Lhasa

Lhasa

Covering an area of 27,335 square kilometres, Lhasa has a population of 400,000. Lhasa (the Roof of the World) is situated in the middle of Tibet Autonomous Region and middle reaches of the Lhasa Rivero It is the political, . economic, and cultural centre of the region 0 Its industries include electrical power, cement, hide processing, mechanical and electrical equipment, weaved carpet, and flour 0 There is no fog (pea soup) all thl< year round and with plenty of sunshine. Therefore, it is called "the Sunlight Cityo " Of interest to visitors include Potala Palace, ]okhong Monastery, Drepung Monastery, Gandan Monastery, Norbulingka Park (the Summer Palace), and Parknor Street 0

The Potala, which in Tibetan means "High Heavenly Realm," is named after a stone cliff on Cape Comorin at the southern tip of India. It was sacred to the Buddha of Compassion, whom the Indians worshipped as Avalokitesvara and the Tibetans believed to be Chenresik, who passed his spirit into the Dalai Lamas 0

Potala Palace

As far back as more than 1, 300 years ago in 640, Princess Wen cheng (Emperor Taizong's niece) of the Tang Dynasty came to Tibet to join in marriage with Prince Songtsan Gampo (617?-650). With her help, Songtsan Gambo established administration and military systems in Tibet. For her living quarters, a palace with 1 ,000 rooms was constructed on the Red Hill slope and given the name Potala, which means Avalokitasvara, a holy place of Buddhism. The original building was ruined. In the 17 th century, the 5 th Dalai Lama (1617-1682) gave order to have it rebuilt and since then it has served as the holy residence of the successive Dalai Lama.

The Potala Palace covers an area of 360,000 square metres, with over 2,000 rooms and 34 Buddha halls. The last large repair project in the palace was conducted in the period 1989 to 1994, when the central government allocated altogether 55 million yuan (US $ 6.65 million). After the repairs, the Potala Palace shines more brilliantly atop the Red Hill. However, as the palace is hundreds of years old, its maintenance is a constant agenda item. Repairs reinforced the major part of the palace, but the architectural complex, totalling more than 2,000 halls, and cells for regular maintenance. Major efforts need to be made to solve the problems of deformation and collapse of walls, and insect's infestation of the wooden structure, as well as the rain damage to the roofs. Without changing the original nature of the cultural relics, efforts must be made to reinforce them, such as adding reinforcing bars in the walls and concealed iron hooks in wooden beams. Carpenters, painters, and stonemasons and tailors were organized to repair a dozen projects, and make 500-square-metre sutra cabinets and over 200 boxes for cultural relics. Whitewashing the walls, extending 100 metres or more from top to the ground, calls for more than 50 tons of limestone and red powder.

In the Potala Palace, there are a total of 57 butter lamp tenders. Unlike lamas in monasteries, they seldom get together to recite sutras and pray for blessings. They are put in charge of a certain number of Buddhas and the reception of pilgrims and visitors. In addition, they are charged with the mission of looking after cultural relics and working to prevent theft and fire damage.

The Potala Palace, an almost totally wooden structure, receives its light from butter lamps. This form of lighting, plus the fluttering silk sutra streamers, poses a fire hazard. The Potala Palace Administration works painstakingly to prevent accidents. In 1994, some 4.7 million yuan (US$ 566 ,000) was invested to install a TV monitoring system operating 24 hours a day, thanks to the effort, no fire has occurred since 1988. On December 7, 1994, UNESCO listed Potala Palace as one of the World Heritages. The world-famous Potala Palace had never been surveyed to reveal how many rooms lay within its 13-storey labyrinth. The Potala Administrative Office began checking out the rooms, doors, windows and pillars of the palace in 1994. Experts estimate that the audit of the Potala Palace's relics might take another five years. It will be more complicated and massive than the actual restoration. The Potala Palace is a huge museum filled with cultural relics, including the Holy Stupa for the 5 th Dalai Lama (1617-1682), which is wrapped up in 5.5 million grams of gold and inlaid with numerous gems. However, these are not registered and recorded. Efforts are being made to register them.

The Chinese Government spent 4.9 million yuan (US $ 590,000) to further protect Potala Palace from fires. In the first stage of the project, which ran from 1989 to 1994, the central government spent 53 million yuan (US$ 6.4 million) and donated tons of gold to give the Potala Palace a facelift and its various treasures. For more than 300 years before 1989 no major repairs were made. Tibet has many cultural relics of the country, which are found on more than 1,700 sites. Eighteen are listed on the state protection list. Since the 1950s, the Chinese Government has spent more than 200 million yuan (US$ 24 million) on the preservation of important Tibetan religious sites other than Potala Palace. Experts in history, ancient architecture and geology will conduct surveys to prepare more detailed protection plans for the Potala Palace.

The second phase of the renovation project, which will be finished in 2006, will be a supplement to the first phase. The emphasis of the second renovation will be placed on the "snowy city" at the foot of the Red Hill, which was not given much attention to in the first phase. Up till 2001 more than 300 families had lived in the snowy city, which was once home to Tibetan nobles. Another 15 sites on the Red Hill will be refurbished in the second phase of repair work. Most of these sites did have a facelift in the first phase. Among them are the main buildings of the Potala: the Red Palace and the White Palace. Rats in these sites has been cleared out, fire­fighting control systems and drainage systems have been installed, cracking walls have been repaired, and the public conveniences renovated. In the first phase, engineers paid much attention to traditional Tibetan and Han techniques to protect the structural art of the Palace. For example, they plastered layers of butter on the roof to make it waterproof. This technique has been long applied in Tibetan architecture. However, roofs treated in this way tend to leak water in torrential rains, since the hardened soil, which the roofs are made of, melts quickly in the water. In the second phase of the repair project, the engineers add a special chemical to the hardened soil that had been placed on the roofs. Technology has also been applied on the wooden structures in the Palace. Each piece of the wooden structures has been treated in order to keep rats away. The new techniques applied did not harm the art or the structure of the Palace. The art of the Palace and its religious systems were among the first to be protected in the second phase of the renovation project. The purpose of renovating the Palace is to remove the danger without losing the original grandeur of the ancient shrine. Such was the case of the first restoration in the period 1989 to 1994. Meticulous efforts were made to protect the statues, scriptures and other relics from being damaged. Big statues and sculptures were covered in fine layers of cloth, sponge, wooden frames, canvas and sheets of iron, while smaller items were moved out of the way and looked after by the monks. No damage was done to the 100,000 art works in the Palace in the first phase. This was a miracle in the history of cultural property maintenance. In the second facelift of the Potala Palace, which began in 2002, experts abandoned the use of cement, and instead added chemicals to the hardened soil that formed the palace roof, successfully preventing it from leaking without altering its ancient structure.

The Potala Palace, a mystical religious marvel perched on the roof of the world, will greet global visitors with a refined face when its largest ever face­lift is completed in five years. The project started on June 26, 2002. It is a key landmark in Lhasa, has been reinforced to strengthen it against wind erosion and boring insects. The ambitious restoration project will cost 330 million yuan (US $ 40 million). The restoration work has been in any way altered the original appearance of the palace. Also on the renovation list are the Norbulinkha, the Summer Palace of the Dalai Lamas, and the Sagya Lamasery, which contains numerous rare religious relics. Tibetan King Songtsa Gambo first built the Potala Palace in the seventh century in the time of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It was expanded during the 17 th century by the 5 th Dalai Lama, who ruled Tibet from the Potala Palace on the Red Hill, 3, 600 metres above seas level. The Potala Palace embodies the essence of ancient Tibetan architectural art and houses many artefacts of ancient Tibet. This will be the second time for restoration work to be done on the Potala Palace. At present the foundations are sinking, and many halls are considered dangerous. A total of 333 . 3 million yuan (US $ 40. 3 million) of state investment has been fed into the restoration of the Potala Palace, Jokhang Monastery and Norbulingka in Tibet.

Jokhang Monastery

In the City of Lhasa, Tibetans and Street by inland tourists call the two­kilometre-Iong quadrangle street surrounding the Jokhang Monastery Barkhor Street. "Barkhor," in Tibetan means a circuit taken in a clock-wise direction. The area is unrivalled in Tibet for its fascinating combination of deep religiosity and the market economy. This is both the spiritual heart of Lhasa and the main commercial district for local people. Early every morning, scent~d smoke curls up at the gate of the Jokhang Monastery. Streams of Tibetans take turns performing the kowtow at the entrance. For many elderly Tibetans living in Lhasa, coming to the monastery every day is the most important part of their ~ves.

Built in the 7th century the Jokhang Monastery was renovated and expanded several times and has formed a 4-storey large complex.

The Jokhang Monastery is the home of the most precious Buddha images in Tibet, which were brought there by Princess Wencheng (? -680) of the Tang Dynasty, who was married to the great Tibetan king Songstan Gampo. In the main hall of the monastery is a set of murals showing the arrival of the Tang princess in Tibet. There are four incense burners in front of the monastery. Behind the first two are two enclosures. The larger one harbours the stump of an ancient willow tree allegedly planted by Princess Wencheng and an inscribed stele.

In 822, the Tang imperial court and the Tubo Kingdom formed an alliance aimed at keeping friendship forever. This alliance was engraved in the Han and Tibetan languages on a stone tablet, which still stands in front of the Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa.

UNESCO added the Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa to the List of World Heritage as an extension of the Potala Palace in December 2000.

Norbulingka

Located in the western suburbs of Lhasa, Norbulingka (Norbu means treasure in Tibetan; lingka means garden in Tibetan) was built in 1740s during the reign of the seventh Dalai Lama. Later it was renovated and enlarged and became the Dalai Lama's Summer Palace. It was here that from April to September each year the Dalai Lama would handle political affairs and hold festive celebrations. Encompassing 360,000 square metres, the park consists of three parts: the palace district, district in front of the palace and the forest district. Forests take up about half of the park. Its main buildings are Golden Palace, Sutra Hall, and the New Palace constructed in 1954. UNESCO added Norbulingka Park to. the List of World Heritage as an extension of the Potala Palace in December 2001.

Barkhor Street

The Tibet Autonomous Region has renovated Barkhor Street, a bustling religious, tourist and commercial centre in Lhasa, to transform it into a historical site. The renovation project cost 37.6 million yuan (US$ 4.5 million) .

Barkhor Street, located at the foot of the incense-coiling Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa, is renowned as Tibet's largest market place. With a history of more than 1, 300 years, the street has been prospering upon the completion of the monastery in central Lhasa in 647. In the Barkhor Street, an inch of land is an inch of gold. Vendors from various parts of China and bordering countries have turned the street into an international market. The street was built in the 7 th century when the Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo decided to construct the monastery. To supervise the project, he brought his servants and family and settled down on the spot. People then built houses on the four sides for Songtsen Gampo and his servants.

Gandan Monastery

About 40 kilometres to the northeast of Lhasa, Gandan was the first monastery of the Gelugpa order. It has remained the main seat of the major Tibetan Buddhist order ever since. Established in 1409 by Tsong Kha-pa, the revered creator of the Gelugpa order, Gandan is one of the three major Gelugpa monasteries in the region_ The others are the Drepung and Sera monasteries. Of all the great monasteries in Tibet, Gandan suffered most during the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976). Most of its buildings including the Assembly Hall, the Golden Tomb of Tsang Kha-pa, the Jiangtse College and the Shartse College were demolished. Gandan has taken on a completely new look thanks to extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. Some 500 monks live in the monastery, of whom, about 200 monks belong to the Shartse College, and the others the Jiangtse College. The two colleges used to hold chanting gatherings separately. Nowadays, they hold the gatherings together in the Assembly Hall, which is good for them as it makes them more united. Most of the monks in Gandan are from Tibet, with two from Gansu Province, two from Sichuan Province and a dozen from Qinghai Province. Most of the space inside the main assembly hall was occupied by red cushions and clusters of colourful flags hung down from the ceiling.