Red Palace is at the center of the Potala Palace. The outside wall of it is red. It was designed in mandala layout. Around the Dalai's Stupas there are many scripture halls and Buddha halls, and connecting with the White Palace.
Main Architactures
The main architectures of the Potala Palace are the 5 Dalai Lamas’ Stupa Halls respectively belongs to the fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth and thirteenth Dalai Lamas. Each Halls is in the same layout, but not the same size. The largest one is the Fifth Dalai Lama’s Stupa Hall, which is 3 layers high and support by 16 big square columns with the stupa of the Fifth Dalai Lama in the middle of it. Beside it, there are the Tenth Dalai Lama and the Twelfth Dalai’s stupas. The Lailingta Hall of the Fifth Dalai’s Xiangtangxi Hall is the largest hall of the Red Palace, which is 6 m high and covers 725.7 square meters. In the hall, there is a horizontal inscribed board with the words written by Qiang Long Emperor. There are 698 murals in the hall, which mostly are about the life of the Fifth Dalai. At the west part is the Stupa Hall of the Thirteenth Dalai; it is latest architecture in the Potala Palace built in 1936. The scale of this hall can be compared with the Fifth Dalai Lama’s Stupa Hall. Except for the stupa, there is a silver statue of the Thirteenth Dalai.
It is said that the Dharmaraja Hall and Matha Kuar Temple are the architectures left from the Tubo Period. Dharmaraja Hall is at the center of the Potala Palace and on the summit of Maburi Hill. It is said the Dharmaraja Hall was the retreat of Srongtsen Gampo. It is enshrining and worshiping the statues of Srongtsen Gampo, Bhrikuti, Princess Whencheng and ministers. The Matha Kuar Temple worships Sontzen gampo’s Lord Buddhas-Avalokitesvara.
On the roof deck of the Red Palace, there are full of the golden rooftop of each hall. The roofs are single eaves Xieshan type with gilding bronze tiles. On the top, there are 3 golden pagodas. The Gold treasure house and red color prayer flags embody the strong Tibetan Style. Shangjiexingsheng Hall is the highest hall in possession of lots of Buddhist sutras and portraits of Qing Dynasty emperors.
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