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| Guge Kingdom |
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Guge Kingdom was founded around tenth century by a descendant of King
Lang Darma, who fled from Lhasa after the collapse of Tubo Kingdom.
The kingdom, playing an important role in the second transmission
in Tibet, survived about 700 years and disappeared mysteriously in
the 17th century.
The ruins lie at a hilltop near a river, covering 180,000 square
meters. Houses, cave dwellings, monasteries and stupas are distributed
on the hill and surrounding area. Palaces sat on the summit while
monasteries on mountainside, cave dwellings for common people at
the foot of the hill. The kingdom was enclosed in tunnels and walls
with fortifications. Some structures survive time and remain in
good condition in this untraversed region though many of them were
reduced into dust. A 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) long water tunnel
built with stones, in ruins, still dives from the summit into the
river below, which used to be water supply of Guge people.
Guge Kingdom is now famous for its murals, sculptures and stone
inscriptions, which are attached with those surviving structures.
Among them, murals in White Palace, Red Palace, Yamantaka Chapel,
Tara Chapel and Mandala Chapel are preserved in good condition.
The themes of those murals, hundreds of years old but still splendid,
include mainly stories of Buddha, Sakyamuni, Songtsen Gampo, kings
of Guge and their ministers. A chapel on the summit of the hill
houses a mural depicting male and female Buddhas proceeding Tantric
cultivation together, while lower part displaying purgatory with
naked, enchanting Dakinis flanking each side. The artistic and aesthetic
value of Guge murals is deemed comparable with that of Mogao Caves.
The wall of Guge is actually a library of stone inscriptions, which
are impressive as well as its murals. Mani stones are scattered
around. Most sculptures of Guge style are gold and silver Buddhas.
Around the ruins, weapons of Guge people and mummies, probably
Guge soliders, have been discovered as a trace of the once glorious
kingdom. |
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