On a high plateau in central Asia, hidden behind an almost impassable wall, a gated land cut off by the world's tallest mountains, an extraordinary art took form. The land, austerely beautiful, is demanding and harsh: alternately sundrenched and snowdriven, whipped and scoured by fierce, ceaseless wind--a land where comfort is scarce. Yet despite its starkness, or perhaps because of it, Tibetan visionaries, focused on the perception of invisible, ultimate reality, used art to depict that fundamental truth. With that focus, rather than mirroring the land around them, painting what was literally outside their door, they developed an art of the mind, one of unforgettable energy and beauty.lateau in central Asia, hidden behind an almost impassable wall, a gated land cut off by the world's tallest mountains, an extraordinary art took form. The land, austerely beautiful, is demanding and harsh: alternately sundrenched and snowdriven, whipped and scoured by fierce, ceaseless wind--a land where comfort is scarce. Yet despite its starkness, or perhaps because of it, Tibetan visionaries, focused on the perception of invisible, ultimate reality, used art to depict that fundamental truth. With that focus, rather than mirroring the land around them, painting what was literally outside their door, they developed an art of the mind, one of unforgettable energy and beauty.
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Jampa and Thubchen are both exemplars of the Sakya-pa tradition of monastic architecture of the fifteenth century. Yet these two gompas, barely a hundred yards apart, conceived and commissioned by the same group of persons, their designs implemented and executed by the same (or similar) craftsmen and artists, do not replicate each other. Rather, they complement each other in concept, design, and function. While Jampa represents the mystical side of Buddhism, Thubchen expresses its philosophical aspect; Jampa, entirely painted with mandalas, embodies a mystical experience and esoteric, tantric teachings; Thubchen, its vast central prayer hall decorated with serene, elegant images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, offers a mainstream vision of Mahayana Buddhism.
Jampa Gompa
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Wall Layout
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Thubchen Gompa
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Wall Layout
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In the desert east of Lo Monthang, sandstone cliffs and bluffs have been fluted by wind and weather into fantastical formations, like serried, tapered pillars or organ pipes. These cliffs are pitted with caves, and such a cave forms the inner sanctum of Luri gompa, a small jewel of Buddhist art. The gompa, covered with a red wash, perched on a ledge on a one hundred-meter high cliff, stands out against the sand and bone-colored sandstone pillars. (A newer gompa is found below on the valley floor; although more easily accessible, it is of no art-historical interest.) The part of Luri gompa visible from the valley below is its mud-brick superstructure, perched on a ledge on one of these sandstone pillars. Photographs make it appear that entrance to the gompa is obtained by scaling this pillar, yet a winding footpath climbs one hundred meters to a door in a lower cave, inside which a notched log leads up to the gompa itself. A single entrance door opens into the outer chamber.
The outer chamber, containing a shrine, is painted very crudely, apparently at a later date than the paintings within. This outer chamber leads into the inner room, the cave within the rock.
The treasure of Luri is the inner chamber, a rounded space that was hollowed out or enlarged and smoothed within the cave. One small window provides some natural light. In the center of this chamber is a chorten, six meters high, with painted figures on all sides of its rectangular base, on its dome, and also beneath the ritual parasol atop the dome. The domed ceiling is decorated with eight painted images of Mahasiddhas, circling above the chorten. Along one wall is a set of painted figures, amd above them a row of nine small portraits of lamas.
Although no documentation has been found pertaining to this gompa, its paintings appear to be of earlier date than those in Jampa and Thubchen, perhaps by a hundred years, which would set them back to the fourteenth century, or even earlier. While the later paintings of Jampa and Thubchen belong to the later, more fully developed Tibetan style, a classical style with elements of Chinese influence, the Luri images reflect the influence of Indian and Kashmiri style. The small lama portraits may possible reflect Persian or Byzantine influence.
Luri Gompa
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Wall Layout
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Their wall paintings were applied on dry walls rather than on wet plaster, and thus are technically not frescoes. The walls were prepared with a mixture of very fine sand mixed with several kinds of soil, as well as mud and crushed grass, and then coated with gum made from boiled skins to strengthen and compact the underlying coat. To this was added fine particles of crushed saligrams, ammonite fossils found in this region, which are held to be the footprints of Shiva--thus adding a mystical ingredient. Over this, another coat of powdered limestone and gum was applied. The pigments are based on mineral colors mixed with boiled yak skins and water, gum, and finely crushed stone. This mixture was allowed to dry in the sun, so that sedimentation occurred. From this colloidal solution, the water was then extracted. The large particles of stone were then removed, and the finer particles were crushed again to still finer powder. This process was repeated three times. Gold paint was used for many decorative details, such as the deities' ornaments.
Prayer of Auspiciousness
Replete with excellence like a mountain of gold,
The triple worlds' saviors, freed from the three taints,
Are the buddhas, their eyes like lotuses in bloom;
They are the world's first auspicious blessing.
The teachings they imparted are sublime and steadfast,
Famed in the triple worlds, honored by gods and humans alike,
That holy teaching grants peace to all sentient beings;
This is the world's second auspicious blessing.
The sacred community, rich with learning, is honored
By humans, gods, and demi-gods.
That supreme community is modest, yet the site of glory;
This is the world's third auspicious blessing.
The teacher has come into our world;
The teaching shines like the sun's rays;
The teaching masters, like siblings, are in concord;
Let there thus be auspicious blessings for the teachings to remain for long.
Tibetan Text
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Buddhist Templa Art of Mustang
Buddhist Templa Art of Mustang
The Mustang paintings are of inestimable value and significance; among the world's finest Buddhist wall paintings, they are rare surviving exemplars of the classical period of Tibetan Buddhist art. Following the Chinese invasion of Tibet, and during the subsequent Cultural Revolution, Tibet's culture was subjected to massive and brutal assault. The destruction of temples and monasteries was wholesale; from one end of Tibet's vast expanse to the other, sacred statues were smashed, murals defaced or obliterated, and entire monasteries razed, in a deliberate attempt to destroy an entire culture. Fortunately, the Tibetan cultural world and its sphere of influence extends beyond the borders of Tibet, into Bhutan and Sikkim, bordering regions of Nepal and India, and Mongolia. Although it is now part of Nepal, Mustang was formerly a small, independent Tibetan kingdom; it appears on the map as a thumb-shaped protrusion, breaking through the Himalayan wall into Tibet.