On December 14, 2001, the 25th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Helsinki decided that Norbu Lingka be an extension of the Potala Palace, a "world heritage."

When summer came, the Dalai Lama and his party, composed of his government officials, went to Norbu Lingka for relaxation in the cool and for work. He conducted Buddhist rituals there, too.

In Tibetan, "lingka" means "park" and "norbu" means "treasure". Norbu Lingka therefore means a "treasure park". When Tibet won peaceful liberation, Norbu Lingka became a public park.

With the elapse of time, Norbu Lingka has expanded with architecture featuring Tibetan and Chinese styles.

A History of 200 Years

In the early 18th century, the area where Norbu Lingka is situated was a sweep of dense willow trees. Cut through by the ancient course of the Lhasa River, it was so beautiful and so cool that the 5th Dalai Lama loved to spend his summer there.

When the 7th Dalai Lama was studying sutras in the Zhaibung Monastery, he went there for baths and recuperation when he was sick, reputedly with good effect.

With the proposal of High Commissioner stationed by the Qing court in Tibet, the Qing government had a palace called Lhawacai built there for the 7th Dalai Lama to cope with the summer heat.

In 1751, the 7th Dalai Lama had Galsang Phodrang and other buildings built to the east of Lhawacai, and named the area Norbu Lingka.

From then on, Norbu Lingka became the summer palace of the Dalai Lama of ensuing generations. They frequented it from the 4th to the 9th Tibetan months.

During the time of the 8th Dalai Lama, a reading room, a sutra lecture hall, the Dragon King Temple, the Lake Center Palace and Three World Pavilion were added. During the time of the 13th Dalai Lama, Norbu Lingka was expanded further. By 1954, when the Central People¡¯s Government built the New Palace for the 14th Dalai Lama, what we see now as the Norbu Lingka became full fledged in scale.

Located some 2 km southwest of the Potala Palace in the western suburbs of Lhasa, Norbu Lingka covers an area of 360,000 square meters, which is half of the size of the Palace Museum in Beijing. It could be divided into two parts Eastern and Western.

The eastern part is composed of Galsang Phodrang, Lake Center Palace and New Palace, which are screened with walls. The western part is composed of other buildings, which spread quietly in a natural environment.

In between the two parts are tracts of woods, grass and flowers. They contrast sharply with white walls, yellow tiles and gold roofs.

Eastern Part of Norbu Lingka

Three World Pavilion was the oldest of the buildings erected in Norbu Lingka. Serving as the gate to the park, it has three floors and a public square in front, paved with stone slabs for people to celebrate the Shoton (Sour Milk Drinking) Festival and watch theatrical performances. The Dalai Lama and his officials watched the performance on the second floor.

Galsang Phodrang, in the southeastern part of the area, was built in 1755 by the 7th Dalai Lama, and a third floor was added during the time of the 13th Dalai Lama. The first floor was used as the Sutra Hall, the second floor the Hall of Buddhist Guardians Hall of Arhats and the room where the Dalai Lama read sutras, and the third floor was used for the Dalai Lama to receive monks and lay officials. In the second floor, there are four frescoes showing how children play games. One of the four shows eight children jumping through a hoop, with two holding banners written with "happiness and longevity" in Chinese. Three others show "five children watching fish", "five children playing games" and "five children moving things". It is rare to see frescoes depicting such themes in Tibet. The children's clothes and hairstyles reveal the paintings to be of strongly influenced by Chinese style.

Lake Center Palace is the central architecture of the Eastern Part. Built during the period of the 8th Dalai Lama, it sits in a rectangular pond with three square islets spreading from south to north. The palace itself and the pond are surrounded by railings:an architectural formation that existed in the Central Plains for more than 2,000 years. The palace is small in size but the palace top is complete with golden statues of Buddha. Outside the palace are frescoes including some depicting the Green Tara. The two islets flanking the central islet that houses the palace are connected with stone bridges, and the palace also has stone bridges to lead to the shore.

New Palace, located in the northern section of the Eastern Part of Norbu Lingka, faces the Lake Center Palace across the pond. Construction of the palace, to be used as the residence for the 14th Dalai Lama, was rounded off in 1957 after three years of efforts.

New Palace is the largest Tibetan-style palace in Norbu Lingka, with a stone staircase in front. Its front part is composed of two stories, with yellow tiles adorning the flat top for elegance. The bottom part of the palace comprises function rooms. All the living chambers are found on the second floor, with a small sutra hall in the front part, the holy throne for the Dalai Lama in the eastern part and the statues of Past, Present and Future Buddhas in the north. While there are ladder-shaped windows in the walls flanking the palace and in the rear, the front of the second floor has a French window for a panoramic view of the pond. The interior walls are painted with stories telling the history of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama received monks and lay officials in the Grand Sutra Hall, north of the Small Sutra Hall.

Western Part of Norbu Lingka

Chinse Phodrang, built during the period of the 13th Dalai Lama, is one of the three major palaces in Norbu Lingka. As Chinse means "the favored" in Tibetan and the one who supervised construction of the palace was named Chinse Gonbila, the palace is called the Favored Palace and the area called Chinse Lingka.

In front of the Chinse Phodrang is a large square covering an area of 6,800 square meters. In the center of the square is a stone slab-paved path flanked by pines, apricot trees as well as four giant cypress trees. The palace is walled. Inside the palace wall grow roses and peonies. Buildings are all elegant and majestic, complete with long corridor and carved pillars and beams, as well as yellow eaves and gold tops.

The palace has three stories, with the bottom devoted to the Grand Hall, where the 13th Dalai Lama received monks and lay officials, the second floor used as the venue where the Dalai Lama and his men rested and the third floor being where the Dalai Lama held religious rituals.

Galsang Degyi Phodrang is located northwest of the Chinese Phodrang and attached to it. Small in size, it is surrounded by trees and skirted by a flowing stream. Beside it are a pond, pavilions, rocks and small bridges in a way similar to that found in the area south of the Yangtze River.

Shoton Festival in Woods

The Tibetans have the tradition of visiting lingka. Given the fact that Norbu Lingka is a combination of feudal palaces, natural scenery and a structure with a role in Tibetan religious and government fields, it is the first choice for the Lhasans. It is open to the public, who especially throng there for the Sour Milk Drinking or Shoton Festival.

Although the Shoton Festival means eating sour milk, the festival is enriched with singing and dancing, as well as performance of Tibetan opera. It happens in Lhasa in the 6th and 7th months each year. In Xigaze, the festival is celebrated comparatively later.

Prior to the 17th century, Shoton was a pure religious activity. According to Buddhist rules, monks who had been tonsured to monasteries were not allowed to leave their resident monasteries long periods. Local people brought them sour milk as alms. The Shoton Festival was rooted in this factual segment of history.

In the mid-17th century, the Qing Government gave official titles to the 5th Dalai Lama and the 4th Panchen Erdeni. From then on, the Shoton Festival was officially celebrated and added with rich content, including Tibetan opera performances. As the Dalai Lama used to live in the Zhaibung Monastery, the Shoton Festival was also called Zhaibung Shoton Festival. With the construction of the Potala Palace, Tibetan opera was performed there, before moving in the early 18th century to the Norbu Lingka, with the general populace being admitted to watch.

Historically, six local Tibetan opera troupes gathered in the Potala Palace at the end of the 6th Tibetan month for performances in Norbu Lingka. Officials with the Gaxag government accompanied the Dalai Lama while he watched the performance. The lunch included sour milk.

Nowadays, the Shoton Festival has been enriched with recreational activities, commodities fairs and others. It lasts for some days. The State Council has decided to renovate it beginning sometime later this year.

China Tibet Magazine