Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Dalai Lama and Tsongkhapa, and on the right by the fifth, eighth and ninth Dalai Lamas.
Relics include stone footprints of Guru Rinpoche and Tsongkhapa.
The last two rooms on this floor are the towering, jewel-encrusted
tombs of the Eighth
and Ninth Dalai Lamas
, the former built in 1805 and over 9m tall.
If you're exhausted already (not even halfway!), you can rest your legs at a reception
area in the middle of the 2nd floor.
Second Floor
The first of the chapels you come to on the 2nd floor is the
Chapel of Kalachakra
(Dukhor Lhakhang), also known as the Wheel of Time. It is noted for its stunning three-di-
mensional mandala, which is over 6m in diameter and finely detailed with over 170
statues. Access to the room is limited.
The
Chapel of Sakyamuni
(Thubwang Lhakhang) houses a library, the throne of the
seventh Dalai Lama, eight bodhisattvas and some fine examples of gold painted calli-
graphy. It is often closed.
In the
Chapel of the Nine Buddhas of Longevity
(Tsepak Lhakhang), look for the
murals by the left window: the left side depicts Tangtong Gyelpo and his celebrated bridge
(now destroyed) over the Yarlung Tsangpo near Chushul. The images of coracle rafts
halfway up the wall add an intimate touch. There are also nine statues of Tsepame here, as
well as green and white Drölma.
Passing the closed Chapel of Sakyamuni (Zegya Lhakhang), continue to the northwest-
ern corner where you'll find a small corridor that leads to
King Songtsen Gampo's Med-
itation Chamber
(Chogyal Drupuk), which, along with the Chapel of Arya Lokeshvara on
the 3rd floor, is one of the oldest rooms in the Potala. The most important statue is of
Songtsen Gampo himself, to the left of the pillar. To the left is his minister Tonmi Samb-
hota (said to have invented the Tibetan script) and to the right are his Chinese and Nepali
wives. A statue of the king's Tibetan wife Mongsa Tricham (the only one to bear a son) is
in a cabinet by the door. The fifth Dalai Lama lurks behind (and also on) the central pillar.
Also here is Gar Tsongtsen, the Tibetan prime minister (and Songtsen Gampo's right-hand
man) who travelled to the Tang court to escort Princess Wencheng back to Lhasa. Queues
for this chapel can be long.
The last three rooms are all linked and are chock-a-block full of 3000 pieces of statuary,
many donated by a Khampa businessman in 1995.
