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Sectarian Clashes in Myanmar Spell Threat for Buddhists in India
Sectarian clashes between Muslim-minorities and Buddhists in Myanmar have allegedly angered the Islamic militant group, the Indian Mujahideen, and the Buddhist population and monasteries in India are at risk, according to intelligence sources.
India’s National Investigation Agency on Monday alerted the North Indian state of Himachal Pradesh about a possible terrorist attack on Buddhists and monasteries across the state, according to the Indian media.
After Bodhgaya in eastern India, where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment, was attacked by the terrorist group recently, the security at Dalai Lama temple in Dhramshala in north India has been noticeably tightened.
The National Investigation Agency has reportedly sent a communiqué to the northern Indian state police, cautioning them about possible terrorist attack on monasteries, especially in Dharamshala, the exile seat of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Plans to attack the monasteries in North India were exposed by Obedu Rehman, an operative of the India based terrorist group, according to the Hindustan Times.
Earlier this month, a series of eight blasts occurred in and around the Buddhist shrine in Bodhgaya, injuring two monks- one Tibetan and one Myanmar.
The blasts took place a day after the birthday of the Dalai Lama.
The Tibetan spiritual leader described the attacks as “very sad” while noting that it could be an act of “few individuals” and “shouldn’t be considered serious.”
Following the attacks upon the Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya, Lobsang Sangay, the elected head of the Tibetan government in exile, visited the terrorist-attack sites and urged for calm.
“We are thankful to the Central Government and the Government of Bihar for the security provided at the Mahabodhi Temple and express our full faith in the ongoing investigation of the serial blasts,” said Lobsang Sangay.
The Dalai Lama has sent a letter to the Myanmar opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi urging to find a way to end the sectarian clashes in the country.
Suu Kyi tlll date has taken no stance regarding the clashes. She recently expressed her wish to contest the 2015 presidential election. Many people hope that If Suu Kyi wins the presidential election; she might be able to end the clashes in the country.
via Sectarian Clashes in Myanmar Spell Threat for Buddhists in India : News : Headlines & Global News.
Dalai Lama Gives Birth to Heir – Blames Chinese
Reports from Dharamsala, India, home of the Tibet-in-exile government, confirm that in the early hours of this morning, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama has given birth to a male heir.
The Dalai Lama was quoted as saying, “I was performing my early morning meditations as usual and sitting in the lotus position. I had just achieved a complete level of relaxation when I felt something drop. Naturally, I assumed it was my holy excrement, so I summoned my attendant to collect it for sale in Hollywood, again as usual. Imagine my surprise when I looked down and the little shit was looking back up at me.
Followers of the Tibetan Buddhist leader were jubilant upon hearing the news that there was now an heir to the ailing Dalai Lama. Incense, firecrackers, prayer wheels and flags, chanting and colourful demonstrations quickly spread around the world. However, celebrations have now been dampened by the further announcement that the baby lama is Chinese.
A spokesman for the Dalai Lama has issued a strongly worded statement blaming the Chinese government for the birth. “We have inside information that it was definitely the Chinese. Except for His Holiness’ non-political trips to America, France, Britain, Mexico, Guatemala, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Canada, Morocco, Singapore, Japan, Norway, Peru, Cuba, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Nigeria, Jamaica, Taiwan did I include America?, in the past year, the Dalai Lama has been right here in the lamasery with the other monks. And believe me, Tibetan monks know how to have safe sex without conception.”
In an unusually swift reaction, the Chinese government in Beijing has also claimed that the baby lama is indeed Chinese. Lin Hung, the young, handsome and popular Chinese appointed governor of Tibet has claimed he is the father and that he and the Dalai Lama have been having a clandestine affair for the past two years. Hung claims that the Dalai Lama has made numerous visits to their secret love nest in Lhasa disguised as a Buddhist monk.
The Dalai Lama’s attendant who was present at the birth has confirmed that Lin Hung is the likely father. “The baby lama has His Holiness’ ears, but everything else looked well Hung”, according to the attendant.
The Chinese authorities, and Tibetan Governor Lin Hung have invited the Dalai Lama and baby lama to return immediately to Tibet, and Potala Palace is being readied for their arrival. “The Chinese baby lama is a wonderful gift from the entire Chinese people to the Dalai Lama and all Tibetans. This baby will bring the peace and harmony we all so desperately want to restore”, said Chinese President Hu Jintao. Governor Lin Hong made a more emotional appeal directly to the Dalai Lama. “This was not just a dalaiance on my part. I love you and our baby lama. Please come home. If you don’t return, I will put a photo of our missing baby lama on every milk carton in China.”
In a move to ensure the return of the Dalai Lama and baby lama, the Chinese government in Beijing today issued an immediate order legalizing same sex marriage and granting partners and children of same sex relationships full and equal rights. To engender world support, the Chinese have also put in a bid for the 2012 Gay Olympics to be held in Lhasa with Governor Hung, the Dalai Lama and baby lama as official hosts. To protect the health and safety of baby lama, the Chinese government has also immediately banned the illegal melamine contamination of yak milk within 500 yards of Potala Palace and urged the Dalai Lama to breast feed.
A poll taken in Tibet by Chinese authorities immediately after the birth announcement shows that 117% of Tibetans want the Dalai Lama and baby lama to return. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3%. “It’s up to the Dalai Lama now to prove what kind of man he really is”, quipped a street vender outside Potala Palace hawking baby lama souvenirs.
via The Spoof : Dalai Lama Gives Birth to Heir – Blames Chinese funny satire story.
Are Buddhist Monasteries Suitable Places for Children? Buddhist Scandals
Children, Mass Monasticism and a Culture of Silence
For centuries, it has been the cultural practice in Tibet (which has continued in exile) to send very young children to monasteries. The children are sent for a variety of reasons, including devout religious belief, education, poverty and a lack of family support. As Melvyn C Goldstein explains in Tibetan Buddhism and Mass Monasticism:
In Tibet, monks were almost always recruited as very young children through the agency of their parents or guardians. It was considered important to recruit monks before they had experienced sexual relations with girls, so monks were brought to the monastery as young boys, usually between the ages of 6-12. On the other hand, it was not considered important what these boys themselves felt about a lifetime commitment to celibate monasticism and they were basically made monks without regard to their personality, temperament or inclination.
Furthermore, according to Goldstein and other personal anecdotes, child monks who ran away from the monastery were generally not offered sympathy or support and typically scolded by their parents and family; with the child sent immediately back to the monastery. In The Struggle for Modern Tibet: The Autobiography of Tashi Tsering there is a first-hand account of abusive treatment at the hand of monastics.
Born in 1929 in a Tibetan village, Tsering developed a strong dislike of his country’s theocratic ruling elite. He was taken from his family near Drepung at 13 and forced into the Dalai Lama’s personal dance troupe. Severely beaten by his teachers there for minor infractions, Tsering (a heterosexual) was then raped by a well-connected monk (and other “official monks”) in exchange for protection, becoming a passive sex-toy or dronpo (Tib: guest).
Even in exile, many Tibetans enter monasteries as children below the age of 16, often as orphans or at a long distance from their parents’ home. Many children do not see their parents or family members for years; their sole place of refuge and care being the monastery. They are then expected to keep the celibacy vow through puberty and adulthood—not an easy task for an adult, let alone an adolescent.
Furthermore, whereas previously monastics lived in isolated places providing little contact with lay people, women or worldly activities, nowadays, the close proximity of monasteries to large towns and cities and the proliferation and easy access of internet porn and so on has no doubt increased and fed the monks’ sexual desire and frustration.
With this background in mind, issuing condoms to monks may not be the most ‘pure’ or suitable method, particularly in terms of preventing rape and abuse, but it is certainly a practical one if monks are contracting HIV and other STDs. The cultural background of “mass monasticism,” combined with the lack of child protection measures, leave child monastics particularly vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse. This is not to say that the majority of adult monks are abusing children (or that it is only a problem in relation to Tibetan Buddhists), but even if it is only a small minority it can have a devastating effect. It only takes a few rotten apples to spoil the bunch, as they say.
Ruben Derksen, a 26-year-old Dutch reincarnate lama who stars in the film Tulku, has stated that is is about time that Tibetan Buddhist institutions were “demystified and the shroud was removed.” Derksen, who as a child spent three years in a monastery in India, recently drew attention to the physical beatings that are a regular practice there. “I met Richard Gere and Steven Seagal, and they didn’t see any of this,” he says. “When celebrities or outsiders are around, you don’t beat the kids.”
And therein lies part of the problem: it’s well-hidden. Although there are personal stories of abuse among the exile community, some people argue that they need to see more evidence; yet, there is no reason to disbelieve all these testimonies either.
Conclusion
Tibetan Buddhist monasteries are, historically and currently, some of the most advanced centers of Buddhist scholarship and practice in the world today. They have produced some of the world’s most inspiring, compassionate teachers and practitioners of Buddhism, the Dalai Lama and the 17th Karmapa being prime examples. For an adult, one of the best places to study and practice Buddhism is within a Tibetan Buddhist monastic setting.
Consensual masturbation and “thigh sex” between adult monks is not the chief concern here—albeit such activity from the monastic viewpoint is far from “pure” and, if done out of frustration as opposed to one’s sexuality, it is not particularly psychologically healthy either. What is more worrying is the presence of children in the care of these all-male institutions.
Who can these children turn to if there is a culture of abuse, shame, silence and denial in their community?
Being open and accountable on these issues will enable reform and constructive action. International children’s rights laws apply globally. This is not an issue relative to a particular culture or tradition.
Understandably, the Tibetan community in exile does not always respond well to criticism or suggestions for improvement, particularly when coming from non-Tibetans. In response to a Facebook discussion I started on this issue, a Tibetan replied that:
It is time for the Tibetan community to stop defending those who abuse and exploit their position of trust. Exposure of these cases and others that are widely known within our communities must be brought out of the closets. As a community, we have NO obligation to defend these people nor anything to be ashamed of. Their actions are not a reflection on the broader community. If we are to prepare for the post-His Holiness era, we better create a realistic and honest image of ourselves to the world. Starting now. As Tibetans, we cannot pretend all of us to be mini-Dalai Lamas. Our community is no different than any others, we have the good, the bad and the ugly. The world must see us for what we are.
If children are being left vulnerable in Tibetan monasteries, why don’t the Tibetan exile leader Lobsang Sangay and the Tibetan monastic authorities follow the Bhutanese example and call for an official report into the safety of child monastics in exile? At the least, in line with their publicly-stated desire to modernize, they could establish adequate sex education and internationally-recognized child protection measures in the monasteries and schools.
When are we going to get a public response from the monastic authorities on these alleged cases of physical or sexual abuse, particularly that of Kalu Rinpoche? If even Rinpoche’s allegations are not publicly investigated then what hope is there for a young, unknown orphan child undergoing a similar experience? What about kick-starting a public initiative that provides both monks and ex-monks a confidential, safe platform to register and report their personal tales of abuse and neglect in the monasteries?
These testimonies could then be compiled into an official document and delivered to the CTA and monastic authorities to respond to. A simple, preventative measure is to bar anyone from becoming a monk until the age of 18. At the very least, setting aside legitimate concerns about violence and sexual abuse, doesn’t it make more sense for a person to take the decision to become celibate after puberty, when they are better able to make an informed, adult decision about it?
On a positive note, Kalu Rinpoche is not just taking on the voice of a victim but also that of a pioneer, creating a school for children whose families are in financial difficulty and barring them from becoming monks until the age of 19. Whatever anyone might think about this issue, first and foremost (following Kalu Rinpoche’s example) we all need to think about what is in the best interests of the children. The reputation of Tibetans or Tibetan Buddhism has to come second to that.
Dedicated to Kalu Rinpoche and the children.
adele_wilde_blavatskyAdele Wilde-Blavatsky has an MA in Philosophy and previously worked as a Philosophy lecturer. In 2007, she co-edited a philosophy book Aesthetic Experience with Prof. Richard Shusterman and is currently working on her first collection of poetry and essays for publication. Since taking refuge with the 17th Karmapa in India in 2005, she turned away from Western Philosophy and materialism and has spent the last few years living and studying yoga, the Tibetan language and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy in India and Nepal. Adele is also a mother to a very active son, a qualified yoga teacher, freelance writer, part-time translator and a passionate political activist on issues related to gender, sexism, civil liberties, Tibet and human rights. Recently, she worked for Free Tibet, an NGO in London and as a volunteer for the Tibet-led and staffed NGO, Tibetan Centre of Human Rights and Democracy. She wrote a expose of Free Tibet’s working culture in 2012 and has also published articles in Elephant Journal, The Huffington Post, Tibet Telegraph and the Tibetan exile online publication Phayul.com.
How Will the Dalai Lama React to the loosening of restrictions in Tibet?
How Will the Dalai Lama React to the loosening of restrictions in Tibet? At the time of writing we still await a response from the Dalai Lama.
If this is an honest attempt to see His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet from the perspective of the people of Tibet, then the new Chinese leadership is showing stunning clarity capable of breaking down decades of unnecessary misery and misunderstanding.
Read more from
| U-turn on Dalai Lama attacks Hong Kong Standard Beijing has loosened restrictions that kept Tibetan monks in two provinces from openly revering theDalai Lama. Authorities in Sichuan province said people can display pictures of the Buddhist spiritual leader and ordered officials not to criticize him … See all stories on this topic » |
| Beijing eases ban on Dalai Lama’s image The Australian Radio Free Asia‘s Tibetan service reported that permission to venerate the Dalai Lama openly again – as a religious but not as a “political” leader – is being introduced in areas of Sichuan and Qinghai provinces, which have large Tibetan populations. See all stories on this topic » |
| Reports Say Worship Of Dalai Lama Allowed In Sichuan And Qinghai, China International Business Times Chinese authorities have announced that two provinces with ethnic Tibetan populations will be able to openly venerate the Dalai Lama for religious purposes, in what seems to be a step toward the central government relaxing its attitude on the exiled … See all stories on this topic » |
New Pope’s humility ‘getting on everyone’s tits’ admit cardinals
The new Pope, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been charming the media and public alike with his easy-going approachable manner and simple lifestyle, but this same absence of bloated pomp and crazed hubris is allegedly ‘wearing bloody thin’ among his colleagues at the Vatican’
‘It was all a bit of a novelty at first,’ admitted Cardinal Sergio Venturi, dripping in signet rings and flanked on either side by the Swiss Guard. ‘The first thing he did when he was elected was to get an OAP pass for the municipal pool. We all thought it was rather sweet in a third world kind of way.’
‘But it gets to you after a while; we had the Dalai Lama over last week and where did His Holiness want to hold a banquet in his honour? Only ‘Il Harvestore’ again! There I was, having to explain to Tibetan Buddhism’s supreme spiritual leader about the concept of an unlimited salad bar.’
‘And if your esteemed guest wishes to visit the Ice Cream Factory for afters, order yourself a bloody crème brulee; don’t just sit there nodding benignly while the fourteenth incarnation of the Bodhisattva picks off his marshmallows.’
Another Vatican insider who wished not to be identified went even further: ‘The Holy Roman Church has a long tradition of sickening excess and sociopathic power-brokering. We have toppled whole kingdoms on a single Pontiff’s whim. Anything that stood in our way we crushed under our heel. Il Papa has got this glorious heritage and basically he’s pissing it up a wall. Ungrateful, or what?’
The Head of the Worldwide Catholic Church – or ‘Acting Chairperson’ as His Holiness has taken to calling himself – was unavailable for comment at time of going to press. He was said to be ‘lending a hand with an ecumenical Meals on Wheels service. Or something equally crap.’
via New Pope’s humility ‘getting on everyone’s tits’ admit cardinals | NewsBiscuit.
Dalai Lama Retires – Moves into Playboy Mansion
HOLLYWOOD – The Dailai Lama has given up being leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile and has moved into the Playboy Mansion.
The aging Tibetan leader has given up his ceremonial role as leader of Tibetan government-in-exile and decided to spend the rest of his life with Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.
Hugh Hefner has named the Dalai Lama the new Leader of Playboy, which the spiritual leader has embraced.
The Dalai Lama will remain the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and the focal point of Tibetan national aspirations, said spokesman Yeha Boloorma.
As head of the dominate Gelug branch of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama was the top religious leader for Tibet. Many of his predecessors also served as Tibet’s political ruler, and the Dalai Lama himself served as head of government there after Chinese troops marched into his Himalayan homeland in 1950.
Playboy was formed in 1953 by Hugh Hefner, who has been in “sexile” as well ever since. The Dalia Lama will not have to change his wardrobe. “We like to be comfortable around the Mansion and the Dalai Lama will fit right in,” said Hef.
Many of the “Hef Girls” are happy to have the Dalai Lama move in. “He’s a little younger than Hef, and a lot cuter,” said Dolly Hart. “There’s something so special about him,” said Paige Peters. “I get a good vibe being around him and well… let’s just say it’s a very spiritual experience being with him.”
Beijing has always claimed Tibet has forever been part of its territory, but many Tibetans say the region was virtually independent for centuries. But now, the Chinese are now willing to talk to the Dalai Lama and are sending a large delegation of leaders to the Playboy Mansion to talk to him.
Women are always the ones to bring men together.
Party at Hef’s house!!
By Frank Lake on June 11, 2013
Via
https://misebogland.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php?post_type=post
Dalai Lama continuous ways of evil sorcery; troublesome for much noble China
The Dalai Lama, general and chief dangerous magic of Tibet rebel army, it is reported, continue plans and most worrying activities for the purposes to destroy beautiful state of China.
Wicked uses of illegal black magic operation in direct illegal against directive 231a and directive 197a, cause crops to fail and pigs to exhibit remorseful expression. Many hear about stealing away the children of China is ongoing. Children (and girls) from strong villages, honourable towns and powerful good cities of schooling age disappear again for many months now and Dalai Lama growing more direct, eat them up after cooking in large clay baked pot over fire during incorrect belief system against people’s party.
Children and pigs who would become make China great nation at risk threat to ongoing future generations and excellent economic future for all!
For ways of trouble stirring enemy increase need for swift reply to help continue lasting peace and make Olympic fun great whole of world watches and love now and years to come. Indeed president Hu Jintao angry for all people and wise and knowledgeable decision to make now: ‘Proud China standing together and world standing with and claws of Dalai Lama grow weaker. Honourable victory for everyone.’
Recite with us that together following leadership towards blessed victory for all. Good news!
via Dalai Lama continuous ways of evil sorcery; troublesome for much noble China | NewsBiscuit.
Dalai Lama asks ‘How does ‘Angels and Demons’ finish?’
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama spoke out today to ask the free people of the world how the book he is reading, Dan Brown’s thriller, ‘Angels and Demons’ finishes.
‘I’ve got to the bit where Langdon survives falling out of an exploding helicopter over Rome, but then some tosser or tossers unknown have ripped out all the pages after that.’
Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader says that he obviously realises that Langdon gets through the ordeal, because the character also appears in ‘The Da Vinci Code’ which comes after ‘Angels and Demons’, although the Dalai Lama, like many, first came to Dan Brown through the more successful second book.
His Holiness said that he ‘hasn’t got a frigging clue’ why anyone would want to rip the pages out of his copy, and that this kind of thing was ‘just fucking typical’.
He says if he doesn’t get any response, he’ll just have to ‘buy another bastard copy’ when he next goes through an airport, or maybe hope that the film gets shown on the flight, although he’s only really interested in finding out what happens at the end, and doesn’t see why he should have to sit through the whole thing.
Observers have commented that with the number of people worldwide seeking to take a leaf out of his book, this kind of thing was inevitable.
via Dalai Lama asks ‘How does ‘Angels and Demons’ finish?’ | NewsBiscuit.
Tibet’s Dalai Lama helps scientists pin-point location of Hell on Earth
Scientists have finally pinpointed the exact location of Hell thanks to help from the Dalai Lama.
Despite years of searching for its location by theologians and scientists alike, Hell had never been found until the Dalai Lama today described his Tibetan homeland as, “Hell on earth.”
This discovery has shocked many observers, as the general consensus had been that Hell on earth was somewhere in the Thames Valley, near Slough.
Though scientists are excited by the find, many theologians have expressed concern over the lack of fiery brimstone and tortured sinners which had previously acted as a deterrent for would-be wrong-doers.
Disappointment
“I am a bit disappointed to be honest, yes.” said the Bishop of Caldecott.
“If you look on Flickr, Tibet actually looks quite nice. I’m not sure this is going to put people off killing, thieving and coveting their neighbours oxen.”
The discovery has shocked many of Tibet’s recent visitors.
“I was in Tibet a couple of months ago and didn’t see any dead evil people,” said Shane McDonagh, a backpacker from Australia.
“Do you think Hitler and Saddam Hussein had a religious conversion at the last minute and saved themselves? That’d be a bit unfair, wouldn’t it?”
With Hell now safely marked on the world’s maps, the hunt is now on to find Heaven, with persistent rumours of it being on the Girls Aloud tour bus still unfounded.
via Tibet’s Dalai Lama helps scientists pin-point location of Hellon Earth.
Dalai Lama failed to declare good karma in official register
Tenzin Gyatso, the exiled spiritual leader of the Tibetan people found himself at the centre of a political controversy today when it was revealed that he had neglected to enter a number of gifts and good deeds done to him by fellow Buddhists in the Official Register. Since the so-called Cash for Reincarnation Scandal of the late 90s, it has been mandatory that senior Buddhists report all gifts, considerate deeds or just kindly thoughts of which they have been the chief beneficiary.
‘The karma register was devised to ensure that powerful Buddhists were not abusing their position – but it has got the stage that you can’t even hold a door open for the Prime Minster of Sri Lanka without him having to make a note of it…’ claimed a spokesman for the Dalai Lama.
Among the specific charges against the spiritual leader of Tibet is that on 13 February he left his umbrella in a restaurant but was reunited with it when a fellow diner came rushing out after him having noticed his absent mindedness. ‘There is no record of this random act of kindness’ said the Official Karma Watchdog; ‘Nor of the occasion when his holiness mentioned that he liked early Britpop, and one of his office support staff did him a compilation CD of Blur, Pulp and Oasis.’ Under the strict rules laid down in an appendix to the Kangyur or sacred texts, all samsaric good karma must now be declared.
‘People have been praying for him, sending their figurehead best wishes and good luck messages and only a fraction of this good karma appears in the official record,’ said the Karma Czar. ‘We have a copy of a letter from an Glastonbury woman who said she was sending out positive energy to the Tibetan leader, but he has not recorded how much positive energy he received nor the dates on which he sensed it.’
A spokesman for the Dalai Lama claimed that this ‘very minor scandal’ had been whipped up by the Chinese authorities to try and deflect from their own oppression in Tibet, but added ‘Anyway, failing to register the good karma is bad karma, so the karma is cancelled out and he’s back to where he was in the first place.’
via Dalai Lama failed to declare good karma in official register | NewsBiscuit.
Is Dalai Lama Simply no More than a Deposed Feudal Theoretical dictator?
According to Tibetologist Melvyn Goldstein, the Tibetan system under the Dalai Lama met all the requirements of feudalism, under which:
1.) Serfs inherited their social position.
2.) A serf, unlike a slave had rights and possessed but did not own productive resources (land).
3.) The lord had the legal right to command his serfs, including judicial authority over him or her.
There is a mountain of historical data showing that in pre-1950 Tibet, aristocratic lamas and secular landowners controlled the vast majority of the country’s resources, while the rest of the country lived in poverty and were often subjected to torture, otherwise known as judicial mutilation. There’s a good article in the Guardian on this very subject. What we don’t hear about Tibet
As for the Dalai Lama himself, he was more like a monarch of a theocratic system and the only difference between him and other monarchs is that the monarchy was not hereditary but based on religious ritual. So it’s more like if the Pope were to rule an entire country rather than just Vatican City.
So in short, the Dalai Lama isn’t exactly this saintly holy man like many in the West think. At best he’s just an exiled leader who wants his power back and at worst, he’s a tool of the West backed by the National Endowment for Democracy, which itself is funded by the CIA. Whether that has any bearing on the Tibetan people‘s right to self determination is a different matter entirely.
7 unknown facts about the place where Dalai Lama lived
Potala Palace is a museum, located in Lhasa, which comes under Tibet Autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China.
It served as the residence of Dalai Lama, until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India.
We bring to you some very interesting facts about it.
Read on to find out.
-The highest palace in the world, Potala Palace stands on top of Red Hill, at over an amazing 3,500 meters above sea level.
-Potala Palace consists of White Palace and Red Palace. The Dalai lama lived in the White Palace. The Red Palace consists of temples.
-The Potala Palace was inscribed to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. In 2000 and 2001, Jokhang Temple and Norbulingka were added to the list as extensions to the sites.
-The palace was recently named one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World” by the American television show Good Morning America and the newspaper USA Today.
-Potala Palace was named after Mount Potala, the abode of Chenresig or Avalokitesvara.
-The site was used as a meditation retreat by King Songtsen Gampo, prior to his marriage.
-It was in 637 that King Songtsen Gampo built the first palace there, in order to greet his bride Princess Wen Cheng, of Tang Dynasty of China.
Source:
via 7 unknown facts about the place where Dalai Lama lived – daily.bhaskar.com.
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