Yumbulagang (; ) or Yumbu Lakhar (, is the original palace of the

Yarlung Dynasty The Yarlung dynasty (;, is a Tibet, Tibetan dynasty of List of emperors of Tibet, 42 kings, dating from 127 BCE to 842 CE. This dynasty gave rise to the Tibetan Empire period from 614 CE to 848 CE, credited to the 33rd king Songtsen Gampo, and la ...

kings of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

. As the first building in Tibet, it was the palace of the first Tibetan king,

Nyatri Tsenpo Nyatri Tsenpo (, ) was a king of Tibet. He was a legendary progenitor of the Yarlung dynasty. His reign is said to have begun in 127 BC and in traditional Tibetan history, he was the first ruler of the kingdom. Tibetan Buddhist sources state t ...

who reigned during 127 BCE.Claude Arpi, ''Glimpses on the History of Tibet''. Dharamsala:The Tibet Museum, 2013. Yumbulagang stands on a hill at a bend along the Yarlung Tsampo River, on the eastern bank of the

Yarlung Valley The Yarlung Valley is formed by Yarlung Chu, a tributary of the Tsangpo River in the Shannan Prefecture in the Tibet autonomous region of China. It refers especially to the district where Yarlung Chu joins with the Chongye River, and broadens ...

of southeast Lhokha, about southeast of

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

and south of

Tsetang Tsetang () or Zedang (), is the fourth largest city in Tibet and is located in the Yarlung Valley, southeast of Lhasa in Nedong District of the Shannan Prefecture in the Tibet region of China. It is the capital of Shannan Prefecture (which ...

. The palace and its shrine were demolished during the 1966-1976

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, and the palace has been partially rebuilt.

History

Yumbulagang was built by the first Tibetan king,

. He manifested by descending from the sky into a field of yaks, and was made the chief by the nomadic herds people. Chief Nyatri started to rule in 127 BCE, the start of the Tibetan Royal Era. During the reign of the 28th king,

Thothori Nyantsen Thothori Nyantsen or Lha Thothori Nyantsan (), was the 28th King of Tibet and among the members of the Yarlung dynasty's 42 kings who ruled Tibet from 127 BCE to 842 AD. He had received Tibet's first Buddhist texts from the sky and guarded them, h ...

in the fifth century AD, a golden

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

, a

tsa-tsa mold Tsatsa may refer to: * Tsatsa (votive offering), used in Buddhist stupas * Tsatsa, Volgograd Oblast, a locality in Svetloyarsky District, Volgograd Oblast, Russia * , a lake in Svetloyarsky District, Volgograd Oblast, Russia * Tabitha Tsatsa ...

, and a

Mahayana Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

sutra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...

, that the king could not read, fell from the sky onto the roof of the Yumbulagang while the king was walking. Another account states that an Indian Buddhist monk brought the relics as gifts for the king, and told him to keep them safe for five generations when their meanings would be understood. Another later account suggests "a voice from the sky announced, 'In five generations one shall come that understands its meaning!' " Five generations later, Yumbulagang became the palace of the 33rd Tibetan king,

Songtsen Gampo Songtsen Gampo (Classical , pronounced ) (; (601–683 CE, reign 614-648) was the 33rd Tibetan king of the Yarlung dynasty and the founder of the Tibetan Empire. The first of three Dharma Kings of Tibet, he formally introduced Buddhism to Tib ...

(604-650 AD), who commissioned the written Tibetan language and alphabet. He introduced Mahayana Buddhism to his court, while two of his foreign wives were already Buddhists: The Nepali queen

Bhrikuti Bhrikuti Devi (), known to Tibetans as , Bhelsa Tritsun ("Besa" Nepal ) or simply (), was a princess of the Licchavi kingdom in Nepal. In c.622Dr Poonam Rana, "Role of Bhrikuti (Bhelsa Tritsun) in spread of Buddhism", Sirjana Journal, p.208-115. ...

and the Chinese queen Wencheng. After Songtsen Gampo built the

Red Palace Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

in Lhasa and transferred the seat of his temporal authority to

, Yumbulagang became a

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

. During the reign of the

5th Dalai Lama The 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was recognized as the 5th Dalai Lama, and he became the first Dalai Lama to hold both Tibet's political and spiritual leadership roles. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fif ...

(1617-1682) a thousand years later, the Dalai Lama rebuilt the Red Palace as the

Potala Palace Potala Palace ( Tibetan: པོ་ཏ་ལ་ཕོ་བྲང Chinese: 布达拉宫) is the name of a museum in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in China, built in the ''dzong''-style. It was previously a palace of t ...

, and turned Yumbulagang into a monastery for the

Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous' ...

school. The Yumbulagang was destroyed during the

Cultural revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

Dorje (1999), p. 195. and "only a piece of the original building's base remained in place." The palace was partially reconstructed in 1983. Again in November 2017, restoration work valuing $1.5m began, to reinforce crumbling wooden foundations and cracked walls. It was expected to reopen to the public in April 2018. File:Yumbulagang Palace from Above.jpg File:Yumbulagang (22635179009).jpg,

Stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

File:Yumbu Lagang-48-Gerstenfelder-Burg-2014-gje.jpg File:Yumbulagang (23038558791).jpg, prayer flags on the path to Yumbulagang File:Tibet & Nepal (5180521724).jpg File:Pitchfork of Death at Yumbulagang.jpg, Pitchfork of Death at Yumbulagang

Interior

The palace is divided into front and rear precincts. The front is a three-storey building while the rear is dominated by a tall tower, like a castle. Enshrined at the palace are the statues of Thiesung Sangjie Buddha, King

, the first King of Tibet, King

and other

Tibetan Empire The Tibetan Empire (,) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. It expanded further under the 38th king, Trisong De ...

era kings.

Zorthang

Traditionally, the largest cultivated area in Tibet, called Zorthang, is located to the northwest of Yumbulagang. Even today, farmers sprinkle soil from Zorthang on their own fields to ensure a good harvest. There used to be a temple, Lharu Menlha, containing images of the Eight Medicine Buddhas near the area. Yumbu Lagang-04-Strasse-2014-gje.jpg, Yumbu Lagang-16-Aufstieg-2014-gje.jpg, Yumbu Lagang-24-Umgebung-2014-gje.jpg, Yumbu Lagang-54-Burg von oben-2014-gje.jpg, Yumbu Lagang-60-Abstieg-2014-gje.jpg,

Footnotes

References

* Buckley, Michael and Strauss, Robert. ''Tibet: a travel survival kit''. (1986) Lonely Planet Publications, Victoria, Australia. . * Das, Sarat Chandra. (1902). ''Lhasa and Central Tibet''. Reprint: (1988). Mehra Offset Press, Delhi. * Dorje, Gyume (1999). ''Footprint Tibet Handbook with Bhutan''. Footprint Handbooks, Bath, England. . * Dowman, Keith. (1988) ''The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide''. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London & New York. . * Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005) ''Tibet''. 6th Edition. . * ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho: ''bod kyi deb ther dpyid kyi rgyal mo’i glu dbyangs''. Kapitel 2 und 3. Übersetzung von Zahiruddin Ahmad ins Englische: ''A History of Tibet by the Fifth Dalai Lama of Tibet'' (Bloomington, Indiana University 1995), . * nor brang o rgyan: ''gangs can yul gyi sa la spyod pa’i mtho ris kyi rgyal byon gtso bor brjod pa’i deb ther rdzogs ldan gzhon nu’i dga' ston dpyid kyi rgyal mo’i glu dyangs-kyi ’grel pa yid kyi dga’ ston'' (Beijing, mi rigs dpe skrun khang / Mínzú chūbǎnshè 民族出版社 1993), .
History of Tibet – A Few Chapters (Part 1)
*

External links

Yum bu bla sgang
''(Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library)'' {{Buddhist monasteries in Tibet Buddhist buildings in Tibet Forts in Tibet Dzongs in Tibet History of Tibetan Buddhism Buddhist monasteries in Tibet Tibetan Buddhist places Palaces in Tibet