Description

The Great Stupa of Gyantse
Franco Ricca and Erberto Lo Bue
The Great Stupa of Gyantse, about one hundred miles south-west of Lhasa, may well be accounted one of the chief wonders of the Tibetan Buddhist world in that it records iconographically within its seventy-five chapels and temples practically the whole pantheon of Indo-Tibetan religion up to the time of its construction during the first half of the fifteenth century. Built by the princes of Gyantse, it is the most important surviving Tibetan monument to predate the establishment of the Dalai Lama's theocracy in Lhasa and the construction of the Potala Palace. Its magnificent wall paintings and images, although relatively fragile, have withstood remarkably well the wear and tear of five centuries. The authors present a detailed historical, structural, iconographical and stylistic survey resulting from their fieldwork in 1987 and 1990. An appendix presents a plan of each chapel and an illustration of the principal deity.