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01-13-2006 17:12

On May 23, 1951, Tibet was peacefully liberated. In 1954, Byampa Kalzang traveled for the first time to Beijing, when he accompanied the 14th Dalai Lama to the National People’s Congress. But his excitement at these developments was soon overtaken by sadness, when reactionaries in Tibet launched an armed rebellion in 1959. He was obliged to abandon the Potala Palace, but his heart remained there. Subsequently, the Potala Palace emerged from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution unscathed, and was reopened to the public in 1980. As a deputy director of the Potala Palace, Byampa Kalzang assumed an important role in its protection and renovation.

From October 1989 to August 1994, the Potala Palace underwent extensive renovation. The central government invested 53 million yuan in what was the first complete restoration since the time of the 5th Dalai Lama. Byampa Kalzang, by then a senior lama, was proud to take part in the project and contribute to preserving the cultural relics in the Potala Palace.

The past four decades have been a time of rapid progress for the Tibet Autonomous Region, economically and in many other respects. Lhasa, the capital, is today more beautiful and full of life than it has ever been. As for the Potala Palace, it remains little changed from the first building erected on the site 1,300 years ago. In recent times, it has witnessed Byampa Kalzang grow from an unschooled boy into a wise and revered monk. Although life has changed tremendously in Tibet, one thing has remained constant; the people’s belief in Tibetan Buddhism. With that, we come to the end of our five-part series on the Potala Palace.

 

Editor:Wang Ping