Potala (Tibetan, from Sanskrit; Putuo in Mandarin) refers to the fabled mountain residence of the Bodhisattva (Buddhist saint) Avalokitesvara (‘Looking-Down Lord’, Chenrezig in Tibetan, Guanyin in Mandarin), who embodies the Buddhist ‘eye’ of compassion and is believed to manifest as the Dalai Lamas.
Tibetan people began to venerate Red Hill (Marpori) as a holy site of Buddhism in the 7th century where the soul of Chenrezig resides, and thus it was known as their Mount Potala.