The Potala
King Songtsen Gampo was the first Tibetan ruler to establish a palace on the 'Red Hill', the outcropping which dominates the city of Lhasa on which the Potala now sits. Although this palace was burned down by an invading Chinese army during the reign of his successor, there are two rooms in the Potala the supposedly date from this time. Construction of the current building was started in 1645, during the reign of the great Fifth Dalai Lama. The White Palace was completed in 1653. To complete the central part of the palace, know as the Red Palace, the Dalai Lama's chief advisor, Desi Sanggye Gyatso, concealed the death of the Dalai Lama by saying that he had gone into a long meditation retreat. The Red Palace was completed in 1694, twelve years after the Dalai Lama's death. The palace has over a thousand rooms, and is thought to have 10,000 shrines and 200,000 statues. The White Palace functioned as the traditional seat of government, and the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas. The Red Palace contains temples, and the reliquary tombs of eight past Dalai Lamas. The building is named after Mount Potala in South India, one of the holy mountains of the god Shiva. The Buddhists, however, dedicated this mountain to Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, and the name 'Potala' to the Pure Land where Avalokiteshvara resides. Since both Songtsen Gampo and the Dalai Lamas were considered to be incarnations of Avalokiteshvara, 'Potala' is the right name for their dwelling. The Potala served as the home of successive Dalai Lamas and their monastic staff from the time of the Fifth until the Fourteenth, the present Dalai Lama. Starting in the latter half of the eighteenth century, it has been used as the Winter Palace, the Dalai Lamas residing at the Norbulingka in the summer. The Potala was slightly damaged during the Tibetan uprising in 1959, but was spared from further destruction during the cultural revolution by the personal intervention of Chou En Lai. The Potala was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1944. The Chinese authorities conducted a five year, multi-million dollar restoration which was completed in 1995. When the construction of the Potala was completed, removal of earth used for mortar had left a large depression behind (to the North of) the building. This was filled with water and named the 'Lake of the Naga King'(a naga, lu in Tibetan, is a water-spirit protector of the dharma). Shortly after, the Sixth Dalai Lama build a small chapel, the Lukhang, on an artificial island in this lake. 
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