Potala Palace’s Architecture

SURVEY OF WORLD ARCHITECTURE- POTALA PALACE
Name
Course
Survey of World Architecture- Potala Palace
According to the ancient myths, if you stand at the peak of the world, the gods are likely to hear whatever an individual says. Notably, Tibet in the East is the closest place to heaven as the location of The Potala Palace, a sacred palace. As an outstanding representative of traditional architecture in Tibet, the Potala Palace is an artistic complex integrating architecture, sculpture, painting, and metal products and a symbol of the ideal, interest, and spiritual style of the times.
The Potala Palace is located on the red mountain in Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwest China. "Potala" is a transliteration of the Sanskrit "Putuo", originally located on the island where Guanyin Bodhisattva lives. The Potala Palace was built during the Zanpu songzangampo period of the 32nd generation of the Tubo Dynasty (the 7th century AD). At that time, "HongShan Palace" was the name of the architectural structure. Later, a decline of the dynasty resulted in its abandonment. During the 17th century, the five generations of Dalai Lamas rebuilt on the original basis and became today's magnificent buildings. Since then, the palace has become the religious and political centre of Tibet. The Potala Palace is large-scale, and its construction involved unique materials and processes in Tibet in resemblance to a mountain. The architectural structure comprises the Red Palace and the White House as the main body and various buildings. Although many buildings were built in different periods, they were built according to the mountain trend. As a result, the structure is complex and well-coordinated and complete according to architectural aesthetics.
Potala palace’s Architecture
Potala Palace is an outstanding model of Tibetan architecture that is located on the Red Hill of Lhasa. The building has a floor space of 360,000 square meters and 13 storeys. Mud bricks, stones, and wood are the primary materials that engineers used in the construction. However, they used nails and steel to fasten the materials together. The structure has temples and a courtyard that occupies a total space of 41 hectares. Gilded bronze tiles that glitter in the sun covers the roofing of the building. Potala Palace is built against a terraced hill slope with structures that combine to form a substantial sky-scraping mass reminiscent of the divine realm above the mortal world.
Potala Palace has granite walls with a decoration of soft white thatch. Besides, golden roofing has a decoration of big gilded bottles, which symbolises the nobility of Buddhism. Besides, the structure has splendid banners and curtains that form a tremendous structural wonder with striking yellow, white, and red colors based on Tibetan architectural art. As such, Potala is an eminent representation of Chinese and Tibetan construction. According to research, the size of the building is 1,00 feet east-west and 1150 feet north-south. Besides, Potala Palace has sloping stone walls of three meters and five meters at the base. Moreover, the builders used copper into the foundations of the structure to prevent it from earthquakes. As a result, Potala Palace has a height of 117 meters and rises above 300 meters above the valley floor. Finally, the structure has a hanging drum on the ceiling to symbolize warfare, justice, and shamanic power. The figure 1.1 below is a clear illustration of Potala Palace’s structure.[Wang, Xiaoguang. “Color Analysis and Application in Art Design of Exterior Environment of Buildings.” Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Arts, Design and Contemporary Education (ICADCE 2020) 515 (January 2021), 440-444. doi:10.2991/assehr.k.210106.086.]
Fig 1.1 Lhasa, China. 2020. "Live: What's Inside The Potala Palace?". News.Cgtn.Com. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-10-06/Live-What-s-inside-the-Potala-Palace--UmiIK7mMOA/index.html.
White and red Palace of Potala
Potala has White Palace and Red Palace as the two main aspects of the architecture. The White Palace is seven storeys in height with various living quarters of Dalai Lamas and their respective tutors. Besides, the building has multiple offices of assembly halls and Tibetan governments. At the entrance of the White House, there is a porch. The porch walls are full of murals, with reincarnation pictures in Tibetan Buddhism and stories of significant historical events. The doorway is a square, carved with statues of lotus, quadruped and lion as an expression of Buddhist culture. Eastern main hall is the most spacious room that occupies 717 square meters on the 4th floor of the building. The north room of the hall hosts Dalai Lama's throne, which can only be used during significant ceremonies or political ceremonies. A plaque inscribed by the emperor of the Qing Dynasty hung directly above the throne to reveal the noble status of the palace. The walls of the hall are all murals, including the stories of historical figures and religious stories. Potala Palace has columns in the hall covered with Tibetan unique patterns. The whole space gives people a feeling of holiness and solemnity. Dalai Lamas was crowned to become the region’s temporal rulers and supreme Buddhis...