The Dalai Lama's Secret Temple: Tantric Wall Paintings from Tibet

Behind Tibet's Potala Palace -- seat of the Dalai Lamas since 1649 -- lies a sacred pond said to be inhabited by serpentlike deities called Lu. There, on a willow-covered island in the middle of the lake, is a pagoda roofed Khang, or temple. During the brief reign of the Sixth Dalai Lama, who built the temple in the eighteenth century, unknown artists created a series of mysterious paintings on…