Lhasa — Echo of the Dalai Lama's Escape

Your journey begins in Potala Palace Square, a site of traditional gatherings and ceremonies, offering a panoramic view of the edifice that dominates Lhasa. The Potala Palace, built in 1645 by the 5th Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, served as the winter residence for the Dalai Lamas until 1959. This monument, 117 meters high and housing over 1000 rooms across 130,000 m², has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1994. It was from this iconic location that the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, began his escape disguised as a soldier in March 1959, fleeing the city of Tibet.

The itinerary then leads you towards Norbulingka Park, the summer residence of the Dalai Lamas, built starting in 1755 by the 7th Dalai Lama. This vast 46-hectare park, with its 374 rooms and the New Palace used by the 14th Dalai Lama, was his last home before his definitive exile. A UNESCO site since 2000, Norbulingka in Lhasa is a crucial point in your mission, approximately 2 km from the Potala, marking the boundary of the route and the location of the final preparations for the escape. It was here that the last details of the Dalai Lama's escape were orchestrated, away from prying eyes.

You then cross Barkhor Street, a 1 km circular pilgrimage circuit around Jokhang Temple, about 1.5 km from the Potala. This medieval paved street, bustling with a traditional Tibetan market of over 100 stalls, is traversed daily by 10,000 pilgrims performing prostrations. At the heart of this fervor, Jokhang Temple, founded in 641 by King Songtsen Gampo, is the spiritual center of Tibetan Buddhism and houses the Jowo Shakyamuni statue. A UNESCO site since 1994, this major pilgrimage site receives 1 million annual visitors, offering an ideal disguise for a discreet escape in Lhasa.

Your journey continues towards Ramoche Temple, built in 641 by Queen Wencheng of the Tang Dynasty, 1.2 km from the Potala. This temple, which houses a statue of Buddha Jowo Mikyö Dorje repatriated from Jokhang in 1919, was restored after damage during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). A key site for retrieving secret information, it represents an essential link in the chain of events leading to the escape. Finally, Chakpori Hill, just 500m from the Potala, though ruined during the Cultural Revolution, housed the former Tibetan medical college founded in the 17th century and offers a strategic view of the Palace, perfect for military surveillance.

Your mission in Lhasa concludes having retraced each step of this historic escape, from Potala Palace Square to the alleys of Barkhor Street. You have explored Tibetan heritage, from the imposing Potala Palace to the peaceful Norbulingka Park, passing through the Jokhang and Ramoche temples, all pillars of Tibetan Buddhism. This interactive visit has immersed you in the heart of Lhasa's history, showing you how the 14th Dalai Lama managed to escape, disguised, from a city under surveillance, leaving behind a spiritual capital in full transformation but rich in its pilgrimage traditions and its unwavering connection to the Himalayas.