Tibet Museum
Tibet Museum (西藏博物馆), located southeast of the Norbulingka, is the first one of its kind in Tibet with modern facilities and functions. Its construction began in 1996 and was completed in June 1999. With a floor space of 23,508 sq. m, it is divided into four sections—the exhibition area, office and residential area, folk culture park, and storehouse for cultural relics.
It boasts a collection of some 40,000 precious rare objects. On display are prehistoric cultural relics, Buddhist images, bodhisattvas, sculptures of historical figures, Tibetan classics and exquisite Thang-gas (Tangkas) of every kind, religious instruments, musical instruments, pottery and rare handicrafts.
It also houses relics related to Songtsen Gampo’s uniting Tibet and his marriage with Tang Princess Wencheng; Yuan court documents on the official annexation of Tibet into Yuan territory; official letters and documents exchanged between the successive Chinese central governments and the Tibetan local government; the gold seals and gold portfolio of authority bestowed by the emperors on the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama; and the golden urn for drawing lots to select high lamas.
