China to renovate Dalai Lama's Potala Palace in Tibet

[DharmaSpace]

Beijing: The 1,300-year-old iconic Potala Palace, the official residence of the Dalai Lamas in Tibet, in the provincial capital Lhasa will soon undergo a USD 1.5
million renovation, state media reported on Thursday.

The palace was the centre of religious and political centre of Tibet till the present Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso, who is the 14th in the line of Dalai Lamas, fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in his Himalayan homeland.

The state-run Xinhua news agency reported that a large-scale renovation project will soon begin as China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage has approved the plan.

The project will focus on repairing the gold-plated roof of the palace and improving its security surveillance system, Jorden, an official from the palace's administration body was quoted as saying in the report.

Parts of the gold plating have been damaged by long-term exposure to wind, sun and rain, Jorden said, adding the renovation will prolong the life of the roof.
The project will cost more than 10 million yuan (USD 1.5 million).

The Palace has been converted into a museum. It was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994 and is the most famous tourist attraction in Tibet.

The construction of the palace took 45 years and was completed in 1694.   

Built on Mount Potalaka, the palace has 13 stories containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about two lakh statues.

It was built to withstand major earthquakes as the Himalayan region was prone to seismic disturbances.

It was reported to have sustained slight damage during the Tibetan resistance against China's take over of Tibet in 1959.

Since then it has become major tourist attraction for foreigners and local Tibetans who visit its numerous temples and rituals within its campus.

In 2016, 1.37 million domestic and international tourists visited the palace. Tourists numbers were restricted to 1,600 per day to avoid overcrowding in its narrow rooms and corridors.

China's is showing care towards Tibetan Buddhism and its even the Potala Palace, which is the abode of China's so called worst enemy. China can let all the history of Tibet, and Tibetan Buddhism rot for all they care.

Preservation of the Potala palace is not exactly high up in the China's agenda at Tibet. They have much bigger stuff to handle and take care of. I do think the Chinese do much more to help Tibetan Buddhism than the CTA would have ever done. In time, more news about Chinese care towards Buddhism will surface up.

 

[Harold Musetescu]

Maybe just maybe there starting to fix up the Portala for the next 15th Tibetan Dalai Lama.

There desire to have surveillance cameras could be a sign.

They may know something about the present health condition of the 14th Dalai Lama that the public doesn't know.

[grandmapele]

Whatever it is, be it that China is planning to recognize the 15th Dalai Lama, or to preserve a part of spirituality that it now recognizes the needs of the Chinese or that it is preserving a piece of history for tourism, it is to the advantage of the Tibetans.

Their culture, their tradition and their history is preserved. However unsavory, it is history. Keep the history so that the younger generation can know and learn from it. That will give rise to wisdom. Human beings need to learn from their mistakes just as their young do.

CTA has not shown that they care or are capable of doing that. So, China in renovating the Potala Place has shown the weakness of the CTA and are exploiting it. Shame on you, CTA.

[Belinda Mae]

Great to hear that these holy sites are being restored back so that people can go and visit it. All I can see here is China is the one doing the restoring of Tibet's holy site and not the CTA or the Tibetans themselves. I think the CTA cant even be bothered about restoring the Potala Palace. All they know is got funds and donations for their own interest. This is such a shame on them.

[grandmapele]

Belinda Mae, agreed. CTA is very near sighted. Once the culture and traditions of the Tibetans are lost, there will no longer be any Tibetans. However much, we think we do not like what happened, it is still history. We can learn from our mistakes and move forward to build a better future. What the CTA is doing is killing the essence of Tibet. They have not even made use of the millions of donation they receive to better the lives of those living in the settlement.

[Celia]

Some including CTA have tried to dismiss this effort by China as putting on a show or renovating so they can capitalise on the tourism. Well, regardless of China’s motivation, at least there are some tangible positive results. With such restoration, it allows for many to imbue themselves with the blessings of holy energy and opportunity to connect to Dharma. In a way, the Tibetan culture is also being preserved. Which is way more than what CTA has done despite the generous financial aid channelled to CTA for Tibetans.

[Pema8]

It is good news that the Potala Palace is being renovated and this historically important building is saved for the future generations. Although the Dalai Lama had to leave Tibet in 1959, and Tibet has much changed since.

I wish that there would be more communication between the two governments for the situation of the Tibetans to improve. The self-immolations say it very clearly, Tibetans suffer. The CTA is to blame as they do not address the problems of the Tibetans in Tibet by traveling the world and raising funds. Instead China spends money to preserve the Buddhist culture...

May the Tibetan Government make up their mind and care more for their people.