Potala Palace
This world -famous architectural wonder is built on the escarpments of the Red Hill and rises high above the valley floor.The awesome Potala can be seen from all directions for miles around.A stronghold probably existed on red hill as early as the seventh century AD, when king Songtsen Gampo built a fortress on it for his two foreign wives. He is reputed to have studied the Buddhist scriptures there after his conversion from the bon faith.Fires lightening and wars took their toll, yet 1000 years later two of the original rooms still remained.The present Potala was built mainly in the fifth Dalai Lama's reign, between 1645 and 1693.It became the winter palace in 1755,when the seventh Dalai Lama made the Norbulingka in to a summer residence. The Potala remained the center of political and religious power for the Dalai Lama. With over 1000 rooms , it contained the living quarters of the dalai Lamas while they lived and their sumptuous golden tombs when they died. Regent, tutors and other high Lamas also had apartments in the place, the Potala held the office of the government, a huge printing house at the base where Buddhist scriptures were hand printed from woodblock and seminary to train government officials, run by the elite order of monks of Namgayal Monastery who surrounded the god king. Hundreds of elaborately decorated chapels and shrines, halls and corridors contained thousand of gilded statue -Tibet pantheon of Buddha ,Bodhisattvas, saints and demons.The round outside towers were fortifications, but legend says they are wings to fly the Potala to safety from a future devastating flood. Beneath the splendid ceremonial areas of the palace lay a warren of soot blackened cells for monks and servants, and great treasuries-one for the Dalai Lamas and regent, and other for the state.Still lower lay granaries and store rooms filled with pilgrims gifts and enough yak butter to fuel the Potala countless votive lamps for years. At the base, carved from living rock, were the dungeons, the dreaded cave of scorpions, from which enemies of the rulers rarely emerged.

It consists of a white palace and a Red palace, with one small yellow portion between them. White palace was built in the lifetime of fifth Dalai Lama ,present structure is extended by the thirteen Dalai Lama in the early 20th century. Fifth Dalai Lama moved from Drepung Monastery in 1650.His death was concealed for ten years by the regent who explained his absence as a series of religious retreats. During those years Red Palace was built.

The construction of the Potala Palace was huge undertaking . It is 13 storey (1000METERS) high, 400mtrs east to west, 350 meters north to south.Its inward sloping stone walls are on average, three meters thick, at the base fully five meters.Copper was poured in to the foundation to help them withstand earthquakes. So much earth was dug up for mortar behind the red hill that the pit was turned in to a lake.

Jokhang Temple:
The Jokhang temple is the spiritual center of the Tibet,its holy place, the dectination, over time, of millions of Tibetean pilgrims. This temple begun to built in seventh century AD.It Was one of the two temples built by the King Songtsen Gampo to house the statue of Buddha that his two foreign wives brought to Tibet from China and Nepal.Legend says that Songtsen Gampo threw his ring into air promising to build temple wherever it landed.The ring felt in to a lake and struck a rock where a white stupa miraculously appeared an auspicious sign.Workmen filled the lake with stones, and the Jokhang was built over it by craftsmen from Tibet,China,Nepal,Mongolaia and Kashmir.Even today a pool exist under the jokhang main courtyard. Following removal of part of the Barkhor Bazar in 1985 to make way for a plaza,three monuments that stand infront of the Jokhang were enclosed in walls.Th epillar on the left is a treaty stone recording an alliance between the king of Tibet and the emperor of China in AD 823.On the right ,the more visible of the two tables was epidemic. The tablet was partly eaten away by people who thought the stone itself had curative powers.

The outer courtyard and porch of the temple are usually filled with pilgrims making full-length prostrations toward the holy sanctum. Its innermost shrine contains the oldest, most precious objects in Tibet-the original Statue of Sakyamuni, which princes Wen Cheng brought from Changan 1300 years ago.It was enlarged eight times between the seventh century and 1600,when the fifth Dalai Lama added its last embellishments. It consist of an elaborate porch leading to frescoed cloister around an open court yeard.

Drepung Monastery
Drepung lies five miles (8kms) west of Lhasa on a main road, then two miles(3kms) north on a steep, unpaved road. Its name means Rice Heap, after its jumble of white buildings piled up against Mt. Gambo use it was the biggest and richest monastery in Tibet. Its Lamas who helped to train each young Dalai Lama, could guess how a new god king would rule-as a leader or as a tool of the regent.

It was founded in 1614 by a disciple of Tsonga Kappa, with a noble family as patron's fifth Dalai Lama enlarged it and ruled there while the Potala was being built. At its height Drepung had over 10,000 monks. It governed 700 sub-sidearm monasteries and owned vast estates.

Of the 6000 monks who lived here in 1959, half including all the high Lamas, fled with the Dalai Lama. The rest went home, took up trades and married. A handful of elderly monks stayed on the monastery, laboring on a 20 hectare (50acre) farm that Chinese let them keep. Today about 400 monks and novices live there, turning a profit from their orchards, which produce the best apples in Lhasa.

The Monastery was divided in to four tantric colleges which at the highest level specialized in different branches of knowledge. Each had its own chanting hall, dormitories, kitchen and offices. The entire monastic community assembled only for special ceremonies and festivals.

Sera Monastery
Sera Monastery lies on the northern edge of Lhasa at he base of Tatipu Hill.Sera means merciful hail,denoting its rivalry with Rice Heap(Drepung), since hail destroys rice.Sera was smaller than the Drepung with 7000monks, but very rich and comparable in power. Today it has 300monks and some of its buildings house a farm.It was founded in 1419 by one of Tsong Khapa's eight disciple. It become famous for its tantric teaching, while Drepung drew fame from its governing role.The monks of sera were considered clever and dangerous.Its small army of warrior monks the dob-dobs, were admired as athletes but also feared.Sera's rebelliousness some time posed a threat to the state.In 1947,its leaders planned to kill the regent and install a rival.witness recount that stopped in Lhasa were barricaded and the nobles armed their servants for fear of rampaging monks. Sera Monastery has three colleges, are
SERA JE COLLEGE: its holy west chapel contains an awesome, horse-headed demon-god,Hayagriva, whose origins go back to the pre Buddhist Bon religion. DEBATING GARDEN COLLEGE: Here monks prepare for monastic examination by staging mock debates in the ritual way.Some sit cross legged under the trees, while others run from group to group giving vigorous handclaps to end a statement or make a point. Masters and dignitaries sit on the raised tiers when a real examination takes place.In Tibetan Buddhism, the debating garden is the whetstone on which the mind is sharpened, and the importance of the institution can not be stressed too strongly.Years of study, memorization meditation and intellectual struggle produce monks with outstanding abilities who keep alive a profound religious tradition. Painting of sera( rock painting) is notable, blue yamantaka with Prajna, Tsong Khapa above and sera abbot, Sakya Yeshe. At the top. Entering in the ASSEMBLY HALL(Tsokchen) at roof level and in an east chapel, find the greatest treasure of Sera's -glided Chenrezi with hundred of hands and eyes.Acolossal Maitreya can be seen from both the roof and chanting hall.

Ngag-pa College has many interesting objects, but the chanting hall of SERA ME COLLEGE down the hill is truly remarkable.It has the best vestibule murals anywhere,especially its wheel of life.

SKY BURIALS : one kilometers east of Sera is an isolated rock where SKY BURIALS take place at dawn-Tibetans learned to break the bodies of their dead into small pieces and feed them to the birds. Thus their last earthly act is to make a compassionate gift of their body to feed other creatures. Vultures, ravens and kites swoop down when the body breakers, called dolmens, have done their work. The whole gruesome process takes about two hours, the dead Tibetan literally vanishing into thin air. In the past thrill seeking tourist have outraged local feeling by arriving in Car and demanding to take photos and videos, and so tourist are now banned by law from intruding.

Lake Namtso
It is second biggest salt lake in Tibet lies 210 kms north of Lhasa.It is fairly rugged trip off beaten track but the rewards are considerable .At present this is best opportunity open to travelers to see nomads on the move their yaks herds and to get the flavour of Tibet's high grasslands. The lake itself is spectacular and still totally wild.The altitude exceeds 4300 meters for the most of journey and one mountain pass is 5200mtrs.The road from Lhasa follows After leaving from Lhasa the route follows the Damxung River valley through fields of rape and barley passing small villages Greenery and dwelling become sparser as the valley narrows.the road enter a steep, rocky gorges 80 kilometers from Lhasa and climbs beside the tumbling River for several kilometers ,when it merges on the Tibet northern plateau a totally new landscapes greet the travelers.Windswept grassland alternating with grave desert stretch between snowcapped mountains and a chain of steep bare hills. This is land of nomads too high for farms and villages.

Yangbajing 87 kilometers north of an elevation of 4300mtrs borders on a flat area of hot spring covers 16 square kilometers.Steam and geyser can be seen rising from the plain.These feed two new geothermal electricity generating stations and a huge geodesic green house that uses warmth and humidity from the steam to produce un seasonal vegetables.If nomads are in the vicinity yaks graze, right up to the wire fence apparently unperturbed by the racket of guising steam and the modern technology on the other side. Power plant supplies electricity in Lhasa, it is first and biggest thermal development in China established in 1976.The electricity produced is vital Tibet's economic development as all other kind of fuel except yak dung and wood, have to be trucked in.The plant can be visited by arrangement with CITS .A technician answers question and conduct a guided tour of the steam-powered generators,cooling towers and steam-heated green house where vegetables grow through out year.

The road runs a long, straight , upland valley usually dotted with nomad encampment and herd of yaks.The nomads who roam over vast areas of Northern Tibet make up about a quarter of the population of central and western Tibet.They produce wool,that has been Tibet's chief export for centuries and contributed an essential part of the country's diet in meat and dairy products

Damxung is a bleak small settlement of low barrack-like buildings founded in 1960 situated at 4400mtrs.unlike town in the southern farming areas,it has no old Tibetan villages at its heart.Its main street has the raw look of an American wild west frontier town, with stocky nomads horses hitched to the post of open front stores.A small ghost town stands near an abandoned airstrip.It is important spot in this region for government functions and general supplies.It has a barn department store where basic necessities and sturby clothes can be bought.A major festival called DAJYUR draws nomads to Damxung from all direction at the beginning of the lunar Colander's eight month(solar September) for ten days of festivity horseracing bicycle-riding contest,rock carrying competition and other forms of merriment.

Road from there crosses the plain and follows a stream up a steep, rocky valley in to the mountains.Local believes wolves, bears, Yeti and leopard still live in the Nyanchen Tanglha range.A stark crag and a stone pile mark the top of the LARGEH LA PASS 5132 mtrs high. Occasionally jeep meet a caravana of thousand yaks heading through the pass laden with hand woven bag, of sheep's wool.This is a wonderful sightsteered by mounted ,sling-wielding outriders and circling dogs,they fill the narrow passage. Just beyond the pass a dramatic view of blue lake ,Lake Namtso appears stretches at 4591 meters.It covers 1940 square kilometers.Road decends rapidly to the plain where it continues over grassland fording shallow streams.Mount Nyanchen stand over the head at 7088mtrs in the west.Water birds skim the water ,in june hundred of wild geese nest close off shore on the banks of reeds.Colour abounds every where in tiny jewel like flowers underfoot and distant mountains rock.

Tsedang Lies at 3400 meters altitude 190 kmsSouth East of Lhasa is a large administrative region known in modern times as Shannam (South of the Mountains).At its heart lies the ancient kingdom of Yarlung, the cradle of Tibetan civilization.Tsedang, its capital, is at the foot of Mt. Gongbari, one central Tibet's holy Mountains.Tibet creation myth tells how , in a cave at the back of this small mountain , a saintly monkey and an ogress gave birth to the Tibetan people .Their early history including the reigns of some 30 semi -mythical kings, unfolded in this section of the Yarlong Tsangpo valley. Tsedang means Playground where the Monkey came to frolic Tsedang

Shigatse It is Tibet second largest city, lies at 3900meter elevation with over 50,000 Population.It is administrative center of Vast area, formerly called TSANG that includes most western Tibet and Central Tibet. Historically it rival Lhasa.It is confluence on the River Yarlong Tsangpo and River Nyangchu. It is Tibet's richest farming land too. Barely, rape seed, wheat, beans and other variety of vegetable color the valley with all shades of green in summer and with bright yellow patches in June when the rape flower is in bloom.Previously it was stronghold and monastery city.It forms a horsehoe around a rocky prominence that was formerly topped by an awesome fortress.A seat of Panchen Lama, Tashilhunpo Monastery and the beneath of Mt.Drolmari are the main attraction.

Tahilhunpo Monastery:
Tashilhunpo means heap of Glory, was the seat of Panchen Lamas. It is lies on the foot of Mt.Drolmari or Tara Mountain. It is known as Tibet's most active Monasteries. It was founded in 1447 by the Tsonga Kappa's youngest Disciple, who his nephew and who designed the yellow hat sect. The early abbots, who posthumously were named the first, second and third Panchen Lamas, were learned scholars who often had to flee to the province of U from fierce Red Hat opponents in Tsang.The enlargement of monastery took place under the fourth, fifth and sixth Panchen Lamas. After the yellow hat sect had been firmly establish as the Tibet official Religion. When the six broadminded Panchen Lama died of smallpox in Peking (old name of Beijing) his brother and his treasure sold his all huge fortune .He did not refuse to distribute it to the Monastery nor shared with other do brother then he become the Head of Tsang Province. Another brother who lived in Nepal led an army of Gurkha warriors to Shigatse in 1791.Where they sacked and looted Tashihunpo. The Chinese drove out the Nepalese and at the same time strengthened their influence Over Tibet. It had over 4000 Monks and was organized like Lassa's great Monasteries. It had four Tantric College each with own abbot. After the death of Panchen Lama these four abbots led the search for his infant reincarnation and one of them always acted as the Prime Minister of Tsang under the control of Dalai Lama in Lhasa. It was disbanded as Monastery by Chinese in 1960, while tenth Panchen Lama was absent. Today Monastery applies approximately 800 Monks. The most remarkable object on the Monastery is an enormous Thank Wall nine storey high, which stands like a huge drive in movie screen, clearly visible from the city. This structure is used most of the year for storing gigantic banners bearing images of the Buddha, which are displayed on the wall three days a year during summer festivals.

Ganden Monastery
The ruins of this great monastery lie about 45 km, east of Lhasa. The main road to east is good tarmac beyond Dagze and then rough gravel for the last few killometers. A track turns south past two villages and zig zag for nearly 600 Meters up the mountain side to the Monastery. It is situated 4300 M, I n a bowl like an amphitheatre, Ganden was Lhasa's second biggest monastery at times strongest of the three that dominated the government. Tsong Khapa established it in 1409, earlier than either Drepung or Sera, as a place to train moral disciplined monks and to work out the reformed version of Tibetan Buddhism that soon evolved in to the yellow hat sect. Today Ganden's massive effort to rebuild after the disaster of the Chinese invasion goes on, largely with the help of Local volunteer effort about 200 monks have returned.

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