(TibetanReview.net, Jan03’25) –The iconic Potala palace is a propaganda mascot for China’s claim that it protects Tibetan culture in the face of allegations that it is destroying the living culture of the Tibetan people: their ethnography and ethnicity, language, religion, and their traditional way of life. On Dec 31, China celebrated the 30th anniversary of its designation of the palace as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The palace has attracted floods of visitors since 2014, receiving over 14.4 million visits, reported China’s official chinadaily.com.cn Jan 3, citing official data and underlining its propaganda value.
An exhibition took centre stage at the Potala palace, located in Tibet’s ancient capital Lhasa, on Dec 31. The event was organized by the region’s cultural relics bureau and executed by the Potala Palace Management Office. It features over 100 cultural relics symbolizing ethnic unity, the report said.
In keeping with China’s ongoing campaign to Sinicize Tibetan culture and dilute Tibet’s ethnography, the report said, “The exhibition uses a blend of physical artefacts, imagery, archival materials, videos and multimedia presentations to showcase the colourful history of cultural interflows between Tibetan ethnic heritage and the diverse ethnic cultures across the nation.”
The report continued, “Visitors will find a delineation of various facets of the palace, such as relic preservation, ancient architectural conservation and technological advancements, showing its evolution from traditional roots to modern adaptations and from a tapestry of diversity to a unified entity.”
The palace’s management office was also stated to have convened a symposium to commemorate the 30th anniversary on Dec 31 night.
The Potala was the winter residence of successive Dalai Lamas and the seat of the Tibetan government since 1649, even as its construction continued till 1694. China bombarded the palace during its suppression of the Tibetan uprising in 1959, greatly weakening its structural stability.
The palace’s invaluable artefacts, accumulated over the millennia, were plundered during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966-76), with the losses having never been accounted for.