number of grand halls chambers, and the Dalai Lamas'palaces. 190 huge pillars are standing in the Grand Hall of Guoqin which could sit as many as 10,000 lamas. The statue of Buddha Jiangba, said to be unearthed by Zongkaba, is enshrined on the second floor. Also enshrined in the Monastery is the white conch with counter-clockwise spiral believed to be buried by Buddha Sakyamuni's disciple Mujianlianzang. It was later on unearthed by Zongkaba and passed on to Jiangyang Qujie. Muslim poems are written on the walls of the Hall. Before he moved to the Potala Palace, the 5th Dalai Lama lived here. The Drepung Monastery used to nourish a lot of scholars of Buddhism in Tibet.
The Sera Monastery nestles at the foot of the Wu Du Hill in the northern suburbs of the Lhasa city. It got its name from the sera flowers (wild rose) on the hill. The Monastery was built under the supervision of Zongkaba's disciple Xiajia Yixi. Enshrined in the Monastery are the 16 Arharts carved out of sandalwood from the Ming Emperor, over 10,000 golden copper Buddhist statues, the holy prayer scripture ganzhuer written in cinnabar etc. |
