Yumbu-Lha Castle, Shannan, Tibet, China
Yumbu Lhakhang Palace is located 5 kilometers southeast of Nedong County, in Shannan Prefecture of Tibet. It is a building similar in shape to a blockhouse standing on top of a hill. That is the Yumbu Lhakhang Palace, the oldest palace on that high land built over two thousand years ago for the first Tsampo of the Tubo tribe, although through extension, the palace gradually became a Buddhist monastery.
Located on the east bank of the Yalong River southeast of Tsedang Town, the Yumbu Lakang is famed as the first Tibetan palace. It was originally built for Nyatri Tsenpo who was the first king of Tibet in the 2nd century BC and it has become the Tibetan kings’ palace since then. During the reign of Songtsen Gampo, it became the summer palace for Princess Wenchen and him. After Songtsen Gampo moved the capital to Lhasa in the 7th century, the palace became a Gelugpa monastery during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama.
Epic China Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound
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