A set of 50 photographs and associated handwritten descriptive notes, acquired from the Imperial Russian Geographical Society in St. Petersburg. The complete notes, "1904 View of Great Tibet", are available at: http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/u?/tibet,94
Potala from the south. [N.]
The large dark (de facto red) building on the top of the hill is the "Phodang Marpo" on the "Red Palace" of Sarat Chandra Das (1).
The main southern entrance to the palace is in the white building in the foreground.
To the left (on the picture) of the main entrance and in front of it is in an enclosure a dark (de facto yellow) pavilion over a "pei" dating from 1794 and standing on a stone (2).
To the right of the main entrance is a similar dark (yellow) pavilion over a stone tablet standing on a square stone pedestal, dating from 1721 (3).
The (monolith) column seen near the right pavilion bears an illegible inscription in Tibetan.
Inside the walls, to the right (on the picture) of the main entrance is the mint.
Obs. 1) l.c. p. 166
2) Rockhill l..c p. 264 footnote (1).
3) Rockhill l.c. p. 187 footnote p. (2) and page 264, footnote (1).
"In aspect it is something between the Acropolis at Athens and Mont St. Michel in Normandy. It is an agglomeration of temples palaces, and structures which suggest barracks. The whole is surrounded by walls. The zigzag roads lined by stone walls are the means of communication between the different buildings." (p.550)
"The center of this monastic fortress is occupied by a temple palace, Po-brang marpo, and the red of its walls stands out against the white of the other buildings. There are nine stories on the southern façade, while there are only six or seven stories on the opposite side. Here however, are the four temples, with gilded roofs in the Chinese style. "
(p.551)
Deniker, J. (1903). New light on Lhasa, the forbidden city. The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine LXVI or 66, 544-554. Available through Google Books at: http://books.google.com/books?id=V_YLAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA544&lpg=PA544&dq
