China completes potala renovation in nine days as reported by the China Global TV Network today with an amazing video glimpse of the process. The Potala palace is one of iconic buildings in the world that identities Tibet and the large scale renovation project completed on Sunday.
“The 1,300-year-old iconic Potala Palace, the official residence of the Dalai Lamas in Tibet’s capital Lhasa, has completed a large-scale renovation project on Sunday.” said the report by CGTN earlier today.
The potala renovation project primarily focused at repairing the palace’s gold-plated roof and improving its security surveillance system and the estimated cost over 10 million yuan (1.5 million US dollars) was used for it. The project has been approved by China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage on October 5.
The Potala Palace in Lhasa was the residence of the Dalai Lamas until His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama fled to exile in India during the 1959 Tibetan uprising. Originally built in the 7th century, the palace was then rebuilt and extended during the 17th century. It was declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994 and is the most famous tourist attraction in Tibet.
“The building measures 400 metres east-west and 350 metres north-south, with sloping stone walls averaging 3 m. thick, and 5 m. (more than 16 ft) thick at the base, and with copper poured into the foundations to help proof it against earthquakes. Thirteen stories of buildings—containing over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues—soar 117 metres (384 ft) on top of Marpo Ri, the “Red Hill”, rising more than 300 m (about 1,000 ft) in total above the valley floor.” according to the description in the wikipedia as it rightly says.
The potala palace is one of the most prominent identities of Tibet in todays world. The following video is the amazing view of the majestic palace during the renovation and after it. Hope you will like it.
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