THE CULTURAL MONUMENTS OF TIBET Volume II PDF

THE CULTURAL MONUMENTS OF TIBET
Volume II
MICHAEL HENSS
THE CULTURAL
MONUMENTS OF
TIBET
THE CENTRAL REGIONS
VOLUME II
THE SOUTHERN TIBETAN PROVINCE OF TSANG
PRESTEL
Munich London New York
484
Contents
Volume I
Foreword by Loden Sherab Dagyap Rinpoche
13
Preface
14
Introduction
16
The Central Tibetan Province of A definition of its historical geography
23
Lhasa and Its Historical Monuments
Lhasa through the ages An outline of its sacred and secular art and architecture
26
Barkor and Lingkor The way of the pilgrims
39
Jokhang and Tsuglagkhang The Diamond Throne of Tibet
45
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
45
60
64
68
77
History and architecture From Jokhang to Tsuglagkhang

The early sculptural decoration
Wall-paintings, 11th to 20th century
The Jowo sanctum
Important images and cultural relics at the Jokhang
Ramoche Temple The Smaller Jokhang
89
The Potala Palace Sacred and secular residence of the Dalai Lamas
97
5.1
5.2
The Potala before the Potala Palace, 7th to 16th century History, buildings, images
The Potala Palace of the Dalai Lamas, 17th to 20th century
97
106
5.2.1
5.2.2
5.2.3
The White Palace Audience halls and private rooms

The Red Palace Sanctuaries and mausoleums
Divine palace and government fortress The architecture of the Tibetan theocracy
106
110
133
5.3
The Shl quarter The downtown Potala village
135
Lukhang The shrine in the Naga Kings Lake
144
Chagpo Ri Cave sanctuary and Temple of Medicine
148
7.1
7.2
148
150
10
Draglha Lu cave sanctuary

Mentsikhang The sacred medical college
Norbu Lingka Summer Palace of the Dalai Lamas
155
8.1
8.2
8.3
157
158
161
Kelsang Podrang Palace of the Seventh Dalai Lama

Chensel Podrang Palace of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama
Takten Migyur Podrang Palace of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama
Monasteries and temples in Lhasa
168
9.1
9.2
9.3
9.4
Meru Nyingpa An ancient power-place reconstructed

Pabongka monastery From tower to temple
Gyme The Lower Tantric College for esoteric teachings
The Four Regency Monasteries Tengye Ling, Knde Ling, Tsemn Ling, Shide Ling
168
171
172
173
9.4.1
9.4.2
9.4.3
9.4.4
Tengye Ling Residence of the Demo Tulkus

Knde Ling Where all lived peacefully
Tsemn Ling A Regent Monastery for long life
Shide Ling Destruction and reconstruction of a landmark building
173
174
174
175
The Tibet Museum Selected cultural relics
177
CONTENTS
II
The Three Great Seats of Learning: Ganden, Drepung, Sera

Administration and Architecture
Introduction
208
Ganden The first monastery of the Gelugpa School
210
Drepung Origin and power-place of the Tibetan theocracy
218
2.1
2.3
2.3
220
224
228
3
4
Tsuglagkhang The main assembly hall

The four college temples: Ngagpa, Loseling, Gomang, Deyang
The Ganden Palace Residence of the Gelugpa hierarchs and early Dalai Lamas
Nechung The monastic residence of Tibets State Oracle
229
Sera The principal academy for Mahayana studies
235
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
236
238
239
241
Ngagpa The Tantric Faculty

Sera Me College
Sera Je College
Tsuglagkhang The main assembly hall
III
Monuments of the Kyi Chu Valley and Beyond
Nyethang Dlma Lhakhang In memory of Atisha
258
Tsel Gungthang monastery A religio-political power-place of the Mongol-Tibetan period
268
The Drag Yerpa hermitages Meditation and retreat in a sacred landscape
271
Gyama Trikhang The legendary birthplace of King Songtsen Gampo
273
Katsel Monastery A Border-taming Temple of the Lhasa Mandala
275
Zhayi Lhakhang Doring pillars and royal edicts of Tibets early history
276
Drigung Thil monastery A treasure house of Tibetan art
277
Radeng monastery The origins of the Kadampa school
281
Taglung monastery - The Golden Age of early Tibetan art
287
10
Langtang and Nalendra Sacred sites in the Phenpo Valley
290
IV
Tshurphu Monastery The Seat of the Karmapa Lamas
The Seat of the Karmapa Lamas
Historical Sites in the Yarlung Valley
From myth to history Divine rulers and early monuments
312
The Royal Necropolis at Chongye From divine kingship to Buddhist faith
314
Early Sculptures and decorative arts of the royal dynastic period
319
Chongye Dzong and beyond
323
Yumbu Lakhar Royal fortress and sacred shrine
325
Tradrug monastery The earliest temple of Tibet
327
Ancient Tsetang A Tibetan power-place during the 14th and 15th centuries
335
300
485
486
CONTENTS
VI
Monuments of the Tsangpo Valley
Chagzam Chuwo Ri The iron-chain bridge at the Tsangpo-Kyi Chu confluence
344
Gongkar Dzong and Gongkar Chde monastery
346
Dorje Drag The Vajra Rock monastery
351
Monuments of the Dranang Valley
353
4.1
4.2
4.3
353
364
365
Drathang Temple A treasure house of Tibetan painting

Jampa Ling Once Tibets largest kumbum chrten
The early tombs of Serkhung
Mindrl Ling Nyingma stronghold in Central Tibet
366
Namse Ling Manor House An urban palace in the countryside
374
Samye Architectural universe and the foundation site of Tibetan monasticism
377
7.1
7.2
7.3
377
397
399
Samye Chkhor A three-dimensional imago mundi of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism

Khamsum Zankhang Ling
Samye Chimpu Hermitages and holy caves
n Keru Lhakhang The earliest monumental statues in Tibet
400
Densa Thil The origins of the Kagy School
405
VII
Lhodrag Temples and Towers in the South of Central Tibet
Riteng and Drongkar Unknown temples between Yarlung and Lhodrag
424
Mawochok The Treasure-Finders gmpa
425
Lhodrag Khomting Lhakhang
426
Lhodrag Kharchu monastery
427
Sekhar Guthog Mila Repas Tower
429
Lhodrag Lhalung monastery
438
The Lhodrag rock inscriptions
441
Watchtowers
443
VIII Dagpo and Kongpo The Far East of the Central Regions
Introduction
448
Chkhor Gyel The Oracle Lakes monastery
449
Daglha Gampo A Kagypa power-place
452
Lhagyari Palace Manor house and dzong of the Royal Family of God
453
Leb Ri The princely necropolis
454
Early rock inscriptions and edict pillars
458
Bn and Buddhist sites at Sacred Mount Bn Ri
461
The towers of Kongpo
465
IX
Sacred Sites Around the Yamdrog Lake
Nakartse Dzong
472
Samding monastery Where female monks reincarnated
473
Yamdrog Taglung monastery
476
CONTENTS
Volume II
The Southern Tibetan Province of Tsang
A definition of its historical geography
491
Ralung Principal Seat of the Drugpa Kagypa
494
XI
Gyantse and its Monastic City
Historical Introduction
498
Gyantse Dzong and the beginnings of Tibetan fortress architecture
501
1.1
502
The palace temple Sampel Rinpoche Ling
The Pelkhor Chde monastic enclave
504
2.1
2.2
505
505
The enclosure wall

The silken images of Gyantse
The Gyantse Tsuglagkhang The main assembly hall of the

Pelkhr Chde monastic enclave
512
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
514
515
516
520
521
526
528
The central sanctuary

Vajradhatu Lhakhang The Five Tathagata Mandala
Chgyel Lhakhang The chapel of the Dharma Kings
Gngkhang The protectors shrine
Lamdr Lhakhang Siddhas and Sakya masters
Neten Lhakhang Sacred abode of the Sixteen Arhats
Shelye Khang The mandala shrine
The Great Kumbum Stupa
533
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
534
534
537
546
548
History
Architecture Plan and symbolism
Sculpture and painting Iconology and iconography
Style and artistic traditions
A brief chronology of the Gyantse monuments
XII
Monuments in the Nyang Chu Valley and Gyantse Region
Tsechen Chde Symbol of political power and monastic authority
554
Nenying monastery The Bodhgaya of Tibet
556
Yemar Lhakhang temple at Iwang Monumental temple art a thousand years ago
560
Drongtse monastery An early Gelugpa monastery reconstructed
574
The Pala Family Manor House
576
XIII Shalu Monastery

1
Serkhang The Golden Temple Mandala
582
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
582
587
590
597
604
The monastic history of Shalu

The ground-floor: Architecture and images, 11th 14th century
The entrance hall: From Gokhang to Gnkhang The Six Chapels and the Traverse Gallery
Gosum Lhakhang and Segoma Lhakhang
The Great Korlam
487
488
CONTENTS
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
The Hidden Chapels of the Great Korlam

The upper sanctuaries: Yumchenmo Lhakhang The shrine of transcendent wisdom
The Yumchenmo Korlam
Stylistic profiles of the Shalu paintings, 11th to 14th century
1.10
The four Mandala Temples
608
609
612
614
616
1.10.1
1.10.2
1.10.3
1.10.4
The central Sukhavati Lhakhang

The northern Amitayus Lhakhang
The southern Arhat Lhakhang
The eastern Tanjur Lhakhang
616
618
619
622
1.11
1.12
The roof architecture of the Serkhang Mandala

Painted scrolls and manuscripts
625
629
Shalu Ripug Hermitage Retreat and retirement
630
XIV Shigatse The Heart of Tsang

1
Shigatse Dzong A milestone of Tibetan civic architecture
640
The residence of the Panchen Lama
642
Tashi Lhnpo monastery
644
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
648
653
656
660
662
665
665
The Great Sutra Hall (Tsuglagkhang) and affiliated chapels

The Great Courtyard and its buildings
The mausoleums of the Panchen Lamas
The Great Maitreya Shrine
The image galleries
Ngagpa Dratsang The Tantric College
Silken images at the Great Wall-Tower
XV
The Tsangpo Valley and Beyond
Rinpung Dzong and Rinpung Chde
672
Bn Monasteries in Southern Tibet The art and architecture of the Swastika tradition
674
2.1
2.2
2.3
675
677
679
Menri monastery An early centre of Bn monasticism

Yungdrung Ling The Swastika monastery
Hidden Places of Bn in and Tsang
Namling Chde The unexplored Shang Valley
682
Narthang Kadampa seat and printing centre
682
Ngor Ewam monastery Famous for its painted mandalas
689
Jonang Pntsog Ling Taranathas Tushita Paradise
695
Jonang, the Great Kumbum Stupa Synthesis of the world, the essence of the Buddhas
705
Chung Riwoche The Auspicious Stupa of Many Doors and the iron-chain bridge
of Thangtong Gyelpo
709
8.1
8.2
710
712
10
The Great Kumbum Architectural mandala and cosmic mountain

The iron-chain bridge of Thangtong Gyelpo The King of the Empty Plains
Lhatse and beyond
715
9.1
9.2
9.3
715
717
719
Ancient Lhatse History reconstructed and modern archaeology

Gyang Kumbum A ruined tashigomang chrten
Ngamring Chde the far west of Tsang
Monasteries of the Bodongpa
719
CONTENTS
XVI
Sakya Monastic Fortress and Palace Temples
The monastic and architectural history of Sakya
730
The Sakya-Yuan system Monastic organization and administration
733
The sacred town of Sakya Densa
735
3.1
3.2
The North Monastery Chde Chang

The South Monastery Chde Lo Lhakhang Chenmo, the Great Temple
735
738
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3
3.2.4
The Great Sutra Hall

The northern Ngldung and Changma Lhakhang
The southern Phurba Lhakhang
The Chenmo Lhakhang Library
740
746
749
753
XVII Castles and Monasteries along the Himalayan Range

1
Shekar Chde and Shekar Dzong A sacred and secular site north of Mount Everest
760
Kyirong The Happy Valley and its shrines
764
Chumbi Valley The gateway to the Central Regions of Tibet
768
Gampa Dzong and other fortresses
771
The Nyejel Chemo Caves Early sculpture in the Indo-Tibetan borderlands
775
XVIII The Changtang and Tibets Pre-Buddhist Past

1
Megalithic sites and sacred geography of ancient Zhang Zhung
To the Reader
780
786
Appendices
Chronological list of dated and datable sculptures and paintings in the Central Regions of Tibet
793
Index-Glossaries
I
Place names and geographical terms
795
797
II
Personal and deity names, titles and schools
813
III
Art and Architecture
829
IV
General terms
839
Sanskrit terms
847
Abbreviations
853
Bibliography I: General Literature
857
Bibliography II: Tibetan Language Sources (TLS)
873
Illustration Credits
879
Imprint
880
489
491
The Southern Tibetan Province of Tsang A definition

of its historical geography
Dividing a topographically orientated reference book on the
cultural monuments of the Central Regions of Tibet into the
two parts and Tsang necessarily entails defining their historical geography. The existence of these two major Tibetan provinces as recorded in the written text sources can be
traced back to at least the early Sakya-Yuan dynasty period
of the 13th century. (dBus), Tsang (gTsang), Upper and
Lower Do-Kham (mDo Khams, Amdo and Kham) were at
that time, as the Fifth Dalai Lama says, the three districts
(chol ka) into which the great Tibet was then divided. Contemporaneous Yuan records confirm the territorial districts
of , Tsang and Ngari (Western Tibet) at a time when the
Mongol administration was set up in Tibet around or sometime before 1268. This myriarchy system of altogether 13
territorial and political units (khri skor) comprised basically (six myriarchies) and Tsang (six myriarchies, including
three in Western Tibet) plus an additional small myriarchy
at Yamdrog Lake across the border between and Tsang,
which after 1290 came to the local Nakartse rulers and was
not originally part of Tsang nor of .1 Both historically and
geographically the natural barrier formed by the largely uninhabited high mountain area between the Gampa La
and Kharu La passes the region around this lake has long
marked the frontier of Tibets two main provinces. The easternmost part of Tsang was defined when the first ruler of
the rising Gyantse principality, Palden Sangpo (13181370),
in his late years extended his territorial sovereignty as far as
to Ralung near the source of the Nyang Chu (Myang Chu).
Notes
1 For the myriarchy system, see Petech 1990, pp. 50f, 58;
Tucci 1989, p. 85.
2 Another spelling for Myang and Myang Chu is Nyang
or Nyang Chu, see Tucci 1989 (1941), IV.1, with more
details of the historical geography of the rGyal rtse
(Gyantse) area.
The land beyond the high passes stretching westbound towards the Nyang Chu kap V: Valley2 is the East of Tsang,
where only in the cultivable plains and valleys of Gyantse
and Rinpung could secular and monastic centres develop
and so establish a historical geography. The south of Tsang
is clearly defined by the geographical and political borderlands with India and Nepal, such as the Chumbi Valley and
the Himalayan range, while its westernmost areas reach as
far as Ngamring and beyond, Dingri and Kyirong in northern and southern Lat (La stod). To the north, the province
of Tsang may by defined by the side valleys of the Tsangpo
river and by the sparsely populated southern parts of the
vast Changtang plain. With the rise of the Tsangpa rulers in
1565, the new Kings of Tibet succeeding the Pagmo Drupa (c. 13541435) and the Rinpung princes (14351565)
and their religious allies of the Karmapa Kagy school, the
principal political power over the Central Regions was centred on Shigatse until 1642, when the increasing power-play
between the two provinces ended in the dominance of the
new Lhasa theocracy of the Dalai Lamas.
Dangra Yutso
Township
Monastery/religious site
Dzong
Monument
100 km
CHINA
CHANGTANG
Namling Chde
Raga o
p
Tsang
Dzongka
Pelk
Tso
Palhapug
Yungdrung Ling
Tashi Lhnpo
Rinpung
Gyang Kumbum
Shigatse
Bodong-E
Dzong
Jonang
Lhatse Dzong
Palha
Pntsog-Ling Narthang
Shalu Manor House
Ngor
Gyantse
Lhatse
Drongtse
Tsechen
Sakya
Nenying
Shekar Shekar
Dzong
Chung Riwoche
Kyirong
Nyelam
Pelgye Ling
Zhangmu
Menri
Old Dingri
Pntsog-Ling
Rongpuk
Kangmar
Gampa
Dzong
Shekar
Chde
Tingkye
Tingkye Dzong
Changmo Grottoes
Mount Everest
8848 m
Nyejel Chemo
Yemar Lhakhang
Chang Valley
Gampa
Chrten Nyima
y
Tsangpo
Ngamring
Chde
y
lle
Va
lle
Saga
Shan
gV
a
T i b e t (T A R)
Jomo Lhari
7315 m
bi
SIKKIM
Kathmandu
um
50
Pari Dzong
Ch
NEPAL
Gangtok
Darjeeling
INDIA
Chapter X
Ralung Principal Seat of the
Drugpa Kagypa
Thimpu
Yatung
Paro
CHAPTER II
Nam Tso
Ny
en
R
lha
ang
h
T
en
ch
ange
Damzhung
Yangpachen
County Tlu
Taglung
Kongpo
Gyamda
Drigung Thil
ng Phenpo Va Kyi C Drigung Dzong
l
l
h
e
Va
u
y
ll
Zhayi Lhakhang
KONGPO
Nya
ng C
hu
ey
Yangpachen
Tshurphu
Drepung
Lhasa
Nechung
Sera
Katsel
Samye
Nyangtri
(Nyingtri)
Kulha Kangri
7314 m
Gampo
Tradrug
Yumbu Lakhar
Lhagyari
Chongye
Dzong
Riwo Royal
Dechen tombs
Mawochok
D
Benpa Chagdor
Sekhar
Guthog
Khomting
Lhakhang
Lhodrag
I
Kharchu Tsona
AR
TS
BHUTAN
tra
ah
Br
u
ap
Tsangpo
Danyazhang
Bangrim Chde
Nang
county
LHOKA
Lhntse
Riteng
LHODRAG
Tsome
(Chusum)
Bn Ri
Chkhor Gyel
Gyatsa Daglha
(Nedong)
Chongye
Tso
Lhodrag
Lhalung
Densa Thil
Tsethang
Valley
ng
rlu
Ya
i Valley
Drach
Samding
Yamdrog Taglung
Ralung Yamdrog
Yam
md
rrog
mddrog
Yamdrog
Tagllung
ng
Taglung
Dzo g
Dzo
Dzong
Bayi
Medro Gongkar
Ganden
Dechen Dzong
Nyethang
Chagzam
Chuwori
Rinpung
Chde
N k te
Nakartse
Dzong
Radeng
Phongdo Dzong
P
AG
Leb Ri tombs
INDIA
Namchag
Barwa
Metok
493
494
X | PRINCIPAL SEAT OF THE DRUGPA KAGYPA
Ralung Principal Seat of the Drugpa Kagypa

Halfway between Nakartse and Gyantse at the foot of
Mount Gang bzang and not from the Kharu La pass is the
high mountain monastery of Ralung (Rva lung or Ra lung,
alt.: 4,500 m), located some 8 km south of the highway and
at a similar distance east from Ralung village. Already part
of Tsang Province during the Sakya-Yuan administration,
this site came under the rule of the Gyantse princes in the
1360s and was listed by the Fifth Dalai Lama as part of the
Chang (Byang) and Lho myriachies (khri skor) extending to
the north and south of Ralung.1 The name Ralung, the Auspicious Goats Omen Valley, is by tradition associated with
a legend of a great goat (ra), which miraculously left behind
some milk dried on a stone in the form of the three syllables
OM A HUM. When Ling Repa (Gling Ras pa Padma rDo
rje, 11281188), a disciple of Pagmo Drupa and the spiritual founder of the Drugpa Kagypa school, heard of this auspicious event and omen he named this place Ra lung (Rva
lung).2
A first religious site at Ralung is recorded a few years before 1188, when Ling Repa, residing at Ra lung, had consecrated a larger caitya3 near his meditation hermitage.
The actual foundation of this monastery and the establishment of the Ra Drugpa (Rva brug pa) lineage in the years
after can be attributed to the great siddha and tertn Tsang-
713a | Ralung monastery, the

easternmost cultural site of Tsang
Province, west of pass. Founded in
the 1180s, it became the centre of
the northern Drugpa Kagypa
tradition. The main assembly hall
of the completely destroyed site
(1966) was rebuilt after 1984.
Photo 2001
713a
pa Gyare (gTsang pa rGya ras Ye shes rDo rje, 11611211)

from the Gya (rGya) clan. In 1189 the same master had also
founded the Drug Jangchub Ling (Brug Byang chub gling)
monastery in the upper sNam Valley, a side valley of the Kyi
Chu river south of Nyethang,4 which is said to have given its
name to the Drugpa (Brug pa) school and to Drug Ralung
(Brug Rva lung) monastery.
Tsangpa Gyare Yeshe Dorje designated his nephew nre
Darma Senge (dBon ras Dar ma seng ge, 11771237) as his
heir, with whom began the incarnation lineage of the Drug
(or Gya). They settled in Ralung, which henceforth became
the headquater of the northern Drugpa tradition in Tibet. The ninth lineage holder Gyelwang Knga Peljor (rGyal dbang Kun dga dPal byor, 14281476) claimed to be
the rebirth of Tsangpa Gyare, whose most famous reincarnation was Pema Karpo (Padma dKar po, 15271592), the
fourth Drugchen Rinpoche, who like his predecessor was
born outside the ruling Drug family. This eminent Drugpa monk-scholar, author of an important history of Tibetan
Buddhism (Brug pai chos byung, 1575), of a biography of
the founder Tsangpa Gyare, and of a guidebook to Ralung,
lived here before he established Sangag Chling (gSang
sngags Chos gling) as the new principal seat of the Drugpa Kagypa lineage in Tibet, to this day a major pilgrim-
RALUNG
age area not far from the Indian border in Lhoka Prefecture,
where Tsangpa Gyare had spent many years of his life.5
After Pema Karpos death, a serious dispute arose over
the recognition of his new incarnation between two candidates: the heir of the local Drug family and the son of a
Chongye prince from the Yarlung Valley. The latter was supported by most of the Drugpa monks and by the Tsang ruler Desi Tsangpa (sDe srid gTsang pa), who finally settled the
struggle in favour of the Chongye nominee Pagsam Wangpo (dPag bsam dbang po, 15931641). The Ralung candidate, Shabdung Ngawang Namgyel (Zhabs drung Ngag
dbang rNam rgyal, 15941651), installed on the Drugpa
throne in 1602 and subsequently appointed the 18th princeabbot of the Drugpa Kagypa at Ralung (1606), had in
1616, after years of conspiracy against him, to flee to Bhutan, where he established the southern branch of the Lho
Drugpa school and became known as Shabdrung Rinpoche
of Bhutan, who introduced here the double institution of a
religious Dharma Raja and a secular Deb Raja. His reincarnations henceforth became the spiritual and the worldly
rulers of Bhutan.6
After complete demolition during the Cultural Revolution (u fig. 713a), a smaller dukhang and the Pearl Temple (Mu tig lHa khang, 1992) were rebuilt after 1984 near
the former main assembly hall (lHa khang chen po), which
once housed a principal Maitreya statue and images of Ling
Repa and Tsangpa Gyare, life-size metal images of the lineage lamas (Bla mai rgyud), and precious metal objects
such as an Indian Pala-style lotus mandala of the 12th century.7 One of the most precious cultural relics to have survived at Ralung is an ancient three-dimensional Chakrasamvara Mandala reliquary in repouss work (with a new top
portion and cold gilding) adorned by an elaborate figural and ornamental decoration.8 Other remarkable ancient
treasures are preserved in the Kelsang Podrang, including a
superb stone image (ht.: 7 cm) of a ten-armed female deity
with four heads in a pure Indian Pala style (11th/12th century), a gilt-copper Chakrasamvara (ht.: 13 cm) dating to
the c. 15th century, and a small votive image (schist) of the
Notes
The author visited this site in 1992 and 2001
1 Tucci 1989, p. 85.
2 For the legend, see Tucci 1956, p. 177 and n. 18; for the
spelling of Ra lung, see BA (Blue Annals), Wylie 1962,
Aris 1979: Rva lung: TPS, KG.
3 BA, pp. 665, 670, This caitya was apparently built and
consecrated before 1184.
4 Or, to give it its full name, Brug se ba Byang chub Chos
gling. For a map, see Dowman 1988, p. 133 (Jangchub
713b
Bodhgaya Mahabodhi temple of the kind brought to Tibet

from India in large numbers by pious pilgrims.
Some 500 m apart from the monastic compound are
the ruins of the large Kumbum Chrten Chenpo (sKu
bum mChod rten Chen po) once slightly smaller than
the Gyantse one (Tucci), whose former 44 chapels were
adorned with paintings and statues up to the harmika dating to the 1740s, when this tashigomang stupa was apparently constructed9 (u fig. 713b). The stepped storeys once
containing the image chapels between the base and the
dome were probably of an octagonal plan and included on
the southern ground-floor level a shrine with a lion throne
of the Vairochana Buddha (ht.: 20 m (13 dom)) and the
other four tathagatas. The upper chapels of the bumpa section were dedicated to the Four Supreme Yoga Tantras. A
Caitya of Ralung is recorded for the period of Ling Repa
in the 12th century. Part of the bumpa still exists.10 By 1992,
16 monks had returned to Ralung, while about 40 inmates
and another 40 nuns are said to have been here in 1938.
Chling); KG, p. 72 and n. 667; Aris 1997, pp. 172, 205f.;

BA, pp. 664, 672.
5 For a photograph, see Lhoka in Tibet 2000, p. 82. According to another tradition, Sangs sngags Chos gling
(Sangag Chling) was founded by his predecessor, the
Third Brug chen Rin po che (Drugchen Rinpoche), in
1512; see Ch-Yang 1991, pp. 50f with a pre-1959 photograph. See also Chan 1994, pp. 218f., for a brief note on
this traditional seat of the Brug chen Rin po che (whose
present monastic seat is at He mis (Hemis) in La dvags
(Ladakh), India), which, due to its location near the Indian border, is inaccessible to foreign visitors.
6 See Aris 1979, pp. 206211.
713b | Ralung. The Great Kumbum

Chrten of the 1740s, now ruined
since 1966. Photo 2001
7 Tucci 1956, pp. 60ff. with brief descriptions of some

other sanctuaries at Ralung; KS, pp. 373ff.
8 Batcheler 1987, ill. p. 278. According to the monks at Ra
lung (oral information in 2001), the reliquary contains
some mortal remains of the fourth Brug chen Rin po
che Pad ma Gling pa.
9 See Tucci 1956, pp. 62f. A wall-painting depicting the
Tibetan king (since 1740) and regent Pho lha nas bSod
nams sTobs rgyas (r. 17281747) indicates a date, at least
for the wall-paintings, in the 1740s. See also KS, pp.
373ff., where the renovation is attributed to the Fift h Ra
lung sPrul sku dPag bsam dbang po (15931641).
10 BA, pp. 668, 670.
495
Dangra Yutso
Township
Monastery/religious site
Dzong
Monument
100 km
CHINA
CHANGTANG
Namling Chde
Raga o
p
Tsang
Dzongka
Pelk
Tso
Palhapug
Yungdrung Ling
Tashi Lhnpo
Rinpung
Rin ng
Gyang Kumbum
Shigatse
Bodong-E
Dzong
g
Jonang
Lhatse Dzong
Palha
lh
Pntsog-Ling Narthang
aaluu Manor
Sha
Shalu
Ma House
Ngor
Gyantse
Lhatse
Drongtse
nngtse
ggt
Dron
T
Ts
Tsechen
Sakya
Nenying
in
in
Shekar Shekar
Dzong
Chung Riwoche
Kyirong
Nyelam
Pelgye Ling
Zhangmu
Menri
Old Dingri
Pntsog-Ling
Rongpuk
Kangmar
Gampa
Dzong
Shekar
Chde
Tingkye
Tingkye Dzong
Changmo Grottoes
Mount Everest
8848 m
Nyejel Chemo
Yemar Lhakhang
Chang Valley
Gampa
Chrten Nyima
y
Tsangpo
Ngamring
Chde
y
lle
Va
lle
Saga
Shan
gV
a
T i b e t (T A R)
Jomo Lhari
7315 m
bi
SIKKIM
Kathmandu
um
50
Pari Dzong
Ch
NEPAL
Gangtok
Darjeeling
INDIA
Chapter XI
Gyantse and its Monastic City
Thimpu
Yatung
Paro
Nam Tso
Ny
en
R
lha
ang
h
T
en
ch
ange
Damzhung
Yangpachen
County Tlu
Taglung
Kongpo
Gyamda
Drigung Thil
ng Phenpo Va Kyi C Drigung Dzong
l
l
h
e
Va
u
y
ll
Zhayi Lhakhang
KONGPO
Nya
ng C
hu
ey
Yangpachen
Tshurphu
Drepung
Lhasa
Nechung
Sera
Katsel
Samye
Nyangtri
(Nyingtri)
Kulha Kangri
7314 m
Chongye
Gampo
Tradrug
Yumbu Lakhar
Lhagyari
Chongye
Dzong
Riwo Royal
Dechen tombs
LHODRAG
Tsome
(Chusum)
D
Benpa Chagdor
Sekhar
Guthog
Khomting
Lhakhang
Lhodrag
I
Kharchu Tsona
AR
TS
BHUTAN
ah
Br
u
ap
tra
Tsangpo
Danyazhang
Bangrim Chde
Nang
county
LHOKA
Lhntse
Riteng
Mawochok
Bn Ri
Chkhor Gyel
Gyatsa Daglha
(Nedong)
Tso
Lhodrag
Lhalung
Densa Thil
Tsethang
Valley
ng
rlu
Ya
i Valley
Drach
Samding
Yamdrog Taglung
Ralung Yamdrog
Yamdrog
Taglung
Dzong
Bayi
Medro Gongkar
Ganden
Dechen Dzong
Nyethang
Chagzam
Chuwori
Rinpung
Chde
Nakartse
Dzong
Radeng
Phongdo Dzong
P
AG
Leb Ri tombs
INDIA
Namchag
Barwa
Metok
498
XI | GYANTSE AND ITS MONASTIC CITY
Historical introduction
While Sakya monastery represented the pinnacle of Tibetan art and architecture in the 13th century and Shalu in the
14th century, the Gyantse temples and their treasures were
the unrivalled masterpieces of the 15th century. Located
at the crossroads of Tibets principal trade and pilgrimage
routes from Bhutan, India, Sikkim, Nepal and from the far
714
714 | Gyantse as it was. The old town and the Pelkhor Chde monastic complex surrounded by an enclosure wall 2,240 m long built between c. 1420
and 1435 in mud brick with (now) 14 stone-reinforced turrets and (once) six
gates. Of the once 18 individual monastery buildings (seven Gelugpa units
were added in the late 17th century) only two remained after 1966/1967,
around the central Tsuglagkhang and Great Kumbum Chrten. A few structures have been rebuilt or renovated since then. The new living quarters and
the modern road to the left date from the 1980s. Photo Spencer Chapman
1936
714a | Gyantse Pelkhor Chde and old town today (c. 2000). Photographer
unknown
714a
west of Ngari, Ladakh and Kashmir, Gyantse (rGyal rtse),

the Royal Peak, or, to give it its full name, Gyelkhar Tse
(rGyal mkhar rtse), Peak of the Royal Castle, dominates
the eastern plains along the Nyang Chu (Myang Chu) river
in the land of Nyang (Myang). At an altitude of 4,000 m, this
golden line (gser gzhung ri mo) is the most extensive continuous fertile valley in the Central Regions of Tibet. Once
the third largest city of the country, Gyantse has largely preserved its traditional urban character. The art and architecture of the Pelkhor Chde monastic complex (u figs. 714,
715), both created in a relatively short period between the
late 14th and mid-15th century, represent many of the most
precious cultural treasures in the whole of Tibet.
While an early palace is said to have been erected by
King Relpachen in the 9th century, the recorded and visible history of Gyantse does not begin until the rise of the
local dynasty towards the middle of the 14th century. After the fall of the Mongol Yuan empire, and the subsequent
loss of power of their political allies in Tibet, the Sakya rulers had increasingly to transfer authority and titles to the
princes of Gyantse. Thus the Gyantse principality became
the new political and cultural centre, now closer to Lhasa
and Central Tibet in a double sense. Geographical, economic and historical factors contributed to the Golden Age of
Gyantse from around 1370 to 1450. The founder of this rising power in Tsang, Pagpa Pel[den] Zangpo (Phags pa dPal
[ldan] bZang po, 13181370),1 was a Khn Sakya and Shalu descendant by birth, who remained closely connected to
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION
715
Sakya monastery throughout his life. Here he became chief

attendant (Nye gnas chen po) of the whole Sakya administration in 1360 and was successively appointed Supreme
Adviser (Nang so chen mo) and head of that prominent institution. During his reign (13511370) and under his powerful political influence, building activities started in Gyantse in 1365 with an early fortress-palace on top of Gyantse
hill. After Pelden Zangpos successors had supported the
Pagmo Drupa, then the ruling dynasty in the Central Regions (13501478), against the Rinpung lords in Tsang, the
Gyantse princes became completely independent in 1406.
They now ruled over a territory reaching as far as Phari in
the south, Lhatse in the west, and Ralung monastery towards
the province in , and thus controlled the trade routes to India, Bhutan, and Western Tibet and its borderlands.
Special attention was also paid to maintaining close Sino-Tibetan relations with the Yuan dynasty. Contacts with
the imperial court were maintained via prominent travelling
lamas, whose political and other connections with the Chinese Yuan and Ming emperors proved to be useful for Tibetan hierarchs and rulers. In 1367 Pelden Zangpo received
gifts from the Yuan Emperor and the title of Tai Situ (Tai
Si tu).2 In the following year, the Sakya master Knga Tashi
Gyeltsen (13491425) visited Gyantse on his way back to
Tibet from the Yuan court, and such contacts with China
became even more regular during the early Ming dynasty.
Gyantse apparently did not belong to the 13 districts ruled
by the Sakya Khn family and thus was under the direct suzerainty of the Chinese emperor.
In 1412 and 1413, high-ranking imperial delegations
came from the Ming court, and this period marked the beginning of the heyday of the cultural monuments in Gyantse: the reign of Pelden Zangpos grandson Rabten Knzang
Pagpa (Rab brtan Kun bzang Phags pa, b. 1389/r. 1412
1442), the great King ruling according to the Law as famous as the sun and the moon, both in China and in Tibet,
as it is recorded by contemporaneous inscriptions in the
bumpa and harmika of the Kumbum.3 Immediately west
of Gyantse at the site of the once very important monastic
academy of Changra (lCang ra, no longer extant), Rabten
Knzang had in 1414 built on the great river Nyang Chu
[Myang Chu] an extraordinary bridge, having in the centre six arcades and a mchod rten through whose middle
the road passed.4 The passageway stupa on top of the central section of that remarkable cantilever bridge was decorated inside with nine large painted mandalas on the ceiling
and with Buddha and bodhisattva figures on the sidewalls.
The consecration ceremony was performed in 1414 by
715 | Old Gyantse. View of the old

town and Pelkhor Chde from the
dzong hill of the ancient town and
Pelkhor Chde. Photo 1981
499
500
715a | Gyantse, Pelkhor Chde

with Tsuglagkhang and Great
Kumbum Stupa. Blessing ceremony
by the Seventh Panchen Lama,
11 October 1985. Photo 1985
715a
the Indian abbot of the Mahabodhi temple, Mahapandita, Shakya Shri Shariputra (Sakya r riputra), who, invited by the Yongle Emperor in 1413, had, on his long way
from Bodhgaya to Nanjing, stayed for two months at Changra (lCang ra) monastery opposite Pelkhor Chde.5 Further
highlights during the rule of the eminent Rabten Knzang
include the construction of Pelkhor Chde with its main assembly hall and Kumbum stupa, the commission of a new
Kanjur, and the invitation to the monastery of the Indian
scholar Vanaratna sometime after 1426, and of Khedrub Je,
the first Gelugpa hierarch in the succession of Tsongkhapa.
Other eminent masters contributed to the brilliant cultural
milieu in Gyantse during those years, including the famous
and powerful abbot of the very important nearby Nenying
monastery, Jamyang Rinchen Gyeltsen (Jam dbyangs Rin
chen rGyal mtshan, 13641422), who consecrated the main
assembly hall and its principal statues, and Pelden Zangpos
son or brother, the Mahasiddha Knga Lodr Gyeltsen
(Kun dga Blo gros rGyal mtshan, 13661436), Butns first
reincarnation, who from 1371 was in charge of Tsechen, the
secular and religious seat of the Gyantse princes before they
moved to their new palace-fortress and monastic centre on
the other side of the Nyang Chu river. Many of Tibets best
architects, painters, sculptors and textile workers co-operated over three decades in a unique joint artistic venture never seen before, which can be compared only with the grand
Potala enterprise in the 17th century.
However, the political power of the Gyantse rulers declined during the second half of the 15th century. In the
late 1480s the Gyantse territory became part of the Nedong-based Pagmo Drupa administration, whose new al-
lies in Tsang, the lords of Rinpung, put an end to Gyantses independence with an attack in 1488. The authority of
the Gyantse princes was reduced to local rule in the shadow of their residential and religious centre. Controlled by
the Tsang rulers from 1612, Gyantse came under the influence of the ascendant Lhasa theocracy after 1642. Towards
the end of the 17th century, seven Gelugpa colleges were established in Pelkhor Chde compared with only four of the
once dominant Sakyapa. Though the political significance
of Gyantse declined, as a main trading centre between Tibet
and India it remained especially famous for woollen cloth
and carpets until the 20th century.
Two ancient Tibetan texts are of inestimable value for
the documentation of Gyantses historical monuments:
the History of the Gyantse Princes composed by the monk
Jigme Dragpa (Jigs med grags pa) between 1479 and 1481,
and the Historical Guide to the Myang Valley Area (Myang
Chos byung) attributed to the famous Jonang Taranatha and
thus dating to the early 17th century (see TLS, GyCh and
MyCh).
The Gyantse rulers c. 1350c. 1450:
Pelden Zangpo (dPal ldan bZang po, 1318/r. c. 13501370)
Pagpa Rinchen (Phags pa Rin chen, 1320/r. 13701376)
Rabten Knga Pagpa (Rab brtan Kun dga Phags pa, 1357/r.
13761412)
Rabten Knzang Pagpa (Rab brtan Kun bzang Phags pa
1389/r. 14121442)
Tashi Pagpa (bKra shis Phags pa, 1395/r. 14421447)
Tashi Rabten Pel Zangpo (bKra shis Rab brtan dPal bZang
po, r. 1447?)
GYANTSE DZONG AND THE BEGINNINGS OF TIBETAN FORTRESS ARCHITECTURE
XI | 1 Gyantse Dzong and the beginnings of Tibetan fortress

architecture
In 1365 Pelden Zangpo laid the foundation of the great fortress called the Peak of the Victory Castle (rGyal mkhar
rtse) on top of the rocky hill in front of the old city, or
Gyelkhang Tsemo (rGyal khang rtse mo, the Royal Peak
Palace) (u figs. 716718), where once, as tradition has it,
a much earlier castle had been built in the 9th century by
a royal descendant of the Yarlung dynasty. A royal palace of the Gyantse princes is said to have existed here before new construction began. This record in the Gyantse
chronicle from 14816 marks the early phase of the Tibetan dzong administrational system and dzong architecture
(rdzong, district, also the name for its central office building). The new palace-fortress was built as the residence of
the Gyantse princes after they had moved from the neighbouring Tsechen Chde fort in order to establish here the
central seat of their rising territorial power. In 1390 the palatine temple Sampel Rinpoche Ling was erected within the
fortified building complex, whose present overall structure
may date back to this second construction period. After
the raids of the Dzungar invaders, the fortress was restored
and enlarged in 1719/1720.7 Severely damaged and partly destroyed on 610 July, 1904, during the British invasion, Gyantse Dzong subsequently no longer served as an
administrative centre and remained in a dilapidated condition until 1966/1967, when during the Cultural Revolution
it suffered further destruction and then neglect. Restoration
work on the secular structures was carried out in the 1980s.
The Tibetan system of using various dzongs as regional

administrative units governed from a central fortified castle (usually located on high places) was introduced under
the Pagmo Drupa rulers in the middle of the 14th century. In 1358 the charismatic lama-king Changchub Gyeltsen (13021364), the actual ruler (khri dpon) in the Central
Regions, had reorganized the governmental system by con-
716
716 | Gyantse Dzong. Gyelkhang

Tsemo (rGyal khang rtse mo), the
Royal Peak Palace of the Gyantse princes, founded in 1365. The
present building complex appears
to date largely from the late 14th
century, when in 1390 the palatine temple Sampel Rinpung Ling
was erected (the cubic structure
with the sacred penbey (scrub)
frieze on the right). Partially destroyed in 1904, the dzong was
no longer used for administrative
purposes after that date. Following further decay and destruction
(1966/1967), it was restored in the
early 1980s. Photo Hugh Richardson 1936 (or later)
717 | Gyantse Dzong. A view
from south (compare fig. 716).
Photo 1984
717
501
502
718
718 | Gyantse Dzong. South wall

of the building above Sampel
Rinpung Ling. Photo 1993
719 | Gyantse Dzong. Sampel
Rinpung Ling temple. Pillar capital,
late 14th century. Photo 1993
719
verting the 13 myriarchies of the Yuan-Sakya period into individual dzong (district) units.8 His basic conception was
the undermining of the power of the various (Sakya) tripn
(khri dpon) and the establishment of a net of local stewardships based on forts (rdzong).9 Each dzong was supervised
by one or two dzongpn (rdzong dpon), the prefect and
the administrative head of a district, usually a layman appointed for three years who also exercised judicial functions
and was responsible to the provincial government or to the
ruling house, in this case to the princes of Gyantse. Major
dzongs were usually run by two of these district officials,
one of whom could be a monk. To each dzong belonged
approximately 500 families. In the late 19th century, Sarat
Chandra Das counted in the Central Regions 53 principal
districts and fortresses and 123 sub-prefectures with minor
forts administered by a dzongpn, while for the pre-1959
period the figure of 120 dzong units has been estimated.10
Each dzong also had one or two civil officials, chosen from
among the noble and well-to-do families, who were respon-
sible for the accounts and the treasury, the best of whom
were appointed dzongpn. The store keeper (rdzong gnyer) took care of the repository of the dzong (rdzong mdzod)
and of the reserve store (bkar jug rgyag), comprising arms
and armour, treasures, food stuffs, and so on.
If we can trust the historical texts, the earliest dzong to
have survived in -Tsang until the 1950s are the now ruined Gongkar Dzong (1350 or earlier) and Lhndrub Dzong
(lHun grub rdzong) in Gampa, usually known as Gampa (or
Kampa) Dzong (Gam pa rDzong), which was founded by
Pelden Zangpo probably in 1352.11 Other early dzong foundations of the 1350s were Samdrub Tse (Shigatse), Rinpung,
and Nedong (Tsethang).
Unlike the much later dzong units in Bhutan, the district fortresses in Tibet were not at the same time a monastic institution, although they comprise a palatine temple, or
palace chapel. This pattern remained unchanged from the
very beginnings at Gyantse Dzong to the grand Lhasa state
dzong, better known as the Potala Palace. An interesting
exception is the former 16th-century Drigung Dzong (Bri
gung rDzong gsar) at the confluence of the Kyichu, Mangra
Chu and Zhorong Chu rivers in Central Tibet, a fortresslike monastery which served mainly as the administrative
headquarters of a district controlled by the Drigungpa and
as the winter residence of both Drigung Kyabgns.12
XI | 1.1 The palace temple Sampel

Rinpoche Ling
According to the historical texts, in 1390 the Gyantse prince
Knga Pagpa (r. 13761412), this great lord of men, established a palace shrine known as Sampel Rinpoche Ling inside
the dzong complex on top of the hill. By 1397 he had completed the lofty temple of rGyal mkhar rtse, called bSam phel
Rin po che [Gling].13 When Giuseppe Tucci made his field
research in the 1930s, the dukhang had already been destroyed to great extent by the Younghusband expedition
in 1904. Sampel Rinpoche Ling suffered further destruction in 1966/1967 and neglect thereafter. The main image
in the tsangkhang was a statue of the eight-year-old Shakyamuni, which was surrounded by wall-paintings depicting
the Sakya Lamdr lineage masters, a Gurgyi Gnpo (Gur gyi
mgon po) Mahakala in the Gngkhang, and by a circumambulation corridor with paintings of the Five Buddha families.
Some wall-paintings of the foundation period are recorded
in the text sources or have survived, including the Thirty-five Buddhas of Confession, Amitabhas Sukhavati paradise, Medicine Buddhas, arhats, Sakya masters, and several
rows of the many Buddhas on the rear wall of the sanctum, and a few elegantly drawn standing bodhisattvas in a
refined Newari-Tibetan style flanking the largely destroyed
Buddha figures along the southern section of the main
hall,14 whose beautifully carved pillar capitals (u fig. 719)
can be dated to the late 14th (or early 15th?) century.
GYANTSE DZONG AND THE BEGINNINGS OF TIBETAN FORTRESS ARCHITECTURE

Rinpung Ling temple. Wall-painting of a teaching Buddha in the
dukhang. Late 14th century.
Photo 1993
Rinpung Ling temple. Shelye
Khang, the small mandala sanctuary on top of Sampel Rinpung Ling
temple: Guhyasamaja mandala.
Despite the paintings poor condition, the style clearly points to
Newari artists, late 14th century.
Photo 2006
khang, detail of the central
Kalachakra mandala. Late 14th
century. Photo 1993
720
721
722
723

khang, detail of a mandala. These
important images depicting the
four Highest Yoga Tantra systems,
and recalling the pure and finest
14th-century painting style of the
Kathmandu Valley, have never
been documented so far. Late 14th
century. Photo 1993
503
504
The style of the Buddha wall-paintings in the tsankhang

(u fig. 720) recalls that of similar 14th-century paintings on
the upper floors at Shalu monastery. In 1993 new statues of
the Buddhas of the Three Ages were installed in this chapel.
The most precious paintings are in the Shelye Khang
(gZhal yas khang), now called Lhakhang Serpo (lHa khang
ser po, Yellow Temple), the divine palace of the uppermost chapel above the main sanctum.15 In this small shrine
(only 7.90 x 5.20 m), which, like the mandala temple of
the Pelkhor Chde Tsuglagkhang, served for occasional initiation rituals, four of the originally nine large mandalas
have survived on the main wall. They are, from left to right:
Guhyasamaja (u fig. 721), Kalachakra (centre) (u fig. 722),
Chakrasamvara, and, on the side wall to the right, a smaller and more damaged Hevajra Mandala. Although less well
preserved than the Pelkhor Chde mandalas, these high-
ly important wall-paintings are of a very similar style and

of the same extraordinary quality. This mandala cycle was
either completed at the consecration of the dukhang in
1396/1397 or in the years after, though at the latest before
the presumed final completion of Sampel Rinpoche Ling in
1427, at about the same time as the large mandalas at Pelkhor Chde were painted. Both series at Gyantse represent
the very best of Tibetan mandala painting and may give us
an idea of the famous and nearly contemporaneous mandala wall-paintings that once existed at Ngor Ewam monastery (founded in 1429).16 The painting style of these earliest
wall-paintings at Gyantse clearly points to Newari artists of
the 14th-century tradition (u fig. 723).
The small three-storey mandala-like pavilion (now empty) on top of the entire building complex is dedicated to the
(as yet unidentified) protector deity of the dzong.
XI | 2 The Pelkhor Chde monastic enclave

As if entering a huge three-dimensional mandala around
the central palace of the main assembly hall, one passes Pelkhor Chde via the southern section of its enclosure
wall, which surrounds this monastic city on all four sides
(u figs. 715, 724). Originally called Pelkhor Dechen (dPal
khor bde chen), the Glorious [dharma] Wheel of Great
Bliss, the monastic complex was later named Pelkhor
Chde (dPal khor chos sde), the Sacred Site of the Auspicious [dharma] Wheel, as it is written in the Nyang chung
(Myang chung) chronicle and in an inscription on the fourth
story of the Kumbum stupa. This name also seems to be associated with an early Tibetan king, Pelkhor tsen (dPal
khor btsan), who is supposed to have ruled over the area in
724 | Gyantse. Plan of Pelkhor
Chde. Modified after Southern Ethnology, 1991, p. 234. The
entrance is at the central southern
enclosure wall on the north-south
axis of the main assembly hall (1).
Different school traditions in one
and the same monastic community
have existed not only at Gyantse,
but also at Tsechen, Namling
Chde, Ngamring Chde, Shekar
Chde, Samding, Drag Yerpa, Nechung, and Meru Nyingpa (Lhasa).
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
724
Tsuglagkhang
Great Kumbum Stupa
Rinding Dratsang
Nyima Lhakhang
Ganden Lhakhang
Guru Rinpoche Lhakhang
Kitchen
Chra
Thangka wall
the early 10th century.17 Soon after its foundation or reconstruction in todays form in 1418, it became a unique federation of Tibetan-Buddhist schools and colleges, in which
the Sakya and Shalu traditions were instrumental during the
early period. In the late 17th century, Pelkhor Chde comprised 16 colleges (grva tshang): four Sakyapa (said to belong to the Ngor sub-school), three Shalupa (also known
as dus khor pa, Kalachakra school), and nine Gelugpa colleges, which were all presided over by the Pelkhor Khenpo
(dPal khor mkhan po), a Gelugpa head-lama appointed by
the Lhasa government after 1642.18 His abbatial residence
(Bla mai pho brang, or Bla brang), the white building on the
hill behind, is, along with the Tsuglagkhang, the Kumbum
THE PELKHOR CHDE MONASTIC ENCLAVE
and the enclosure wall, the only major structure at Pelkhr

Chde to have survived the destructions of 1966/1967. In
the early 19th century, two additional colleges for the Drigungpa and Karmapa were established for some time.19 Today only the Gelugpa, Sakyapa and Nyingmapa are represented, with one faculty each. Most of the former 16 college
buildings were destroyed in 1969, and only a few buildings
were reconstructed after 1978 and then in the late 1980s
during a general restoration.
In the late 17th century, a total of 746 monks belonged
to Pelkhr Chde, while around the year 1900 about 500
to 700 inmates stayed there permanently.20 The unusual coexistence of different Tibetan-Buddhist traditions in
one and the same monastery has been explained as the result of the tolerant non-sectarian policy of the lay religious
king Rabten Knzang Pagpa, who welcomed all Buddhist
schools.21 Comparable though not really similar forms of
such ecumenical monastic communities can be found at
very few other places, notably at Ganden Chkhor Ling at
Namling township, Shang Valley, at Ngamring Chde near
Lhatse with colleges for Sakyapa and Gelugpa monks at
least from around 1434 until the late 17th century (see Ch.
XV 3 and Ch. XV 9.3), and at the national Samye monastery, where from the 11th century onwards with changing
majorities Nyingmapa inmates lived together with monks
of the Kadampa, Sakyapa and Gelugpa schools.
XI | 2.1 The enclosure wall

Another characteristic feature of Pelkhor Chde is outside
the temple an enclosure wall encircling it, which measured
200 gzhu on each side, ornamented with 16 turrets with
great gates on the North and South, and a couple of gates
both on the East and West, namely six gates in all. This almost contemporaneous record from the Gyantse Chronicle (1478/1481)22 does not, however, give any details with
regard to the specific function of this 2,240-m long wall
around the sacred enclave (with now at least 14 surviving
turrets). Were there any political reasons which may have
motivated the construction of this fortified boundary wall,
in view of the potential conflict between the clergy at Pelkhor Chde and the civil government at the dzong? A similar monastic wall with bastion towers already encircled
the earliest stronghold of the Gyantse princes at Tsechen
monastery (c. 13641368), vis--vis their successive powerplace at Gyantse Dzong and Pelkhor Chde. The originally
six gates were reduced at an unknown later period to a main
portal building (sGo khang) at the eastern section of the
southern wall, from where it was shifted to the central area
to align it with the new main road in 1986. Its statues of four
guardian kings, which were still in situ in 1960,23 must have
been destroyed around 1966. While the wall was built in
the traditional mud-brick technique, the turrets were mostly constructed of, or at least partially reinforced by, layers of
stone. While at the southern sections the wall was erected
on level ground and thus served as a guideline for the pilgrims korra, its inner front had been decorated with paintings and relief carvings of the Thousand Buddhas, the lifestory of the eminent Sakya lama Pagpa, and so on.24
There are no textual records for the date of the enclosure
wall, which must have been erected after the completion of
the main assembly hall in 1425 and before 1437, when the
three giant silk-brocade appliqu thangkas (gos sku chen
mo, or btags sku, woven image) for the tower to display
the cloth-image (gos sku speu, or simply gos sku thang sa,
the place for presenting the silken image) a dominating structure of the upper enclosure wall were commissioned.25 The probably earliest architectural image support of this type, built around or sometime after 1368, is
located at the nearby Tsechen monastery. If this structure is
not a much later addition, it would confirm the practice of
displaying huge silken thangkas at the very beginning of the
Gyantse period.
XI | 2.2 The silken images of Gyantse

The extraordinary and unique monumental silk thangkas,
which have been displayed at the huge image tower of Pelkhor Chde since 1439, still exist. Once a year one of the two
intact banners (c. 23 x 23 m, measurements of the Shakyamuni panel taken by the author in 2001), respectively depicting Shakyamuni as Buddha Vajrasana and Maitreya
with entourage, is presented in front of this gigantic towering structure for about four early morning hours at Saga
Dawa, the festival to commemorate the birth, the enlightenment and the nirvana of the Buddha in the fourth Tibetan month. The third silken image, representing Dipamkara,
the Buddha of the Past, and also the left-hand side-banner,
are reportedly still preserved at Gyantse,26 though since at
least the early 20th century they have not been shown because of their poor condition. All three banners would have
once formed a set depicting the Buddhas of the Three Ages
displayed one after the other on three successive days as it
has been, and still is, the practice at Tashi Lhnpo monastery.
The Shakyamuni thangka (u figs. 725, 726) depicts the
historical Buddha in vajrasana posture and seated on the
Diamond Throne. He is shown surrounded by a magnificent Six Ornaments prabha (rgyan drug) and assisted by a
brownish-yellow bodhisattva Maitreya, a white Avalokiteshvara, and by his two main disciples Shariputra and Maudgalyayana (seated at the throne base). Significantly, the iconography also includes, next to a white Vairochana (top left)
and a red-brown Prajnaparamita goddess (top right) possibly alluding to Rabten Knzangs 8,000-verse Prajnaparamita edition, two significant religious hierarchs in the roundels next to them. Both of these hierarchs were abbots of the
important nearby Nenying monastery: Jamyang Rinchen
Gyeltsen (Jam dbyangs Rin chen rGyal mtshan, 13641422,
right), one of Tsongkhapas teachers, who consecrated some
505
506
725 | Gyantse, Pelkhor Chde. The

Shakyamuni Vajrasana silk-fabric
thangka (gos sku, c. 23 x 23 m),
14371439. Here displayed for a
few hours in the early morning at
the Saga Dawa Festival in 1981, on
the faade of the Tsuglagkhang,
for the first time for at least 25
years. Photo Galen Rowell 1981,
after Diemberger 2002, p. 181
725
principal chapels at Pelkhor Chde in 1421,27 and his predecessor Sempa Chenpo Chkyi Rinchen (Sems dpa chen
po Chos kyi Rin chen, 11991255, left).28 The monk-scholar Jamyang Rinchen Gyeltsen is especially known for having promoted and edited the Perfection of Wisdom teachings (Prajnaparamita), whose four-armed embodiment is
represented in the upper right corner. He had supervised
the manufacture of a monumental gku at Nenying before
1413.
The Maitreya thangka (u figs. 727, 728) depicts a richly adorned yellow Maitreya in vitarka and dhyana mudra
posture. There is a longevity flask on the left-hand lotus,
he wears a white antelope skin around his neck and a stupa
on top of his crown (u figs. 730), and he is surrounded by
the same standing bodhisattvas (u fig. 729), with two disciples seated at the lotus base, as on the Shakyamuni gku.
Above a yellow Shakyamuni to the left and a red Amitayus to the right are represented the Buddhas of the Ten Directions, composed in two groups of five tathagatas each
and encircling a yellow sun emblem with a three-legged
bird (left) and (right) a white moon disc with a hare, ancient
Chinese symbols of power and authority (Chin.: jin miao,
yu tu) symbolizing the permanent auspicious twin unity of
the cosmos. Both motifs can also be found on the Shakyamuni Vajrasana banner, though as plain yellow and white
emblems only without the animal design. Of special interest are the two historical figures just below the upper lentsa
frieze. The red-hat monk-scholar on the right can be identified as the Indian mahapandita and Bodhgaya abbot Shakya
Shri Shariputra (kya r riputra) (u fig. 732), who on his
journey to the Chinese Ming court was invited by Rabten
Knzang to stay at Gyantse in 1414. His portrait is painted in the Lamdr Lhakhang of the main assembly hall inscribed as Pan chen r ri putra.29
As on the Shakyamuni thangka, the monk portrait on the
left depicts the earlier Nenying abbot Sempa Chenpo Chkyi
Rinchen (Sems dpa chen po Chos kyi Rin chen, u fig. 731),
whose special interest and activities for the Prajnaparamita tradition were continued under his 15th-century successor Rinchen Gyeltsen and sponsored by Rabten Knzang,

same thangka shown in fig. 725,
unrolled at the huge wall tower
(gos sku thang sa) at Saga Dawa in
2001. Photo 2001
Maitreya gku (gos sku) and one
of the two preserved side-banners,
14371439. Photo 2000
726
727
and thus may have motivated the portrayal in both thangkas. Both side-banners depicting the ten seated bodhisattvas, each c. 23 m in height and c. 5.5 m in width, were originally unrolled in order to frame the central image as a
kind of triptych. For a long time only the side-banner on
the right could be displayed (u fig. 727), while of the one
to the left, which was reportedly taken to Calcutta by the
Younghusband expedition in 1904, only the canvas support
is said to have been preserved. In recent years, two newly

made side-banners have been displayed at the annual ceremony in order to frame the principal image at both sides,
as in former times. According to the Gyantse chronicle, the
master artist was Pnmoche (dPon mo che, chief artist)
Snam Peljor (bSod nams dPal byor), who in the Fire-Serpent Year (1437) made the sketch of the great silken image
of Maitreya, which was completed in the Earth-Sheep Year
507
508
728
729
728 | Gyantse, Pelkhor Chde. The Maitreya thangka also seen in fig. 727.
Photo 2000
729 | Gyantse, Pelkhor Chde. Detail of the Maitreya thangka seen in
fig. 727: Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, to the left of the central Maitreya
Photo 2000
(1439).30 Snam Peljor was one of the painters working in

those years in the Kumbum, partly in collaboration with his
teacher (and father?) Rinchen Peljor (Rin chen dPal byor),
who had himself made the design for two other fabric images in Gyantse and Nenying in 1418 and in the 1420s. So
quite naturally the same style and motifs can be recognized
in the silken paintings and in the wall-paintings at Gyantse: in the proportions and drawing of the figures, jewellery
and textile patterns, the characteristic flower design and
rainbow-coloured nimbus, the abstract graphic grids of the
clouds, the fine variety of colours, and the decorative lentsa (lan tsha) script borders;32 and, last but not least, in several distinctive Chinese-style novelties in Tibetan painting
art, such as the elaborate early Ming textiles copied in the
Kumbum wall-paintings and woven onto these giant fabric
thangkas as original silks made in China in a specific Tibetan brocade-appliqu technique (u fig. 733). A large amount
of silk had been brought from China to Gyantse with several imperial missions in the early 15th century.33
While small Tibetan-style cloth thangkas in tapestry
(kesi), embroidery or woven technique are known from
13th- and 14th-century production centres in the TibetanChinese borderlands (Tangut Kingdom of Xi Xia) and in
China proper (Yuan dynasty court; Hangzhou?), the characteristic patchwork appliqu of multi-coloured silk brocades (lhan drub, or dras drub ma, cloth-cut-out, or drub
ma, glued appliqu) for open-air use is very probably of
genuine Tibetan origin, although the basic materials, like
the plain brocades, embroidered silks and the lampasweave sections with grid lattice-work patterns were imported readymade from China. Textual records according to
which a giant appliqu Shakyamuni gku (flanked by the
bodhisattvas Manjushri and Maitreya) produced in Min-
730 | Gyantse, Pelkhor Chde.

Detail of the thangka seen in
fig. 727: the head of Maitreya.
Photo 2000
730
509
510
731
732
733

Detail of the Maitreya thangka
seen in fig. 727, upper section,
left:: Nenying abbot Sempa
Chenpo Chkyi Rinchen.
Photo 2000
seen in fig. 727, upper section,
right: Bodhgaya abbot Shakya
Shri Shariputra (opposite fig. 731).
Photo 2000
seen in fig. 727: original embroidered brocade-applique Chinese
Ming textiles, before 1437.
Photo 2000
Detail of the Shakyamuni thangka
seen in fig. 726: here the iconometric grid beneath the silk appliqu is visible. Photo 2000
734
yag (Xi Xia, former Tangut Kingdom) and measuring almost 19 m (!) from its right to left ear,34 which the Fourth
Karmapa Rlpai Dorje would have brought to Central Tibet (Kongpo?) in 1363, may (!) have some real background,
but appears to be based with regard to its commission,
later whereabouts, and its sheer size more to fiction than
facts. If another Tibetan text source from 1782 is more reliable, the earliest silken appliqu gos sku was made in or for
Tsel Gungthang monastery near Lhasa around 1360. Historical records seem to confirm Gyantses leading (or at that
time even exclusive?) role in this field. An interesting technical detail of the working procedure can be recognized on
the Shakyamuni Vajrasana banner: the partially preserved
iconometric grid of five horizontal and four diagonal lines
of the head and upper body section, which once served in
its complete composition as the correct preparatory drawing of the Buddha according to the canonical proportions35
(u fig. 734).
In view of the fact that each of these silken scrolls has
been unrolled for the annual display more than 500 times,
they are, with the exception of the side-banner, remarkably well preserved. Some minor tears in the upper and lower sections of the Maitreya thangka reveal a number of short
prayers and mantras written onto the supporting fabric in
Uchen script, corresponding to those sacred silken figures,
which, now partly damaged, uncover their spiritual background. Similar inscriptions can be seen on the outer linen border.36
The Maitreya and the Shakyamuni gku (gos sku) both
represent various artistic idioms of the Gyantse style and
indicate the slightly different hand-writing of its individual chief-designer. Taking into consideration the fact that,
based on textual records, several hundred artisans needed between one to two years to manufacture such a cloth
image, it is feasible to suggest for monumental enterprise
a joint-venture of two or three workshops working alongside each other though in their individual artistic traditions
techniques. If this was not the case for the Gyantse silks,
and all three banners were made in exactly the same style
in terms of outlining, design and colouring, then the present Shakyamuni Vajrasana may not have belonged to the
original set of the three silken banners from 14371439, but
would have replaced a lost original fabric scroll of the same
iconography and thus completed the set at a later period.37
Preparations for displaying the silken image and its side
panel at the Saga Dawa festival begin after 4 am the Tsuglagkhang, where these scrolls are stored in heavy leather bags
throughout the year.38 After 5 am they are carried by many
lay people up to the gku khang (gos sku khang, or gos
sku thang sa, which is 32 m high, 42.5 m wide at the bottom, 28m at the top, and 3.5 m thick in the upper part), the
tower or wall for the display of the giant image overlooking
the entire Pelkhor Chde compound. Here the two banners
734a
734b
are prepared for being raised (and thus unfolded) in a few

minutes, the central panel first, by 15 lay-workers standing
on the uppermost floor and invisible from the front, each
holding a rope fixed to the top border of the image scroll
and running over a wooden roller. At about 6.30 am the two
banners are on full display until, after about another four
hours, the sun rises over the upper ridge of the eastern hills.
When the Gelugpa monks have finished reciting sutras
and prayers, their dungchen horns announce the end of the
ceremony. And for the benefit of countless pilgrims doing
the kora in view of these monumental icons, the Gyantse
chronicler Jigme Dragpa may, over 500 years ago, have seen
the essence of the great liberation through viewing (mthong
grol chen mo) the Buddha, which as soon as created beings
see it, frees from the pain of evil destinies.
734a | Gyantse, Pelkhor Chde.

Lower section of the Maitreya
gku seen in fig. 727: lotus frieze
of Maitreyas throne. Photo 2000
734b | Gyantse, Pelkhor Chde.
The lower edge of the Maitreya
gku as seen in fig. 727. After
display, the silken image is taken
down and rolled up for storage.
Photo 2000
511
512
XI | 3 The Gyantse Tsuglagkhang The main assembly hall of

the Pelkhor Chde monastic enclave
The Tsuglagkhang or Tshogschen of Pelkhor Chde was constructed and furnished between 1418 and 1425 (u fig. 735).
As the main assembly hall of Pelkhor Chde, the present
building replaced and apparently enlarged a smaller temple structure which had been constructed by the founder of
the Gyantse dynasty, Palden Zangpo (13181370), before
1370. According to an inscription on the eastern wall, when
the wall-paintings depicting 125 images of the Bhadrakalpa
paradise were sponsored by the king of the law Pelzang
(dPal bzang) (alias dPal ldan bzang po), parts of that early temple and its wall-paintings from before 1370 were integrated into the new building and so have survived. Probably the inner vestibule of the building complex was the
original entrance hall (sGo khang) of the first temple before the latter has been enlarged and completely redesigned
on all four sides to its present mandala plan. Text records
confirm an early shrine at Pelkhor Chde which, after 50
years during the heyday of the Gyantse principality, had
become too small and so was reconstructed to its present
size.39 From 1418/1419 onwards, the large 48-pillar assembly hall (dukhang; 22 m north-south, 28 m east-west) and
its main sanctum (gtsang khang) surrounded by a circumambulation corridor (bskor lam) were erected (u fig. 737,
nos. 4, 6, 7). The consecration was presided over by the Nenying abbot Jamyang Rinchen Gyeltsen (Jam dbyangs Rin
735 | Tsuglagkhang, 14181425.

The white building behind is the
Gelugpa community temple, Rinding Dratsang (see fig. 724, no. 3).
735
chen rGyal mtshan, 13641422) in 1421. In the same year

the western Vajradhatu Lhakhang was built and consecrated in 1422, then shortly after, in 1423, the opposite Chgyel
Lhakhang (nos. 5, 8). The entire upper floor can be dated
to 1424/1425, although some final works, such as roof decorations and the painting of a shrines ceiling, were apparently completed only in the 1430s, and included a ganjira in the Indian style on top of the Eastern chapel (Neten
Lhakhang?) in 1437.40
In a short time span of only seven years, one of Tibets largest and most extensively decorated ancient temple
buildings was constructed and furnished with numerous
precious statues and wall-paintings, which all have survived,
almost without any later repaintings or additions. Thus the
actual history of Pelkhor Chde (including the Kumbum
Chrten) as seen in terms of the existing art and architecture, and also as recorded in the ancient texts, extends for
not much more than 20 years. Rarely has a comparable
treasure house of Tibetan art remained in such authentic
condition.
The south-facing Tsuglagkhang, built over a mandala-like plan with a total side-length of c. 53 m, represents
a new concept in Tibetan temple architecture (u figs. 736,
737). Although the four symmetrical shrines of the cardinal directions may recall the layout of the late-13th-cen-
THE GYANTSE TSUGLAGKHANG
736
736 | Gyantse, Pelkhor Chde, Tsuglagkhang. View from the Kumbum

Chrten. The sanctuary on the second upper floor to the left is the mandala shrine Shelye Khang (see fig. 761). Photo 1994
737 | Gyantse, Pelkhor Chde, Tsuglagkhang. Plan of the ground-floor. After
Tibet und seine Architektur, Beijing 1992, p. 97
1
2
3
4
3
3
5
6
1
7
8
9
737
Entrance portico
Inner vestibule
Gnkhang (1418/1419)
Dukhang (14181421). 22 m north-south, 28 m east-west. Probably
incorporating earlier structures of an assembly hall built before 1370 (see
Pure Land wall-paintings of the Bhadrakalpa (Auspicious World Period)
cycle in the eastern and southern sections)
Vajradhatu Mandala Lhakhang with central statue of VairochanaSarvavid (1422)
Tsangkhang (main sanctum 1420/1421) with the principal Mahabodhi
Buddha statue
Korlam (circumambulation corridor 14201422)
Chgyel Lhakhang (Dharma Kings chapel, 1422/1423) with statues of the
central Maitreya and of the three Dharma Kings)
Chapel with the memorial chrten of Rabten Knzangs mother (after 1423)
513
514
738 | Gyantse, Pelkhor Chde,

Tsuglagkhang. Wall-painting of
the goddess Mahamayuri (?) in
the dukhang of the main assembly
hall, 1421/1422. Photo 1984
Tsuglagkhang. Central sanctuary:
crowned Buddha (Jowo?) Shakyamuni (of a Three Ages Buddha
triad), 1420/1421, gilt copper,
ht. (complete image): c. 8 m. The
crown of the present statue was
exchanged in the late 20th century. Of special note are the exquisite decorative carvings behind the
statue. Photo 1993
738
tury Shalu Serkhang, its structure forms a real three-dimensional mandala, which one enters via the protruding
portico structure (sGo khang). The buildings north-south
orientation, which accords with that of the entire sacred
complex, is unusual and may have been determined by
topographical factors. Architectural elements like the Chinese dougong bracket system41 have become more sophisticated and decorative than in Shalu. The wall-paintings
in the dukhang dating to 1421/1422 are largely destroyed,
or no longer identifiable under thick layers of dirt (u fig.
738). Slightly better are the preserved parts of the contemporaneous paintings (1422) in the circumambulation corridor surrounding the inner sanctum, which feature life-sized figures of Jowo Shakyamuni (inner wall,
north), Amitayus, Aksobhya, Vajrapani, Vajrasattva, Vairochana, Amoghasiddhi, and Amitabha. Other panels can
be identified according to the historical texts, such as paradise cycles from the Manjusrinamasangiti with images
of Maitreya, Avalokiteshvara-Sadaksari, Manjushri, Ratnasambhava, the Green Tara, Achala and Hayagriva as guardians, the Naga kings, and the Sixteen Arhats.42
ary is dedicated to the Buddhas of the Three Ages: three

huge gilt-copper statues of a central Shakyamuni c. 8 m high
(u figs. 739) flanked by two smaller bodhisattva images of
Manjushri and Avalokiteshvara, Dipamkara to the left and
Maitreya to the right, both seated in the European or auspicious bhadrasana posture (u fig. 740), and all dating to
the foundation period. Along the two sidewalls are 16 over
life-size copper images of the Great Bodhisattvas according
to the Manjusri-Mulakalpa Tantra.43
As recorded in the historical texts, the principal Buddha
statue was made from 1,000 khal of copper (a rather unlikely figure corresponding to 13,000 kg!) and 800 zho of gold
(which is about 4.8 kg) were used for the gilding.44 Gyantse
King Rabten Knzang himself, who rules according to the
law (inscription in the Kumbum), placed the wooden lifepole (sogshing) inside the image. Relics of Shakyamuni and
sacred objects belonging to the early Tibetan kings and to
the monastery were reportedly also enshrined in its interior, as well as many dharani texts brought by the Bodhgaya
abbot Shri Shariputra to Gyantse in 1414. The Indian connection with the principal site of the Buddhist faith also became instrumental for the iconology of this Gyantse Mahabodhi Buddha (Byang chub chen po), which was made
by the sculptor Kyabpa (sKyabs pa) and his assistants in the
manner and likeness of the image kept in the Mahabodhi
temple at Bodhgaya.45 This presumed Vajrasana iconography is further illustrated in Pelkhor Chde by a Buddha under the Bodhi tree painted at the central section of the inner wall of the korlam, just behind the Shakyamuni statue
in the main sanctum, and by the clay Buddha in the Kumbum (bum pa, south). This iconographic identification of
the principal image at Gyantse also applies to the crowned
Buddha, irrespective of whether a diadem existed in 1421 or
has been quite unlikely added only later. However, the
XI | 3.1 The central sanctuary

Built in 1420/1421, the main sanctum or tsangkhang of
the Tsogchen, which still has its original furnishings, represents one of the most beautiful and authentic temple interiors in Tibet (u figs. 737, no. 6). The eight-pillar sanctu739

Tsuglagkhang. Crowned Buddha
Shakyamuni (as in fig. 739). Photo
Leslie Weir 1910
741 | Gyantse, Tsuglagkhang.
Vajradhatu Lhakhang. The central
image of the four-headed Sarvavid-Vairochana (the two faces
to the right and left are covered
by textiles).. Gilt copper and gilt
wooden prabha, 1422. Photo 1999
740
Great Enlightenment Buddha at Gyantse in bhumisparsa and dhyana mudra posture is holding in his left hand
the alms bowl, which does not correspond to the iconography of the Bodhgaya Buddha. Thus it seems that the idea
of the Diamond Throne Buddha has been combined with
the image of the Jowo Shakyamuni as it is known from the
Lhasa Jokhang.46 The facial features and the proportions of
the head correspond to those of other monumental images of the 15th century, such as the Maitreya at Tashi Lhnpo (dated 1461). The rich decorative work surrounding the
statue and at its throne base (clay and wood), as well as the
double lotus (copper), likewise indicate the style of the first
half of the 15th century. The lavishly designed Shakyamuni
torana with its elaborate arched nimbus and rows of Buddha
statuettes, its various ornamental and lentsa-script friezes,
its finely carved throne architecture adorned with lions, the
emblems of the wheel and deer, lotuses and vajras, and the
exquisite foliate scrollwork prabha around Dipamkara and
Maitreya illustrate the high standards reached by the Pelkhor Chde artists. The largely blackened wall-paintings in
this chapel can no longer be properly identified.
Remarkable among the ritual objects and images are
an extraordinarily long purba (c. 150 cm), a 15th-century Gyantse-style Shakyamuni thangka with the Eighteen
Arhats, a set of 64 embroidered thangkas from the early20th-century workshops in Hangzhou, and some outstanding tormas with beautiful figural decoration, all on display
until the early 1990s.
741
XI | 3.2 Vajradhatu Lhakhang

The Five Tathagata Mandala
The central image in the Vajradhatu (rDo rje dbyings)
Lhakhang (u fig. 737, no. 5) to the left (west) of the dukhang
is a large gilt-copper statue of the four-armed all-knowing Vairochana (Kun rig rNams par snang mdzad), the
embodiment of the absolute Buddha nature (u fig. 741).
His four heads are meant to give light to the four directions of the universe. He is the principal divinity of the Vajradhatu Mandala, the Diamond World Mandala as described in the Sarvatathagata-Tattvasangraha Tantra and
illustrated here in a three-dimensional architectural, sculptural and painted form by this sanctuary, which was consecrated by the prince-abbot (sku zhang, maternal uncle)
of Shalu in 1422. Like the ornamental vocabulary of the
throne of the central Buddha in the tsangkhang, the magnificent large wooden prabha has integrated specific design elements used for Tibeto-Chinese gilt-copper images in the early Ming dynasty, predominantly in the Yongle
reign period (14031424), which must have become known
and popular via those regular missions sent from the imperial court to the princes of Gyantse. The other four tathagatas of the mandala are represented as painted clay images
on the rear wall of the chapel, from left to right: Ratnasamb-
515
516
en letters on indigo-blue paper and dating from about 1442,

which was carried in procession during certain religious festivals. This basic scripture of Mahayana philosophy contains the ten perfections of realization: liberality (dana),
good morals (sila), patience (ksanti), energy (virya), meditation (dhyana), perfection (prajna), skilled means for the
salvation of sentient beings (upaya kausalya), resoluteness
(pranidhana), transcendent power (bala), and knowledge
(jnana). These virtues have to be realized as a bodhisattvas ideal in order to guide all suffering human beings on
the way to enlightenment. The richly carved wooden manuscript cover (14.5 cm thick!) depicts Prajnaparamita (centre), Shakyamuni (left) and the crowned Vairochana (right),
and on the front sides the Five Tathagatas and a Green Tara.

Vajradhatu Lhakhang: Ratnasambhava, painted clay, 1422.
Photo 1984
XI | 3.3 Chgyel Lhakhang

The chapel of the Dharma Kings
742
hava (u fig. 742), Akshobhya, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi, each flanked by four minor figures of their manifestations. The iconography and composition of a multi-headed
Vairochana and the four other mandala Buddhas surrounded by large filigree-style aureoles was inspired by much earlier statue cycles, such as those at Kyangpu south of Gyantse (11th century, no longer extant).47 Through their elegant
composition, their fine details, and their expressive humanlike physiognomies, the Vajradhatu statues at Gyantse are by
among the finest in Tibetan Buddhist art. The wall-paintings
(of 1422) of the Thousand Buddhas are supposed to depict
249 various manifestations of one of the four tathagatas, in
total 996, enclosing another painted by the Cosmic Buddha
on each wall. The iconological programme can probably be
traced back to the Vajradhatu Lhakhang at Shalu monastery (ground-floor, south), where the central Vairochana is,
however, part of the painted panels and the chapels plan has
not yet been conceived as a square mandala.48
Two highly significant text treasures are preserved in
this chapel, both dating to the second quarter of the 15th
century. Based on the famous 14th-century Narthang edition, a new Kanjur written in golden letters was completed in Pelkhor Chde probably in 1431, known as the Them
Pangma Kanjur (Them spangs ma bKa gyur), which is very
likely identical with the volumes presently kept here.49 This
famous Gyantse Kanjur served as a model for later handwritten and block-printed editions. The other important
cultural relic is a huge 296-folio 8,000-verse Prajnaparamita
manuscript, the perfection of knowledge, written in gold-
The opposite Chgyel Lhakhang (Chos rgyal lha khang),

which was built and consecrated in 1422/1423 as the eastern extension of the Tsuglagkhang (u fig. 737, no. 8), is also
known under its present name, Jampa Lhakhang, referring
to the central Maitreya (Tib.: Byams pa) (u fig. 743) image
in this sanctuary. This clay statue, however, was not added
much later, as suggested by some modern scholars.50 Dating from the foundation period are the large wooden prabha, the decorative wood carvings of the throne, and the
copper double lotus. A 15th-century date is also indicated by the central leaf of the crown and by the head of the
statue, whose facial features can be compared with those of
other monumental sculptures at Gyantse, such as the two
Skakyamuni images in the Kumbum bumpa. Only some
minor accessories were replaced or added during a later
period, including the lateral crown blades, the golden ornaments covering the upper body, and the lotuses on both
sides of the figure. The Religious History of the Myang Valley Area (Myang chos byung) describes the Chapel of the
dharma kings (Chos rgyal lHa khang) as being dedicated to the thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara, whose magnificent clay statue marks the central axis of the rear altar
side51 (u fig. 744), flanked by a seated Manjushri to the left
one of the finest clay sculptures in Gyantse (u fig. 747)
and by a wrathful standing Vajrapani to the right. Another 11-headed bodhisattva is painted on the opposite entrance wall, also dating to 1423 (u fig. 745), and there is one
in the Gyantse Kumbum (u fig. 746) of around the same
date. These three principal bodhisattvas are incarnated by
the three great early Tibetan kings52 seated in front of the
southern wall, from left to right: Songtsen Gampo, Trisong
Detsen (u fig. 748), and Ralpachen. Like most of the other
clay statues in the Tsuglagkhang, they have preserved their
original surface colour. Since the royal statues in the Lhasa
Jokhang of the 14th century have not survived, and the wellknown images in the Potala Palace date to a much later period, the Gyantse triad represents the earliest known mon-

Chgyel Lhakhang. The central
Maitreya image. Gilt copper and
gilt wooden prabha, 1422/1423.
Photo 1982
Chgyel Lhakhang. An 11-headed
thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara,
the principal clay statue at the
eastern back wall, with original
polychromy, 1423. Photo 1982
743
744
umental group of the Tibetan dharma kings (dated 1423).

Their presence at Pelkhor Chde goes beyond mere veneration of Tibets monarchic history. The three kings were
seen in a historical line and continuity as the antecedents of
the Gyantse princes, who hundreds of years later associated their political and religious role with those bodhisattvarulers. The chronological line appears to have been completed by Shakashribhadra, the great scholar from Kashmir
(Kha che Pan chen, 11271225), whose lineage was connected with the Gyantse princes and whose teachings were
especially appreciated at Pelkhor Chde. His statue is on the
eastern wall to the right of the wrathful Vajrapani. The bareheaded master to the left of Manjushri on the same wall is
the great Indian Buddhist teacher Shantaraksita, the founder of Samye, together with Padmasambhava (north, right),
in the late 8th century, followed by the contemporaneous
Madhyamika scholar Kamalashila (north, centre) and Atisha (u fig. 749), the foremost Buddhist promoter during the
Second Diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet (north, left). Thus
the origins and development of Buddhism in Tibet are illustrated by the iconographic programme of this shrine to the
benefit of its patrons and pilgrims. The wall-paintings of the
alternating figures of Amitabha, Amitayus, Avalokiteshvara,
and Vajrasattva and their acolytes in the Chgyel Lhakhang,
which are partly covered by ritual furniture, deserve more
attention and like most of the other chapels in the Tsuglagkhang a systematic photographic documentation.
While all statues and wall-paintings in the dzong temple and on the ground-floor of the Tsuglagkhang are execut-
ed in a more or less Newari and Nepalo-Tibetan style, or in

a Shalu-inspired Tibetan tradition, the portrait statues of
Buddhist masters and kings in the Chgyel Lhakhang recall
life-like Chinese lohan (arhat) and monk statues, which became well known and popular in Tibet during the 14th century. Perhaps from the same period, or from around 1400,
date the now lost Chinese-style clay images of the Sixteen
Elders at Norbu Khyungtse (Nor bu khyung rtse), a former castle about 40 km east of Shigatse, which is described
as a second royal palace in Jigme Dragpas Gyantse chronicle.53 Other sets of similar (in style and iconography!) Chinese arhat images were sent by the Yongle Emperor to Sera
monastery after Jamchen Chjes visit to the Ming court in
1415, or were made after the Chinese fashion for the Lamdr and Neten Lhakhang on the upper floor, or in the Kumbum during the following years (1425, c. 14251435). This
naturalistic Chinese arhat style was no doubt an essential
influence on portrait-like statues such as those in the Chgyel Lhakhang. The soft and sumptuous curvilinear garment style (Faltenstil) of the Tibetan kings was obviously
inspired by similar patterns of Tibeto-Chinese Yongle reign
(14031424) bronzes, many of which had been sent to Tibet in the early 15th century, a fact that clearly documents
the close ties between the Gyantse princes and the Chinese
court.
A small southern side chapel enshrines a large memorial stupa in decorative gilt-copper repouss work for the
deceased mother of the temples founder Rabten Knzang,
which dates to the years after 1423.
517
518

Chgyel Lhakhang. An 11-headed
thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara.
Wall-painting at the entrance wall,
1423. Photo 1994
745
746 | Gyantse, Kumbum. An

11-headed thousand-armed
Avalokiteshvara. Wall-painting,
c. 1430. Photo 1994
747 | Gyantse, Kumbum. Bodhisattva Manjushri of the Vajradhatu
mandala. Clay with original polychromy, 1423. Photo 1981
748 | Gyantse, Tsuglagkhang, Chgyel Lhakhang. King Trisong Detsen, central statue (clay, original
polychromy) of the Three Dharma
Kings group, 1423. Photo 1985
749 | Gyantse, Tsuglagkhang,
Chgyel Lhakhang. Atisha (982
1054), clay with original polychromy, 1423. Photo 1985
746
747
748
749
519
520
XI | 3.4 Gnkhang
The protectors shrine
A very authentic sanctuary is the Gnkhang on the left, before one enters the dukhang, datable to 1418/1419 when
construction work of the present assembly hall began. More
than in other protector chapels in Tibet, the archaic and esoteric atmosphere that characterizes these exclusive power-places has been preserved here. And in hardly any other
gnkhang in Tibet have survived the original 600-year-old
paintings (u fig. 750). The iconography is predominantly influenced by the Sakya tradition. Mahakala Gurgyi Gnpo
(Gur gyi mGon po), Pelden Lhamo, and the one-eyed Ekajata are the principal statues. Wall-paintings in the small
corridor depict charnel grounds with Surya-candra-Gauri holding Mount Meru with the four continents, Kamadhatvishvari, the black Dkyi Gyelpo (bDud kyi rgyal po),
and other pre-Buddhist deities, dvarapalas with lion or bear
heads54 and, in the main room, several Sakya hierarchs,
750
4
3
1
2

Gnkhang. Wall-painting of two
siddhas, a Sakya lama and Vajradhara. 1418/1419. Photo 1992
1
2
3
4
5
751 | Gyantse, Tsuglagkhang. Plan

of the upper floor. After Southern
Ethnology and Archaeology, 4/1994,
p. 236
751
Staircase leading from the ground-floor

Zimchung (audience room)
Lamdr Lhakhang (1425)
Rooflight of the Dukhang
Guru Lhakhang with view at the upper part of the principal
Mahabodhi Buddha
6
7
8
9
Shelye Khang (Mandala Shrine, 1425) on the second upper floor

Circumambulation corridor (1425)
Neten Lhakhang with statues of the Sixteen Arhats (1425)
Jampa Chpa Lhakhang (also known as Dlma chapel)
such as Sonam Tsemo and other. Cham masks, weapons,

and stuffed animals complete the mystical character of this
sacred energy room, which is supposed to reactivate and
permanently reload the monastic compound and community with life-power beyond space and time. As Giuseppe
Tucci observed: In this mgon khang one breathes that fearful atmosphere which is peculiar to Lamaist art and which
imprints its creation with specific fascination. Several exquisite painted scrolls of the 18th and 19th centuries were
displayed here in the 1980s.
The entire upper floor of the assembly hall was built and
furnished within a very short time in 1424/1425 (u fig. 751).
Four shrines are especially remarkable for their precious and
authentic statuary and wall-paintings: Lamdr Lhakhang in
the west for its sculptural cycle of the Lamdr teaching tradition, its mahasiddha paintings, and its three-dimensional Samvara Mandala, the opposite Neten Lhakhang in the
east for its statues of the Sixteen Arhats, the neighbouring
Maitreya chapel for its many ancient metal images, and the
central Shelye Khang mandala shrine (north) for its complete set of large mandala paintings.
521
XI | 3.5 Lamdr Lhakhang

Siddhas and Sakya masters
This Temple of the Path and the Fruit (Lam bras lHa
khang) was built by Rabten Knzangs brother Rabjor Zangpo (Rab byor bZang po) in 1425 (u fig. 751a). Its name refers
to the principal teachings of the Sakya school, Lamdr (lam
bras), the Path [to Liberation] with the Result, which in
view of its fundamental importance for Tibetan Buddhism
can be compared with Tsongkhapas Lamrim (lam rim) of
the emerging Gelugpa. In the words of Giuseppe Tucci: It
is the process of meditation and of purification through
which man transforms himself into the eternal overcoming of the world of appearances.55 It is to this very Sakya
teaching that the iconological programme of the statues,
wall-paintings, and the central ritual mandala object refers directly. The iconographic core of the chapel are the 19
painted clay images (ht.: all c. 90100 cm), in largely original condition, of the Indian and Tibetan Lamdr lineage
751a | Gyantse, Tsuglagkhang.

Plan of Lamdr Lhakhang.
Statues: 119, wall-paintings: 2027 (all 1425)

1 Central image of Vajradhara with two assisting bodhisattvas,
Vajrasattva (left) and Danyama (right)
2 Virupa, like Nairatmya (no. 3), the principal and primordial
transmitter of the Lamdr teachings
3 Nairatmya dakini
4 Nagpopa (Skt.: Kanhapa)
5 Damarupa
6 Avadhutipa
7 Gayadhara
8 Drogmi Shakya Yeshe (Drogmi Lotsawa)
9 Setn Knrig
10 Zhangtn Dany Chwar
11 Sachen Knga Nyingpo
12 Snam Tsemo
13 Dragpa Gyeltsen
14 Sa skya Pandita
15 Pagpa
16 Zhang Knchogpa
17 Drag phugpa Snam Pel
18 Lama Dampa Snam Gyeltsen Pel Zangpo, author of the rGyal rabs
gsal bai me long chronicle (1368)
19 Lama Knga Tashi Gyeltsen Pel Zangpo, Lamdr master and an important figure in Sino-Tibetan relations of the early Ming dynasty
2023 Wall-paintings of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas (1425). See
fig. 753
24 Wall-paintings depicting the life of the great Sakya Lama Pagpa
Lodr Gyeltsen (12351280), sitting in the centre opposite the
Mongol- Chinese emperor Khubilai Khan (12151294, left), whom
he initiated into the Tibetan Buddhist rituals (1254). See fig. 755
25 Wall-painting of Pagpa Lodr Gyeltsen (centre, right) and of his
Sakya predecessor Sakya Pandita Knga Gyeltsen (11821251,
left)
26 Wall-painting depicting Vaishravana
27 Wall-painting depicting the goddess Suryacandra Gauri holding
Mount Meru, Pelden Lhamo, and bDud rGyal
28 Three-dimensional Samvara Mandala (1425). See figs. 757, 757a,
757b, 758
751a
25
23
13
14
15
16
17
19
12
26
11
22
3
20
entrance
28
27
= Wall-paintings
(all these paintings are on the inside walls)
5
6
21
10
18
= Statues
24
UNVERKUFLICHE LESEPROBE
Michael Henss
The Cultural Monuments of Tibet
Gebundenes Buch mit Schutzumschlag, ca. 880 Seiten, 24,0x30
967 farbige Abbildungen, 240 s/w Abbildungen
ISBN: 978-3-7913-5158-2
Prestel
Erscheinungstermin: Oktober 2014
Dieses reich bebilderte Werk dokumentiert in zwei Bnden die Kunst und Architektur der
vergangenen 1.400 Jahre im heutigen Tibet. Es ist das Ergebnis eingehender wissenschaftlicher
Forschung sowie zahlreicher Besuche des Autors vor Ort seit 1980.
Architektur, Kunst und Einrichtung aller wichtigen Klster und Profanbauten werden detailliert
beschrieben und interpretiert, unter Bercksichtigung historischer Quellentexte und der
gesamten bisherigen Forschung im Westen und in China. Die meisten der ber 1.200
Abbildungen, Karten und Grundrisse werden erstmals verffentlicht, darunter viele historische
Fotografien, die kulturelle Sttten zeigen, die der Zerstrung anheimgefallen sind.
Bisher unerreicht in Umfang und Tiefe ist dieses Werk die erste systematische Darstellung des
Themas und eine einzigartige Quelle fr Fachleute und interessierte Leser gleichermaen.
Zudem berzeugen die beiden Bnde durch ihre opulente Ausstattung und einen prachtvollen
Schuber mit Goldprgung.

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THE CULTURAL MONUMENTS OF TIBET

THE CENTRAL REGIONS

The Central Tibetan Province of A definition of its historical geography

Lhasa and Its Historical Monuments

Barkor and Lingkor The way of the pilgrims

Jokhang and Tsuglagkhang The Diamond Throne of Tibet

History and architecture From Jokhang to Tsuglagkhang

Ramoche Temple The Smaller Jokhang

The White Palace Audience halls and private rooms

The Shl quarter The downtown Potala village

Lukhang The shrine in the Naga Kings Lake

Chagpo Ri Cave sanctuary and Temple of Medicine

Draglha Lu cave sanctuary

Norbu Lingka Summer Palace of the Dalai Lamas

Kelsang Podrang Palace of the Seventh Dalai Lama

Monasteries and temples in Lhasa

Meru Nyingpa An ancient power-place reconstructed

Tengye Ling Residence of the Demo Tulkus

The Tibet Museum Selected cultural relics

The Three Great Seats of Learning: Ganden, Drepung, Sera

Ganden The first monastery of the Gelugpa School

Drepung Origin and power-place of the Tibetan theocracy

Tsuglagkhang The main assembly hall

Nechung The monastic residence of Tibets State Oracle

Sera The principal academy for Mahayana studies

Ngagpa The Tantric Faculty

Monuments of the Kyi Chu Valley and Beyond

Nyethang Dlma Lhakhang In memory of Atisha

Tsel Gungthang monastery A religio-political power-place of the Mongol-Tibetan period

The Drag Yerpa hermitages Meditation and retreat in a sacred landscape

Gyama Trikhang The legendary birthplace of King Songtsen Gampo

Katsel Monastery A Border-taming Temple of the Lhasa Mandala

Drigung Thil monastery A treasure house of Tibetan art

Radeng monastery The origins of the Kadampa school

Taglung monastery - The Golden Age of early Tibetan art

Langtang and Nalendra Sacred sites in the Phenpo Valley

Tshurphu Monastery The Seat of the Karmapa Lamas

The Seat of the Karmapa Lamas

Historical Sites in the Yarlung Valley

From myth to history Divine rulers and early monuments

The Royal Necropolis at Chongye From divine kingship to Buddhist faith

Early Sculptures and decorative arts of the royal dynastic period

Chongye Dzong and beyond

Yumbu Lakhar Royal fortress and sacred shrine

Tradrug monastery The earliest temple of Tibet

Monuments of the Tsangpo Valley

Chagzam Chuwo Ri The iron-chain bridge at the Tsangpo-Kyi Chu confluence

Gongkar Dzong and Gongkar Chde monastery

Dorje Drag The Vajra Rock monastery

Monuments of the Dranang Valley

Drathang Temple A treasure house of Tibetan painting

Mindrl Ling Nyingma stronghold in Central Tibet

Namse Ling Manor House An urban palace in the countryside

Samye Architectural universe and the foundation site of Tibetan monasticism

Samye Chkhor A three-dimensional imago mundi of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism

n Keru Lhakhang The earliest monumental statues in Tibet

Densa Thil The origins of the Kagy School

Lhodrag Temples and Towers in the South of Central Tibet

Riteng and Drongkar Unknown temples between Yarlung and Lhodrag