Lhasa, Potala Palace and Marpori (red mountain) from the west

A set of 50 photographs and associated handwritten descriptive notes, acquired from the Imperial Russian Geographical Society in St. Petersburg. The complete notes, "1904 View of Great Tibet", are available at: http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/u?/tibet,94Marpori from a nearer point of view and more from the west. [N.]"Religious worship of the great gods has, the world over, been principally conducted in high places; mountain-tops have ever been their favorite abodes. […] At an early date in the history of Buddhism, the cult of the 'All-Merciful God who looks down and sees the miseries of the world,' the Saviour, Avalokiteshwara became probably the most popular one, and Mount Potala, near the mouth of the river Indus, was held to be his abode. […] In Tibet his worship was, in all likelihood, associated with some mountain form at the earliest days, for legends tell us that when he came to Tibet to bring civilization and salvation to the people, he took up his abode on a hill to the west of the present city of Lhasa, called the Red Hill (Marpo-Ri). Here, in the seventh century, the kings of Tibet built their modest palace, and Lhasa grew at its base."(p.544) Holdich, T. H. (1901). Lhasa. The Geographical Journal, 18(6), 602-607. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/view/00167398/ap020108/02a00050/0Grayscal