Rublin Pavilion: The Garden of the Gods Before the Potala
The Kangsong Sirun Pavilion (ཁམས་གསུམ་ཟིལ་གནོན་), situated in front of the Potala Palace and forming part of its architectural complex, was initially constructed during the reign of the 13th Dalai Lama as a wooden structure intended for viewing performances. Subsequent expansion and renovation work was carried out under Regent Reting and the 14th Dalai Lama. A photograph taken from this location, along with one taken in front of the Potala Palace itself, accompanies the 20th-century work "Panoramic View of Lhasa," housed at the Zhanabazar Museum of Fine Arts, with the site identified as Roblinka.
Belonging to the Huxin Palace architectural complex and bearing the name “Kang Le Ju Zhong Xi Palace” (བདེ་སྐྱིད་ཀུན་དགའ་འཁྱིལ་བའི་ཕོ་བྲང་), this palace was first constructed under the Eighth Rinpoche and later expanded by the Thirteenth Rinpoche. It stands in front of the Boating Palace (གྲུ་འཛིན་ཕོ་བྲང་), and its interior appears in a self-taken photograph featured in “Tibetan Architecture” as the entrance to the palace at the center of the lake, within Kangsongsi Lunge, Tibet. The structure symbolizes the inner palace of the Pure Land of Guanyin.
The inscription 'After five generations, there will be a person who understands the meaning' is found on a mural in 'The Forbidden City in the Dusk (Self-Portrait) "Hall of Nanguan, Three Hundred and One Murals" - Partial.' The mural shows a partial image of Tibetan King Trisong Detsen at Yumbulagang as he receives the 'mysterious divine object.' That 'person who understands the meaning' denotes Songtsen Gampo.
The 19th-century "Panorama of Lhasa" at the Royal Ontario Museum depicts the Seventh Dalai Lama's first arrival in Lhasa, a moment encompassing thirty years of great changes. Local: Seven Venerable Ones. Reflecting on the life of Gedun Gyatso (1708-1757), the Seventh Dalai Lama, his trials are undeniable. In his early years, the Dzungar had taken control of Lhasa, and as the political and religious heir of the Tibetan region, Gedun Gyatso was unable to enter the city.
Owing to the enduring rivalry between the Tibetan regions of U-Tsang and Kham, the five chief ministers appointed to govern those areas—three from U-Tsang and two from Kham—grew increasingly suspicious of one another, which ultimately triggered the Fourth U-Tsang-Kham War. Before that, in 1720, Tibetan nobles had acted in unison to expel the Dzungar people and restore Gedun Gyatso in Lhasa. That peaceful interval, however, proved short-lived.
Both the Seventh Dalai Lama and the Fifth Panchen Lama urged the warring factions to negotiate peace, yet those efforts achieved little headway. In the meantime, the Seventh Dalai Lama and his father Sangye Tashi—whose wife at the time was the daughter of a U-Tsang minister—were covertly supporting the U-Tsang nobility. Furthermore, Sangye Tashi repeatedly attempted to delay the fighting under the cover of ceasefire talks, buying time for the U-Tsang nobles.
When Palden Lhawang Bosoe Namtok Gyatsas, the prime minister of the victorious former rulers, entered Lhasa, the destiny of Central Tibet's three noble families was not difficult to foresee. The earlier balance of power had shifted: the initially weaker Kham forces gained strength, repelled the U-Tsang troops, and compelled the three U-Tsang ministers to take shelter in the Potala Palace, where they sought the Seventh Dalai Lama's protection. The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art holds an 18th-century work titled "The Seven Buddhas Portrait".
During his siege of the Potala Palace, Palden Lhawang Bosoe Namtok Gyatsas was approached by the monastic and lay residents of Lhasa together. They said, "We are not pleading for the three great lords of Central Tibet, but we vouch that the honorable one and his father are innocent of the assassination of Kangxi Ne (the prime minister of the previous rulers, killed by Central Tibetan nobles); please do not harm them." Palden Lhawang Bosoe Namtok Gyatsas then replied, "If they have no part in this affair, do not associate with the wicked, just as one avoids poisonous snakes.
To rescue the three former rulers of Central Tibet, the Seventh Dalai Lama dispatched an envoy who agreed to serve as their guarantor. The envoy stated, "You can welcome them into the Three Great Monasteries and drive the three evil men out of the palace." Meanwhile, Palden Lhawang Bosoe Namtok Gyatsas pledged on a temporary basis to leave the three ex-rulers unharmed and to keep their possessions intact, but only if they remained under his watch.
After the Qing emperor’s envoy arrived in Lhasa, the three men from Central Tibet and their supporters were beheaded, and the Dalai Lama was sent back with his father to their hometown of Lithang (later relocated to Huian Monastery in Taining). In June 1728, while the Seventh Dalai Lama’s authority was declining, Palden Lhawang Bosoe Namtok Gyatsas visited the Dalai Lama at the palace and vowed to preserve a pure relationship of offering and receiving alms in the years to come.
With the aid of Emperor Qianlong and the backing of Zhang Jia (1717-1786), the Seventh Panchen Lama made his way back to Lhasa once more. During this period, the governing authority in Tibet came under the formal dominion of Palden Lhawang Bosoe Namtok Gyatsas, which inaugurated what is formally known as the "era of the Tibetan kings" (མི་དབང་མཆོག་གི་དུས་སྐབས་；1728-1750). For depictions of the "Tibetan royal family" in art, the earlier article should be consulted. "The Third Chapter of Jia," an 18th-century work housed at the Jacques Marchais Tibetan Art Museum, serves as one such example.
A woodblock print titled "The 54th Regent Ganden Chopel Wangduo Denpa" exists. Ngawang Chodan (ངག་དབང་མཆོག་ལྡན་; 1677-1751) was the Seventh Dalai Lama's instructor during that Dalai Lama's period away from Lhasa, and he shared the Reting Monastery lineage with the Seventh Dalai Lama. Having become an early confidante, Ngawang Chodan was the one who kept up the Seventh Dalai Lama's ties to the three major monasteries in Lhasa. The 1735 return to Lhasa proved to be a deeply painful journey for the Seventh Dalai Lama, unlike his previous trip there.
In 1747, Polane, the renowned Tibetan king, died. At that time, military and political power in Tibet remained in the hands of the Tibetan monarch, while the Seventh Dalai Lama possessed only symbolic authority to oversee religious matters. Suffering from recurring rheumatism and headaches (regarded as outward signs of the robbing karma), the Dalai Lama lived in seclusion at the Potala Palace, depending on loyal confidants—including some former Tibetan nobles and monks from the three major monasteries—to monitor the activities of the Lhasa government.
During a series of political struggles in 1750, Gyurme Namgyal, the second son who had succeeded him as the new king, was assassinated by a Qing dynasty official stationed in Tibet. In Tibetan noble records, this heir is described as a man with a history of "misdeeds". With the appearance of Roblinka, the distinctive role of Zongjuelu Kang as a secluded practice place for the Venerable Masters gradually diminished. "Panoramic View of Lhasa" (20th century, Rubin Museum Partial) features Zong Juelu Kang.
In 1751, Kelzang Gyatso, the Seventh Dalai Lama, was once again the de facto ruler of Tibet. This came after the assassination of Kumajang, from which the Seventh Dalai Lama and his long-silent but watchful loyal followers ultimately profited. With the aid of his confidants and the Qing Dynasty, the historical record of Kumajang and the Tibetan royal family was obscured, and most of their traces were eliminated.
To give the Seventh Dalai Lama, who had been suffering from illness for a long time, a more suitable residence, government officials, representatives of the Qing Dynasty, and the Potal
According to "Tibetan Architectural Art", an elevation diagram of the Imperial Palace and an elevation drawing of the Potala Palace are presented, after which the crowd is led into the park. In 1755, a grand palace featuring Tibetan garden design was constructed, called Roblinka in honor of the Seventh Dalai Lama. As His Holiness took up residence in the garden with his devoted attendants and was surrounded by officials, the residents of Lhasa steadily redirected their focus to this resting palace and garden situated in the southwestern part of the city.
After more than thirty years of worldly ups and downs, the Seventh Dalai Lama passed away in 1757. By the time of his death, the trusted political forces and those of the Qing dynasty had entirely taken over the governance of political and religious matters in the Tibetan region. Meanwhile, the mural 'The Eighth Incarnation of the Buddha', which offers a panoramic view of Potala Palace, dates from the 18th century and belongs to a private collection, as found in the 'Architectural Art Series of Tibet: Potala Palace'.
Unlike the Fifth Dalai Lama, Jampel Gyatso (1758-1804), the Eighth Dalai Lama, had no need to focus on political affairs. Because of his fragile health, he remained a devout religious practitioner throughout his life. In decisions between regents and officials, he often relied on a circle of trusted followers to make firm choices. Yet during his reign, clashes between those followers and government officials were frequent, and in the end some key associates were expelled from the Potala Palace.
The Potala Palace appeared more appealing to the Eighth Dalai Lama than did the Jokhang Temple. Throughout his rule, it underwent constant expansion, ultimately becoming a fully formed architectural complex. Its distinctive water elements offered the Eighth Dalai Lama—a fervent practitioner of tantra—an ideal setting for meditation.
Consequently, he initiated multiple expansion efforts, among them the creation of the Lake Palace area, which became the Potala Palace's second architectural complex. Throughout the line of successive Dalai Lamas, the Potala Palace has remained a place where the Dalai Lamas reside and pursue their studies. Within the Three Great Monasteries, the Potala Palace bears the nickname "Garden Guru"（གླིང་ཚལ་བླ་མ་）, a term for the teachers who enter the palace gardens to give instruction to the Dalai Lama.
Historically, among the past lineage of elders, it was the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Thupten Gyatso (ཐུབ་བསྟན་རྒྱ་མཚོ་; 1876-1933), who truly maximized the political connection between Lhasa and his trusted officials. The Western Dragon Palace (left) and Lake Heart Palace (right) are shown in "Tibetan Architectural Art Series: Norbulingka," while an elevation of the Lhasa Potala Palace appears in "Tibetan Architectural Art.
The sleeping quarters, initially built in a South Asian style, had to be reconstructed because of design problems, eventually becoming the present-day Norbulingka Palace (erected between 1926-1929). The Thirteenth Dalai Lama oversaw that construction, having launched an expansion of the Potala Palace’s garden area—known as the Norbulingka, or the Precious Garden—in 1922, driven by his ambition to carve out a private space reserved only for himself.
Entrusted to Tudeng Gongpei (ཐུབ་བསྟན་ཀུན་འཕེལ་; also known as Gongpei), the favorite minister of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, was the construction of the Potala Palace complex. Consequently, the Potala Palace was formally separated into two sections: the eastern side, with the Potala Palace complex at its center, and the western side, centered on the Norbulingka Palace complex. A woodcut print of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama Thubten Gyatso and the elevation picture of the Potala Palace appears in "Tibetan Architectural Art".
Within the murals featured in 'Tibetan Architectural Art Series: The Potala Palace' is a panoramic view of the Summer Palace. A folk song from Lhasa says: “སྐུ་བཅར་ཤར་ཆེན་ལྕོག་ལ། སྐུ་མཚམས་རུབ་ནས་བཞུགས་ཤག། མོ་ཊ་ནོར་བུ་གླིང་གར། རྩ་ཁ་བཟས་ནས་བསྡད་ཤག།” — “In the summer corner, the attendant Should be in contemplation and meditation, The attendant's sedan chair But in the summer palace, eating grass.” The garden's owner left Lhasa several times and witnessed the Qing Dynasty's collapse. He often hid in the Potala Palace complex (and, during his later years, set up a personal guard barracks at the Norbulingka), controlling the overall situation from his bedchamber and devising numerous modern reforms in the Tibetan region.
With the assistance of his three core confidants (military advisor - palace steward - government official), the Thirteenth Dalai Lama issued one decree after another in the comfortable environment of the garden.
In the book "Tibetan Architectural Art Series: Roblinca," both the winter scenery of Roblinca and its Apricot Forest are depicted. This sacred garden, with a history of nearly three hundred years, is not laid out like traditional Chinese gardens with "winding paths leading to secluded spots" or Mughal gardens with "surrounding palaces fit for kings." Rather, the Norbulingka is inspired by Tibetan garden forms (temple gardens - manor gardens - castle gardens) and also draws on Han Chinese, South Asian, and Western garden art.
The architectural layout places buildings in a state of separation while keeping them aesthetically cohesive, evoking a presentation of power tied to the paradise of sentient beings. As for the vegetation, the planning prioritizes the coexistence of ornamental and medicinal plants, achieving eighty percent green coverage and mirroring the ideal world of Buddhism.
Finally, as for palace facilities and garden ornamentation, the "palatial style"—which has been prominent since the founding of the Ganden Phodrang, exemplified by the Snow Palace and the Court Painting Institute—is emphasized, and its meticulous details reveal a varied cultural and artistic outlook.
In 1932, Ando Geshé Dandul Shépai LodröPel paid a visit to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama at Norbulingka, where he described the site as "This is a rare and magnificent garden of pure delight rarely seen in the world." This text is a translation originating from Sorang Wangqing's blog.