Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama misses Lhasa, the Tibetan culture and people, their gentility and generosity and a compassionate society but "not much" his sprawling Potala Palace.
When asked does he miss his sprawling Potala Palace in Lhasa that he escaped from to India during the 1959 Tibetan Uprising?
"Not much...No proper bathrooms there," said the Dalai Lama with his characteristic laughter in reply to a question of school student at the First LBS Founders' Commemorative Lecture on 'A Human Approach to Peace and the Individual' here.
"Now I think after 54 years I am used to a certain lifestyle. Bathroom very easy...No shower very difficult", he continued in the lighter vein.
However, on a serious note, the 14th Dalai Lama said, "I miss the Tibetan culture and people, their gentility and generosity. I miss the compassionate Tibetan society".
"Many Chinese want to visit Tibet as they have a very good impression. I miss Lhasa. The cold and dry climate there are positive factors. There is a lot of rain in Dharamshala (in Himachal Pradesh). I miss here a particular flower Delphinium which grows well in Lhasa," the spiritual leader added.
Potala Palace measuring 400 metres east-west and 350 metres north-south was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until his escaped to India via Khenzimani Pass in Arunachal Pradesh followed by 80,000 Tibetans.
The 13 stories of buildings contain over 1,000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and about 200,000 statues - 117 metres on top of Marpo Ri, the Red Hill, rising more than 300 metres in total above the valley floor, according to historical records.
The Palace named after Mount Potalaka and constructed by the Great Fifth Dalai Lama in 1645 is now a museum and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
