In doing the research for Great Burial Places I came across some really interesting sites which, although they didn’t fit the criteria for inclusion in my book, were, nevertheless, fascinating. One of them is the Potala Palace in Lhasa.

The Potala Palace, the iconic symbol of Tibet, is a massive structure of rammed earth and stone walls, 300 meters high, topped by the White Palace, the Red Palace and ancillary buildings that have been the winter palace of the Dalai Lama and the seat of the government of Tibet since it was built by the fifth Dalai Lama in the 1650s.

The two palaces rise thirteen storeys and contain over 1,000 rooms, including audience halls, ceremonial halls, libraries, study halls, chapels and the private quarters of the Dalai Lama. The palaces house 10,000 shrines, 200,000 statues, 698 murals and 10,000 painted scrolls, as well as carpets, porcelain, jade, fine objects of gold and silver and a priceless collection of sutras and important historical documents. They also contain eight sacred gold stupas that are the tombs of eight Dalai Lamas.

Potala Palace, Lhasa. Burial place of five Dalai Lamas.

A stupa is a Tibetan Buddhist religious monument and a sacred burial site. Stupa burial is the most noble and sacred funeral ritual in Tibet and is reserved for the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama and other senior lamas. Upon their death the corpses were embalmed and dehydrated. Gold flakes and saffron were spread on the body which was then smeared with rare medicinal herbs and spices. Finally, the corpse was moved to the stupa and preserved for veneration. Stupas can be huge or small, elaborate or simple. The larger ones are built of stone or timber. The smaller ones can be of gold, silver or bronze. The size and style depends upon the ranking of the lama.

The West Chapel of the Potola houses an enormous central stupa, fifteen meters high, which is the last resting place of the 5th Dalai Lama (1642-82). It is built of sandalwood, clad in gold and studded with 18,680 pearls and semi-precious stones. The chapel also houses the funeral stupas of the 10th Dalai Lama (1826-37) and the 12th Dalai (1860-75). Nearby is another stupa, twenty-two meters high, containing the remains of the 13th Dalai Lama (1879-1933). The North Chapel of the Potala houses the gold stupa tomb of the 11th Dalai Lama (1842-56), who died as a child.