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Potala  Palace

    Potala Palace, situated on the Hongshan Hill in Lhasa, means "the Sacred Palace of Buddhism" in Sanskrit. It was built in the 7th century by king Songtsan Gambo for his bride, the princess Wen Cheng of Han nationality, and was enlarged and renovated by the successive Da1ais. The 13 story palace, 117 metres high, 360 metres east-west, with an area of 130,000 square metres was constructed completey by stone and wood.  It includes temple, seminary, chanting hal1, domitory, mouming hall and yard. The eight mouming halls house the stupas of seveal Dalai Lamas,  which are covered with gold 1eaf and studded with jewels. Enormous precious histrical relics and frescos on various themes are kept in the building. Potala Pa1ace was the winter residence of Dalai Lamas. The imposing