Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c41.s5: Tibet
Mānasāra Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Mānasāra-Śilpaśāstra; III. Mānasāra on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Mānasāra: Translation; V. Architecture of Mānasāra: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c41.s5
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Tibet
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BOTH SAIVISM AND demon worship are practised along with Buddhism in Tibet. King Sron-btsang-gam-po (A.D. 629 to 650) married two Buddhist princesses, one from China and the other from Nepal, and thus Buddhism was introduced in Tibet. ‘He is said to have built the monastery of Labrang, in the centre of Lhasa (A.D. 644), with perhaps the largest temple, as it is the most ancient in the country. His Chinese queen had brought with her a famous sandal-wood image of Śākyamuni and another of Ānanda, and for these was erected, about 650, the Ramoche temple, a little to the north-east of Labrang.’
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Śiva temples in Tibet are rare. But from the general history it can be assumed that they were of ordinary Hindu style with slight local variations. The Buddhist monuments in Tibet consist of numerous monasteries and the splendid tombs of the Grand Lamas.
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The earliest Tibetan monastery is stated to be ‘that of Sām-yas, about 35 miles south-east from Lhasa, near the Sang-po river. It was established by a famous teacher, Padma Sambhava, who went from Bihar with other Buddhist teachers about the middle of the eighth century. He is said to have modelled it after the great temple monastery of Odantapuri, near Nalanda, and it became the metropolis of the Red-cap order. The monastery, with its large temple and four separate colleges, is enclosed by a circular wall about a mile and a half in circuit, and contains a notable library and the State treasury. Another Indian Pandit, named Atisha, came from the Vikramasila monastery about 1038 A.D. and restored the Lamaism of his time, establishing what afterwards became the Yellow-cap or Gelupga order of Lamas, which became the State church when its chiefs, the Dalai Lamas, usurped the temporal power.’¹
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¹ Fergusson, *Indian and Eastern Architecture*, I, 293.
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The most famous and magnificent of the Tibetan monasteries is, however, that of Potala, outside the city of Lhasa. Here the Dalai Lama resides. It is known as the Red Palace. Its centre is occupied by a great block, dominating the others, which contains the temples, with Buddhism married two from Nepal, said to have sa (A.D. 644), ncient in the amous sandaland for these to the north-
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history it can th slight local of numerous nas.
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at of Sām-yas, river. It was ho went from of the eighth mple monastery cropolis of the d four separate and a half in sury. Another śila monastery e, establishing der of Lamas, Dalai Lamas,
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monasteries is, ere the Dalai re is occupied s the temples,
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[Figure: ELEVATION OF LARGE VIHARA. CROSS SECTION GUPTA COLUMN. FROM ERAN NALANDA UNIVERSITY ACCORDING TO BEAL. GUPTA COLUMN]
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audience halls, and *chaityas* (tombs) of the Dalai Lamas. On its roof are the gilded pavilions of Chinese style that render it so conspicuous in the landscape. ‘It was built by the first Dalai Lama between 1642 and 1650 on the ruins of the ancient fortress of Sron-btsang-gam-po, on a hill in the west of Lhasa, rising about 300 feet above the plain.’¹ The most of the remaining monasteries, even of later days, are, however, of Indian origin and style. One of these later monasteries is situated at Depung, three or four miles from Lhasa, and ‘contains fully 7,000 inmates, mostly devoted to exorcism and magic. It was founded in 1414, and is said to be named or modelled after the early Indian monastery of Dhanyakataka or Amaravati.’² It is of the same plan as of other monasteries: ‘within the enclosure is a large temple surrounded by four chapels, and a palace of Lhasa Lama.’
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¹ Fergusson, *ibid*, Plate vi, p. 292.
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² *Ibid*, p. 294.