Constructed in the 7th Century, home to a government, a religious pilgrimage site, the residence of the Dalai Lama, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and located at twelve thousand feet above sea level, Potala Palace is an amazing architectural feat and the most important building in Tibet. The palace is admired as the symbol of Tibet as well as an illustration for the religious struggle for purification. Influences, both ancient and unexpected, relate this sacred symbol in stone to the rest of the world, both new and ancient, with a classic architectural language, which is paramount to any social or political society.
Potala Palace’s construction began in 637, using the building construction techniques of rammed earth and stone. The original building on the site of Potala Palace was the dwelling of Tibet’s founder, Songtsan Gampo. The palace was built to greet the arrival of his wife. The marriage was part of a move to solidify an alliance with China’s Tang Dynasty. The architectural tradition of buildings such as pyramids, ziggurats, and a palace such as this one suggests a combined sensibility from Europe to eastern Asia to Africa, this coming together is no more evident than a place like Potala Palace, as well as other locations in Tibet.
The Potala Palace has seen its fair share of controversy, as Tibet is a very controversial part of the world. When Communist China invaded Tibet in 1950 with over eighty thousand troops, massive protests were held at the palace. It has been estimated that about one million people have been killed since the Chinese occupation and the exile of Tibetan government officials. During this time, the treasures of Potala were stolen and priceless, irreplaceable historical documents and artifac...
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...ace inside from becoming too permanent, also allowing flexibility for the palaces uses as the times change.
Works Cited
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Xinran looked at Tibet through a lens of sanctity and love. Ma Jian took his experiences and his imagination to form five short stories dealing with different topics. Both authors use the title of their book to give readers a hint of what the book is about and see how the title intertwines with the text. Each book gives you a different perspective and helps you form your own lens on Tibetan culture.
In The Book of Ser Marco Polo, chapter X (Polo, 2) tells about Genghis Khan great Palace and how unique the building was structurally and by design. Polo stated how Genghis Khan palace was so vast, so rich, and so beautiful, that no man on earth could design anything superior to it. The walls were covered with gold and silver throughout the palace. Not only was his palace was so extraordinary and unique, ther...
For 48 years, China has occupied Tibet. In Tibet's history, there has been over 17 percent of the Tibetan people killed, and 6,000 monasteries ruined. For starters, Tibet was never part of China. During the first few years when China was in control of Tibet, the Chinese declared that Tibet should be part of China, because an Emperor of Tibet once married a Chinese princess. Years later, the Chinese said that Tibet was part of China because of the warrior Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan and the Mongolians were in control of Tibet, but they never made Tibet belong to China. Secondly, the Tibetan people and the Chinese are totally different, culturally and socially speaking. Both peoples have their own culture, way of life, and religion. Of course the language is very diverse, too. Tibet had their own government before the Chinese took over. It was led by His Royal Highness, the Dalai Lama. Before the Chinese came in and took over Tibet, Tibet had nothing to do with China. The Chinese invaded Tibet in July of 1949. They caused many disasters and much sadness to the Tibetan people. Today Tibet is nothing but a prison. The Chinese continually spy on the Tibetan people. Seventeen percent of the Tibetan population was killed. Many Chinese forcibly removed Tibetans out of their homes at any time, day or night, and sometimes these people were thrown into prison. These people also were often killed for no reason. Ever since the Chinese have taken over the Tibetan people, there have been over 1 millon people killed. There were 6 million Tibetans living in Tibet before the Chinese came and took over the country. In the capital of Tibet, Lhasa, the natives of Tibet are being rid of by the Chinese; the Chinese are filling up Lhasa with Chinese people and the Chinese want to make Tibet throughly Chinese. Today, the Tibetan people are a minority in their own country! All the better jobs go to the Chinese people living in Tibet. The Tibetan people cannot find jobs for themselves, the best job sometimes they can get is to become a truck driver.
Monumental architecture in Pharaonic Egypt is represented primarily by the funerary complexes of the pharaohs. The principal function of these elaborate complexes was to ensure that the pharaohs, who were exalted as living gods, would attain the afterlife they desired. This required that two basic conditions be fulfilled: the body had to be preserved from disturbance or destruction; and the material needs of the body and the ka had to be met (Edwards 20). Pharaonic burial complexes were also centers of worship for the god-king interred there and were designed to exalt his memory and deeds.
Thomas, Lowell Jr. The Silent War in Tibet. New York: Doubleday & Company Inc., 1959.
Many Tibetans are arrested and put through such treatment with little to no evidence supporting them as criminals. In a sudden “clampdown” that started in February of 1992, groups of ten Chinese raided Tibetan homes in Lhasa arresting more than 200 people. Those arrested were said to be in possession of “subversive materials, such as photographs, and tapes or books containing speeches or teachings of the Dalai Lama” (Kumar, 77).
Rinpoche, Samdhong. Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World: Tibetan Buddhism in Today’s World; forward by 14th Dalai Lama. (Tibet: World Wisdom, 2006), 264.
My Journey to Lhasa by Alexandra David-Neel is a travel narrative that revolves around David-Neel’s treacherous journey to the city of Lhasa, Tibet at a time when it was closed off to all foreigners. David-Neel herself was a Frenchwoman by birth, however throughout the narrative it becomes apparent that her French identity isn’t the most accurate representation of David-Neel as a person. At the age of six, David-Neel began her fascination with comparative religions, an effect of her parents being of different religions. As she grew up, that fascination concentrated itself to Buddhism. As her knowledge about Buddhism grew, her desire to “go beyond the garden gate, to follow the road that passed it by, and set out for the Unknown” grew as well
[11] Trimondi, Victor and Victoria, The Shadow of the Dalai Lama, part I, section 2.
The miraculous feats of the Tibetan oracles are well known sources of mysticism. Stories of men who can bend metal swords with their bare hands, dance wildly and proclaim the future have piqued the curiosity and fascination of many. However, most rationale people will question, how real is the Tibet oracle? Are these men really visited by the deities who they claim to be visited by or are they merely masters of illusion? “The desire to know the future is probably as old as the human race. Early cultures all over the world have left fragments of evidence telling us that divination was of paramount importance in their daily lives.” (Housdan, 7) This desire causes most Tibetans to fervently believe in the power of these oracles. Like most other cultures, the Tibetans are curious about the future and use the methodology of the Oracle as a means for divination. The Tibetan oracles are highly respected members of the community whom the Tibetans consult to find out the future of their own lives as well as the future of the Tibetan country.
Rinpoche, Sogyal. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. New York, NY, USA: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., 1993
"My Journey to Lhasa" is divided into nine sections, a preface and eight chapters. The preface provides background information by David-Neel briefly explaining her previ...
...re that was most unique to the Early Dynastic period was the oval enclosure with a centralized platform to lend stability to the shrine. Storage were found near the enclosure. The Temple Oval at Khafaje best exemplifies the unique formation of the oval enclosure in the temples. This enclosure had a double perimeter wall present which was highly unusual for enclosures. Another oval temple was found that Tell al Ubaid, which had a rectangular platform in the center. In the front of this platform there were elaborate decorations, which were belived to have fallen from the façade of the temple which had stood on the platform. Besides these oval temples there were also plans of temples with a number of single or double roomed shrines, one noteworthy temple is from Tell Chuera in North Syria. This design plan yields a closer resemblance to the west and megaron buildings.
Tibet, with its isolated, harsh geographical location and history of political and social remoteness would seem an unlikely place to provide a “cradle for creative art” (Bailey 22). Yet it is in this desolate section of the world that one of the most intriguing artistic cultures has been cultivating over hundreds of centuries. One facet of what makes Tibetan art so unique and interesting is its interdependency on its religious beliefs.
The Taj Mahal, which translates to “Crown Palace” is a very significant monument and regarded as one of the best in the world. It is actually a mausoleum where both the bodies of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal are found. It was built from 1631 till 1648 AD in Agra, India (History of Taj Mahal). Architects from all around the world were ordered to come to India and build this Taj Mahal by the order of the Mughal, Shah Jahan (History of Taj Mahal). He built this to honor his wife after her death while she was giving birth to their child (History of Taj Mahal). Her last words for Shah Jahan was to build a tomb in her memory that the world has never seen before, and so he did what she asked for (History of Taj Mahal). Later on, the grave of Shah Jahan was added to the Taj Mahal.