The Potala Palace stands 3,700 meters above sea level on Marpo Ri hill in Lhasa. The structure measures 360 meters east to west and 140 meters north to south. The palace contains 1,000 rooms across 13 stories, with walls ranging from 3 to 5 meters thick at the base. The foundation excavated 5 meters into bedrock. Construction workers poured copper into the foundations to earthquake-proof the structure, a technique documented in palace construction records from the 1640s.
The 5th Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso ordered construction to begin in 1645. The White Palace section, completed in 1648, served as the administrative headquarters and living quarters. Workers finished the Red Palace in 1694, 12 years after the 5th Dalai Lama died. His regent Desi Sangye Gyatso concealed the death during construction to maintain political stability and ensure completion. The palace became the winter residence of successive Dalai Lamas and the seat of Tibetan government until 1959.
The name Potala derives from Mount Potalaka, the mythical abode of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion whom Tibetan Buddhists believe manifests in each Dalai Lama. A fortress and temple complex occupied Marpo Ri since the 7th century when King Songtsen Gampo built a palace on this site, though no original structures from that period survive in the current building. The 17th century palace incorporated portions of earlier foundations into its construction.
The White Palace houses the living quarters of the Dalai Lamas, government offices, the seminary, and the printing house. The east sun pavilion and west sun pavilion frame the fourth floor, where the Dalai Lamas gave public audiences. The Great West Hall on the fourth floor measures 717 square meters and held government assemblies. Wall paintings in the Great West Hall depict the construction of the palace itself, providing visual documentation of 17th century building techniques including the transportation of timber beams and the manufacture of wall pigments.
The Red Palace contains chapels, meditation halls, and stupas holding the remains of eight Dalai Lamas. The tomb of the 5th Dalai Lama rises 12.6 meters and required 3,721 kilograms of gold in its construction. The tomb of the 13th Dalai Lama Thubten Gyatso stands 14 meters high and used 590,000 ounces of gold. Artisans embedded diamonds, turquoise, coral, amber, and pearls into both structures according to inventories completed during their construction.
The Chapel of the Holy Born contains what tradition identifies as the oldest artifact in the palace: a sandalwood statue of Avalokiteshvara that, according to temple records, dates to the original 7th century palace. Scientific dating has not been performed on this statue. The same chapel houses statues of King Songtsen Gampo and his two wives, Princess Wencheng and Princess Bhrikuti, carved during the 17th century reconstruction.
The palace library preserves 60,000 scrolls and manuscripts. The collection includes sutras written in gold ink on indigo paper, manuscripts in Sanskrit that entered the collection between the 7th and 12th centuries, and complete sets of the Kangyur and Tengyur, the two principal collections of Buddhist texts translated into Tibetan. The library holds the only surviving copy of specific medical texts written in the 11th century, including diagnostic manuals and pharmacological compilations that reference 2,300 medicinal substances.
Workers transported all building materials up Marpo Ri hill without wheeled vehicles or mechanical assistance. Logs came from forests in Nyingchi, approximately 400 kilometers southeast of Lhasa. Documents record that transport crews required 40 days to move single beams from forest to construction site. The largest roof beams measure 11 meters in length and 50 centimeters in diameter. Teams of 50 workers carried each major beam.
The palace walls use a construction technique called rammed earth between stone faces. Workers built forms, filled them with earth mixed with gravel, and compressed each layer with wooden rams before adding the next. This method created walls that absorbed shock from seismic activity rather than cracking. The 1950 Assam earthquake, which measured 8.6 magnitude and caused extensive damage across the region, produced no structural failures in the Potala Palace despite its proximity to the epicenter approximately 500 kilometers southeast.
Artisans mixed pigments for the exterior walls according to formulas recorded in construction manuals. The red coloring derives from willow branches boiled with local mineral compounds. White sections use a mixture of lime, milk, and honey applied in three separate coats. Yellow sections employ a pigment made from realgar mixed with animal glue. Workers reapply these traditional coatings annually during a maintenance period that involves approximately 1,000 workers over 10 days each autumn.
The palace contained 698 murals covering 2,500 square meters of wall space as documented in a 1994 survey. Subject matter includes depictions of the life of the 5th Dalai Lama, the construction of the palace, historical scenes from the Tibetan Empire period, and religious narratives. The murals in the Great West Hall show the arrival of Princess Wencheng in the 7th century with sufficient detail to identify specific architectural elements of that period, though scholars debate whether these represent accurate historical memory or 17th century imagination of earlier events.
The palace complex includes the Zhol settlement at its base, where government workers and palace servants lived. Zhol contained administrative offices, a printing house, and stables for the government's horses. A stone pillar from the 8th century stands in Zhol, inscribed with a treaty between Tibetan and Tang Chinese governments. This pillar, still in its original location, provides one of the few surviving original elements from the site's earlier occupation.
UNESCO designated the Potala Palace a World Heritage Site in 1994. The designation expanded in 2000 to include Jokhang Temple and again in 2001 to include Norbulingka, creating a serial property titled "Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace." The UNESCO documentation notes the palace as an outstanding example of Tibetan architecture and as evidence of the Tibetan theocratic government system that functioned from the 17th century until 1959.
Daily visitor numbers are restricted to 2,300 according to preservation regulations implemented in 2003. Each visitor group receives a one-hour time window for their entry, printed on tickets purchased in advance. The restriction aims to limit structural stress and environmental degradation from foot traffic and respiratory moisture. Temperature and humidity sensors installed throughout the building in 1989 monitor conditions that could damage paintings and wooden structures.
Preservation work between 1989 and 1994 cost 55 million yuan and involved 1,500 workers. Teams replaced degraded roof timbers, reinforced walls showing hairline cracks, and restored murals using traditional mineral pigments matched to original compositions through spectrographic analysis. A second major preservation project from 2002 to 2006 cost 180 million yuan and addressed drainage systems, electrical installations, and fire suppression equipment.
The gold roofs of the Red Palace contain approximately 100 kilograms of gold hammered into sheets and layered over copper bases. These roofs require no maintenance beyond snow removal. The seven gold-topped chapels visible from a distance serve as navigation markers across Lhasa, identifiable from altitudes where other architectural features blur together.
The palace functions as a museum open to visitors and as an active religious site where monks maintain daily practice schedules. Approximately 200 monks live in adjacent facilities and perform rituals in palace chapels on dates corresponding to the Tibetan lunar calendar. The dual function requires coordination between museum administration and monastic authorities regarding access schedules and preservation protocols.
- [Preservation reports: Tibet Cultural Heritage Protection Association technical documentation]
- [Historical construction records: Palace Museum archival collections]
- [Architectural surveys: 1994 State Administration of Cultural Heritage structural assessment]