![]() ![]() Pilgrims are blessed here with the hat of the eighth Dalai Lama. The towering, jewel-encrusted tomb of the Eighth Dalai Lama dates from 1805 and is more than 9m tall. Relics include stone footprints of Guru Rinpoche and Tsongkhapa. The statue is accompanied on the left by the seventh Dalai Lama and Tsongkhapa, and on the right by the fifth, eighth and ninth Dalai Lamas. It is the most sacred of the Potala’s chapels, and the sandalwood image of Arya Lokeshvara inside is the most revered image housed in the Potala. It is said that this is one of the few corners of the Potala that dates from the time of Songtsen Gampo’s 7th-century palace. To the right stands a half-hidden statue of Kalsang Gyatso, the seventh Dalai Lama.Īlso in the northwestern corner, steps lead up into the small but important Chapel of Arya Lokeshvara (Phagpa Lhakhang). In the northwestern corner is the Lama Lhakhang and the golden tomb of the Seventh Dalai Lama (Serdung Tashi Obar Khang), constructed in 1757 and encased in half a tonne of gold. Next, the Chapel of Immortal Happiness (Chimey Dedan Kyil) was once the residence of the sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, whose throne remains it is now dedicated to Tsepame, the Buddha of Longevity, who sits by the window. The main statue in the corner is a golden thousand-armed Chenresig, while the main central thangka is of the Manchu Chinese emperor Qianlong dressed in monk’s robes, with accompanying inscriptions in Tibetan, Chinese, Mongolian and Manchurian. The Chapel of the Victory over the Three Worlds (Sasum Namgyal) houses a library and displays of Manchu texts. These are essentially three-dimensional versions of the mandalas you see painted on thangkas everywhere in Tibet and act as meditation maps for the mind. Next, the Chapel of Three-Dimensional Mandalas (Loilang Khang) houses spectacular jewel-encrusted 18th-century mandalas of the three principal yidam (Tantric deities) of the Gelugpa order. The chapel was damaged in a fire (caused by an electrical fault) in 1984 and many valuable thangkas (religious paintings) were lost. The walls are stacked with the collected works of Tsongkhapa (founder of the Gelugpa order) and the fifth Dalai Lama. To the left of the Jampa statue, in the corner, is a wooden Kalachakra mandala. On the 3rd floor, the first room is the Chapel of Jampa (Jamkhang), which contains an exquisite image of Jampa (Maitreya, or the Future Buddha) commissioned by the eighth Dalai Lama it stands opposite the eighth Dalai Lama’s throne. The gilded buddhas, intricate mandalas and towering funeral stupas you pass en route rank as the highlights of the Potala. "During the period of the short-lived Dalai Lamas-from the Ninth to the Twelfth incarnations-the Panchen was the lama of the hour, filling the void left by the four Dalai Lamas who died in their youth.You start the tour of the main Potala building from the top and descend through the bowels of the building to exit on the ground floor. Trinley Gyatso was fully enthroned as Dalai Lama on 11 March 1873 but could not stamp his full authority on Tibet because he died of a mysterious illness on 25 April 1875. Also, with missionaries threatening to enter Tibet via the Mekong and Salween Rivers, Tibetans tried to emphasize the Qing Dynasty's authority over Tibet in the 1860s. These wars were seen as efforts to colonise Tibet - something seen as unacceptable by the lamas. During his period of training as a child, Tibet banned Europeans from entering the country because of wars Britain was fighting against Sikkim and Bhutan, both of whom were controlled to a considerable degree by the lamas in Lhasa. He was recognised as a reincarnation of the Dalai Lama in 1858 and enthroned in 1860. Tibet particularly suffered from the weakening of the Qing Dynasty which had previously provided it with some support against the British Empire, which was aiming to influence Tibet as an expansion from its colonisation of India. His short life coincided with a time of major political unrest and wars among Tibet's neighbours. Trinley Gyatso (26 January 1857 – 25 April 1875), also spelled Trinle Gyatso and Thinle Gyatso, was the 12th Dalai Lama of Tibet.
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