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4th November 2025 Lhasa Day-2
Our Shambala Palace Hotel had a Roof Terrace that had a direct view of Potola Palace. Some of us climbed up there before sunrise to catch a view and shoot some pictures. It was quite cold (maybe -5*C) and still we braved in mufflers and monkey caps, to catch some nice sunrise pictures. Some of my pictures with zoom on phone were a bit blurred but still the pictures captured the atmosphere and ambience from that Holy Palace of Lhasa.
Today is our 2nd day of Lhasa Local sight-seeing. We visited Potola Palace and Norbolingka Palace. The 7 members of our group who had gone to Namtso Lake yesterday were back in Lhasa and so they were in our Local tour for today. Jamyang took us to Potola Palace in the morning around 10am and we all climbed up the many steep stairs of the Potola Palace up to the top level. We had a detailed look at all the inner sanctums of Buddhist Dieties in the Potola. Our guide Jhamyang gave a running commentary of all the Tibetan artifacts in every chamber there.
Potala Palace (Tibetan: ཕོ་བྲང་པོ་ཏ་ལ་, Wylie: pho brang po ta la; Chinese: 布达拉宫; pinyin: Bùdálā Gōng) is a museum complex in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region[a] of China. It was formerly the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas,[1] built in the dzong style on Marpo Ri (Red Mountain). From 1649 until 1959 it served as the Dalai Lamas' residence, after which it became chiefly a museum following the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China.
The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, regarded in Buddhist tradition as the mythical abode of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara.[2] Construction of the present structure was begun in 1645 at the order of the 5th Dalai Lama,[3] advised by Konchog Chophel, the Thirty-fifth Ganden Tripa of the Gelug school.[4] It was built on the site of an earlier palace attributed to Songtsen Gampo (traditionally dated to 637).[5][6]
Built at an altitude of about 3,700 metres on Marpo Ri in the centre of the Lhasa Valley,[7] the palace measures 400 m east–west and 350 m north–south. Its sloping stone walls average 3 m thick, 5 m at the base, with copper poured into the foundations for earthquake protection.[8] Rising 13 storeys, the complex contains more than 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines, and some 200,000 statues, reaching a height of 119 m above the mountain and over 300 m above the valley floor.[9]
At 2:00PM we reached Norbulinga whish is a beautiful summer Palace Residence cum Gardens of Dalai Lama. A huge premise with multiple Buildings, Temples and Monasteries.
Norbulingka (Standard Tibetan: ནོར་བུ་གླིང་ག; Wylie: Nor bu gling ga; simplified Chinese: 罗布林卡; traditional Chinese: 羅布林卡; literally "Jeweled Park") is a palace and surrounding park in Lhasa, Tibet built from 1755.[1] It served as the traditional summer residence of the successive Dalai Lamas from the 1780s up until the 14th Dalai Lama's exile in 1959. Part of the "Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace", Norbulingka is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and was added as an extension of this Historic Ensemble in 2001.[2] It was built by the 7th Dalai Lama and served both as administrative centre and religious centre. It is a unique representation of Tibetan palace architecture.
Norbulingka Palace is situated in the west side of Lhasa, a short distance to the southwest of Potala Palace. Norbulingka covers an area of around 36 hectares (89 acres) and considered to be the largest man-made garden in Tibet.[3][4]
Norbulingka park is considered the premier park of all such horticultural parks in similar ethnic settings in Tibet. During the summer and autumn months, the parks in Tibet, including the Norbulingka, become hubs of entertainment with dancing, singing, music and festivities.[5][6] The park is where the annual Sho Dun or "Yoghurt Festival" is held.
Lhasa 7pm to 10pm - Dinner and Birthday Celebrations - organized by our Tibeten Agency owner Woeser Phel
We returned to our Hotel by 5:00pm from Norbulingka as we had been invited for a Celebration Dinner by Woeser, at an Indian Restaurant called "Pani-Puri Restaurant". Woeser had come to know it was the Birthday of two of our group members - Kaushik and Bhaswati - so he had arranged for Birthday Cake cuttiung and two Golden Crowns for the birthday boy and girl. It was great fun event!
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