The Forgotten Pageant: A Feast for the Procession of Gleaming Treasures
The Red Palace's second floor within the Potala Palace is renowned for its murals, which primarily document the construction history of the Red Palace itself. This information comes from the 1995 article "The Splendid Potala Palace - A Treasure for All to See," sourced from "Potala Palace.
Known as the "Historical Record Gallery of the Potala Palace," these murals comprise 698 paintings in total. Located on the second floor of the Red Palace of the Potala Palace (2022, from "Touring the Potala Palace"), they were created by the celebrated Tang-style painters Uqin Danzeng Norbu and Uqiong Sonam Jiebu, who took six years to finish them after the main building was completed in 1693.
The Lhoba Grand Procession on the last day was the entire conference's highlight. One of the most famous murals depicts the Potala Palace's completion celebration and the twelfth anniversary of the Fifth Dalai Lama's passing, featuring the grand procession of the Brightly Illumined Offerings. "The Fifth Buddha," created by Ando Qiangba in the 1990s, is another artwork. There is also a banquet for the procession of bright treasures (1995, from "The Potala Palace").
The Potala Palace's murals intricately capture the procession's moment—an event that began as a dream of the Fifth Dalai Lama and was later realized by the Dalai Lama. As Dixi Sangjiecuo (1995, from "The Potala Palace") describes, the entire image falls into two sections: on the left, the Potala Palace forms the core of "Potala Palace and Snow Citadel," while on the right, "Lhasa City" is centered around the Jokhang Temple.
The Lhasa River Bridge divided the two administrative zones that together made up the whole Lhasa region in earlier times. One zone was the primary city area, which fell under the Lhasa Municipal Hall "Langzi Xia." The other zone, at the foot of the Potala Palace, comprised the palace and its citadel, and was governed by "Xueliekong.
In certain sections of Lhasa’s main city, the ceremony begins at the Jokhang Temple. From the 1995 work “The Potala Palace,” there is a tour of the Potala Palace and Snow Covered City by Offered Bright Treasure. Also from the same source and year, “banquet for the procession of bright treasures” is listed for both the Lhasa City District and the Glass Bridge.
Monks from Lhasa's local government-affiliated monasteries (such as Xide Temple, Xinmur Temple, and Yaowangshan Temple), together with those from the Upper and Lower Tantric Colleges and the Three Great Monasteries (such as Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery, and Ganden Monastery), start a procession in Jokhang Temple's courtyard, carrying various ceremonial objects, when the morning sun lights up the peak of Gephel Wuzi west of the city.
Beneath the Tangliu tree before the Jokhang Temple, the court dance troupe of the Potala Palace dances the traditional Gar Tibetan dance. This is from 'banquet for the procession of bright treasures- ceremonial escort' (1995, from 'The Potala Palace').
The five colors of the flags correspond to pacifying, increasing, magnetizing, subjugating, and wrathful activities. At the head of the procession, there are five groups of fifteen flag bearers each: white flags bearing the Dharma wheel, yellow flags with jewels, red flags with lotus flowers, blue flags with vajras, and green flags with swords.
In a 1940s photograph by George Sherif, a ceremonial escort accompanies the banquet for the procession of bright treasures. At the top of the pole, a decorative emblem signifies the Five Buddhas. More than thirty individuals carry implements like canopies, flags, banners, and conch shells. Meanwhile, a drumming ensemble comprises fifteen drummers and four pairs of musicians performing on instruments.
Behind them rises a second tier, on which stand eight models of the Four Heavenly Kings, each towering to the height of one storey. The first tier includes various bathing implements, mantras, and sacrificial implements, along with costumes depicting heavenly maidens, the Eight Auspicious Symbols, the Eight Auspicious Offerings, and the Seven Treasures of the Chakravartin, as well as a dance troupe making offerings to the Buddha—seven hundred and twenty-five people in total.
The grand procession made its way around Barkhor Street, then turned west and passed through Luilichiao before formally entering the central district of the Potala Palace Snow Guard City. This spectacle was also vividly portrayed in the murals. Two representations of the Four Heavenly Kings model—one from 1995, sourced from "The Potala Palace," and another from the 1940s, photographed by George Sherif—were featured in the banquet for the procession of bright treasures.
On the southern palace wall of the Potala Palace, two enormous Thangkas were hung: the one on the left had the five Buddhas (རྒྱལ་བ་རིགས་ལྔ།) as its central focus, while the one on the right centered on the boundless light Buddha (སངས་རྒྱས་འོད་དཔག་མེད།).
Around the Giant Thangka—a 1995 work from the Potala Palace depicted in a procession of bright treasures—colorful auspicious ribbons are draped. These ribbons, customarily placed on buildings during major holidays at the top center and along both sides, appear similar to a colorful khata offered to the architecture.
From 'The Potala Palace' (1995), there is the work 'banquet for the procession of bright treasures- Auspicious floating ribbon.' Additionally, the murals portray the strange and marvelous scenery of the Potala Palace, with cranes circling above the roof and flowers raining down from the heavens of the divine realm.
To the northwest of Shigatse City stands a large storehouse called the Snow Grain Depot (ཞོལ་ནས་ཁང་།), atop which lies a wide terrace known as the "Grain Depot Roof" (ནས་ཁང་སྟེང་།). The renowned Shigatse Monastery was erected behind this rooftop terrace in the 1920s by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, and the gathering held there marks the principal event of the Shigatse Monastery pilgrimage, as featured in "The Potala Palace" (1995) under the pieces "banquet for the procession of bright treasures- Flower rain" and "banquet for the procession of bright treasures- Crane.
On the south side of the grain depot, a tent was set up facing the Potala Palace, where monks and officials came together to admire the Bright Treasure procession. Once the large Buddha thangka was hung, monks and civilians bowed as one, offering prayers for blessings. The banquet for the procession of bright treasures appears in the Snow Guard City Grain Depot Top (1995, from "The Potala Palace"), the Snow Guard City Grain Depot Top (1921, photographed by Charles Bell), and the Snow Guard City Grain Depot Top.
A portrait of Pam Heap (1957, photographed by Chen Zonglie) exists. At the Potala Palace, the dance troupe commenced a performance of Gar. Monks at Ganden Songtsenling Monastery danced with drums on their backs, while some performers wearing intricate gold masks performed Gar Cham. In addition, a dancer called 'Düje Pam' presented a bowl of fresh milk as an offering to the Buddha and then amused the crowd as a humorous clown, a character commonly found in Vajra dance performances throughout Tibet.
In the meantime, the audience broke into laughter as Dewa Pam, with playful jest, clumsily and comically mimicked the solemn dance steps.
Following the dance's conclusion, the Oracle of Baihar, aided by his attendants, came into the venue and paid homage to the great Buddha before performing and delivering the oracle. As for the dance troupes themselves, the Potala Palace Court Dance Troupe is documented in a 1995 photograph from "The Potala Palace," as well as in a 1940s image captured by George Sherif, both featuring the banquet for the procession of bright treasures. Similarly, the Gongga Qude Temple Drum Dancers appear in a 1995 photo from "The Potala Palace" and a 1940s photograph by George Sherif, also depicting the banquet for the procession of bright treasures.
Undoubtedly the most extraordinary presence at the entire venue was a large elephant decked out in multicolored silk decorations. This animal, a gift from Nepal's king, stayed in the elephant house at the rear of the Potala Palace, with a committed attendant looking after it. Within the grand procession, it took on the role of "elephant treasure" among the Seven Treasures of the State. The banquet for the procession of bright treasures also features the Bai'er oracle (1995, from "The Potala Palace") and the Bai Ha'er protector deity oracle (1940s, photographed by George Sherif).
When the real elephant arrived, it fulfilled the role perfectly, though two people had earlier carried a silk model to represent it. At the center of the venue, it lifted its trunk and turned its head toward the Great Buddha, appearing to offer a reverent salute. This spectacle filled the onlookers with joy and astonishment. Baoxiang (model) A dancer performing the Gyalrong Dance stands in front of the model.
(1940s, photographed by George Sherif) Baoxiang (1957, photographed by Chen Zonglie) After the ceremony on the granary's summit is done, the procession reassembles and proceeds down the western stairway of the granary, exiting the Snow-covered City through the western gate of the palace wall. Having made a full circuit of the Potala Palace, it heads back to Barkhor Street, where the exchange of various ritual objects takes place in the courtyard of the Jokhang Temple.
People joyfully credit the end of the sandstorm season to the auspicious blessing of the Lhakpa Norbu procession as spring plowing begins. At this point, the offering ceremony officially concludes, signifying that the sandstorm season in Lhasa is approaching its end and that spring has arrived in the snowy region.
Zaxi Ciren, a first-hand witness and national-level inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of Ga'er, danced as a young performer in the Potala Palace Dance Troupe from 1950 to 1959. Over nearly the whole of the 1950s, he took part in the offering of the Light Festival and held a highly significant role in it. The photograph of the honor guard marching out of the Snow Guards City was captured by James Griffith in 1945.
On the day of the Lhasa Shoton Festival, as the morning sunlight bathed the summit of Potala Palace, Zaxi Ciren (2016) remembered that they departed from the dancers' dormitory in Snow Welfare City and headed to Jokhang Temple. There, in the courtyard, they dressed in bright dance costumes and, beneath the Tang Willow tree before the temple, delivered a performance of the Tibetan dance "Gar Yal". Once the dance was over, they stepped into the procession and, while marching, played welcoming drum music.
Upon reaching the top of the Snow Welfare City granary, they would carry out the Tibetan dance "Gar Yal." a banquet held for the procession of bright treasures—the palace dance troupe accompanying the royal parade. (1995, from "The Potala Palace") As Snow Guard City hosts numerous ceremonies, following the performance, we would head to the Throne Park, located on the south side of the Potala Palace, to take a break. There, the dance troupe would have snacks and drinks laid out for us. Once the procession was about to move, we had to make our way back to the Potala Palace in a hurry.
Before the procession reaches the Dragon King Pool at the rear of Potala Palace, we'll break away from the group and eat in the forest. After lunch, we'll proceed to the gateway of Xiao Zhao Temple and present "The World" by Ga Er. When the dance concludes, we will be at the procession's tail end. Once we enter Jokhang Temple, we'll switch out of our dance outfits and return home, with our duties for the bright treasure offerings finished... The grain silo's summit was the stage for the court dance troupe.
In the 20th century, Western explorers who entered Tibet were naturally drawn to the magnificent Lingbo ceremony procession and captured its precious moments on camera. The 1957 photograph by Chen Zonglie, showing Zaxi Ciren at eighteen years old, is part of Record of a Stranger in a Foreign Land.
In 1921, Sir Charles Bell of Britain observed the grand procession of the Lingbao while visiting Lhasa. Earlier, Gombojab Tsybikov, a Russian ethnographer, Orientalist, and photographer, had been the first on record to visit central Tibet in 1900-1901 and capture the initial photograph of the Lingbo procession. That image, titled "Parade of the Jewels" (1900-1901, photographed by Zybikov), was featured in National Geographic magazine in 1905.
This article is translated from Shongling Phun's blog. In 1957, Chen Zonglie photographed "Parade of the Jewels" as well as an impressive procession carrying classical musical instruments said to be relics of the Tubo Kingdom. During the 1940s, James Guthrie and British botanist George Sherriff recorded extensive video footage of the Loi Krathong Parade. The spectacle of the Lingbao procession was captured at the summit of Medicine King mountain; a 1921 photograph titled "Parade of the Jewels" was taken by Charles Bell.
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