Yumbulagang Palace

Perched on the summit of the Jormo Zhaxi Ceri Mountain on the east bank of the Yarlung River, Yumbulagang is the first palace in Tibet. It was built for the first Tibetan King by Bon believers in the 2nd century, and became the summer palace of King Songtsan Gampo and Princess Wencheng. Then the 5th Dalai Lama changed it to the temple of Old-Yellow Hat Sect.

According to a legend of followers of the Bon Religion, Yumbulagang was erected in the second century BC for the first Tibetan king Nyatri Tsenpo, descended from the sky. During the reign of the 28th King Lha Thothori Nyantsen in the fifth century a golden Stupa, a jewel (and/or a form to the manufacture of dough-Stupas) and a Sutra, that no one could read, felt from the sky on the roof of the building and should have called a voice of the sky: 'in five generations one should come, that understands its meaning.' Later, Yumpulagang became the summer palace of the 33rd king Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wencheng in the Tang Dynasty. After Songtsen Gampo had transferred his seat to Lhasa, Yumbulagang became a Chapel and under the reign of the 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, a monastery of the Gelugpa School.

Recommended Tour: 5 Days Cultural Tibet Tour
(Destination: Tsedang-Lhasa)