In the 7th century, King Songtsen Gampo is said to have first laid the foundation where the Potala Palace would be built some ten centuries later, and engaged in the practice of Chenrezik meditation for a long time. Later, during the period of the Fifth Dalai Lama, the regent Desi Sanggyé Gyatso built the white palace on the foundation of the original temple, after which the complex became the center of politics and religion. The Potala is a great treasure-trove of Tibetan culture and art, and it is also an important world heritage site. The palace has many important Buddhist statues, the reliquaries of kings and the Dalai Lama reincarnations, as well as sacred sculptures, scriptures, and stupas.