Page 223 - Udaan 2019-2021 Final

Challenges: A modern engineering wonder as it overcame

unstable permafrost, harsh climate, and protection of local
environment by taking care of 33 major migration routes of

the wild animals that inhabit this vast plateau.

Lhasa: Capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, rising

atop the Red Mountains at an elevation of 3700 mts and lies
in the centre of the Tibetan Plateau and surrounded by

mountains rising to elevations of 18,000 ft. The air contains
only 68% oxygen compared to sea level. Lhasa is the

Forbidden City of the world. Lhasa means “place of the gods’.
Originally Lhasa was called Rasa, it was a town built by the

Otang lake, and it was so called because when the waters of
the lake were stirred by the winds it would make the sound

‘Rasala’.Made the capital of Tibet under the reign of

Songsten Gampo.The city was romantically imaged to
possess inconceivable treasures, to preserve ancient wisdom
and to be home to great mystics and saints.

Potala Palace : The red and white Potala Palace in Lhasa is

a Dzong ( Fortress) originally built by Songsten Gampo in
637 CE and was originally called the Mount Potalaka (The

mythical abode of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara)once
served as the winter retreat for the various Dalai lamas from

1649-1959. The Palace has 1000 rooms, including the Dalai
Lama’s living quarters, murals, 10,000 chapels and tombs

(Chortens) and 200,000 statues of all kind. The climb is
steep and one has to negotiate 700 + stone cut steps to reach

the door of the Potala. There is a 1 hour time limit once you
enter the palace and there is a heavy penalty if that time is

exceeded including the cancellation of the guide’s permit.
Inside the palace one has to negotiate more ladder-like stairs

to reach the next higher floor and there are five floors inside