Consecration ceremonies held for Tibet's cultural relic buildings

　　BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Consecration ceremonies have just been held before the completion of renovation projects for the Potala Palace, Norbulinka Palace and Sakya Monastery according to religious rituals.

　　As the world-famous ancient Tibetan-style architectures, the three buildings embody the combination of the Han and Tibetan architectural arts.

　　Photo taken on March 21, 2009, shows Tibetan workers repairing the fence wall of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, capital of southwest China‘s Tibet Autonomous Region. (Xinhua Photo)

　　In 2002, China‘s Central Government decided to allocate 380 million yuan RMB (55.6 million U.S. dollars) repairing the three sites in seven years.

　　Nyima Tsering, director of the office for the renovation projects, said that most of the sub-projects have been finished, with the colors, sizes, and materials of the buildings retained.

　　The Norbulinka Palace invited 30 monks with Geshe degree (the highest degree in Tibetan Buddhism) from the Ramoche Monastery and Muru Monastery to hold a three-day consecration ceremony and the Potala Palace invited 60 such monks to hold a three-day consecration ceremony.

　　All 160 monks of the Sakya Monastery attended a seven-day consecration chanting ceremony and other related activities.