Greetings lovely viewers. Standing on the roof of the world, Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, one can seem to touch the clear sky and hear above the clouds. Here, nestled among snowy mountains, is an ancient, mystic edifice atop of the Red Mountain.

This is the home of Dalai Lamas and the spiritual center of Tibetans: the Potala Palace. The Potala Palace was first established in the ７th century by Songtsan Gampo, the king of Tubo Kingdom.

He was a charming and brave man who unified the kingdom. Under his wise reign, Tubo Kingdom enjoyed a peaceful prosperity. To strengthen the country, King Songtsan Gampo wished to introduce the advanced culture and technologies from China.

Thus, he presented a marriage proposal to Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. At the time, many neighboring kingdoms of China also wanted to establish a matrimonial relationship with China.

So Emperor Taizong held a contest among a dozen of envoys to select a husband for his royal niece. In the end, the intelligent and courteous envoy sent by King Songtsan Gampo won the contest.

Therefore, in ６４１, Princess Wencheng from the Tang Dynasty was married to King Songtsan Gampo. She not only brought to Tibet advanced technologies, culture, medicine, a calendar, but most importantly, she introduced Buddhism to the Tibetans, as she was an ardent Buddhist.

For these contributions to Tibet, Princess Wencheng was revered as the incarnation of White Tara, the goddess of compassion, and King Songtsan Gampo as the incarnation of the Quan Yin Boddhisattva, or Avalokitesvara Boddhisattva.

To greet his bride, King Songtsan Gampo ordered to construct a palace with ９９９ rooms on the Red Mountain; this was the first phase of the Potala Palace.

『Potala』 means 『the sacred place of Buddhism』 or 『residence of Avalokitesvara Boddhisattva.』
The palace was called Potala, not only because it was once the residency of King Songtsan Gampo, but also because of the Tibetan people’s admiration of Avalokitesvara Boddhisattva.