Attractions around the Potala Palace

The main attractions around Potala Palace are Yaowang Hill, the Dragon King Pond and the garden around the Potala Palace. Time is needed to visit with delight and detail and to catch some of the best photographs of those historical sites. A short introductory description is the following.

Yaowang Hill

On the hill opposite the Potala Palace originally stood the Yaowang (Medicinal King) Temple of the College of Tibetan Medicine. The senior monks in the temple were doctors who served the Dalai Lamas. In the 1960s, the college was merged with the Hospital of Tibetan Medicine to the west of Jokhang Monastery. The temple is now in ruins.

Dragon King Pond

To the rear of the Potala Palace, there is a pond. This pond got created itself into the crater left while digging out the earth for the construction of the Potala Palace in the mid-17th century. The Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, built a three-story octagon pavilion in the middle of the pond and took rests in it. The pavilion is named after the statue of the Dragon King in it.

The senior monks in the temple were doctors who served the Dalai Lamas. The pavilion is named after the statue of the Dragon King in it.