Tibetan Temple
Uttar Pradesh · India
This city is home to a large number of twentieth-century Buddhist temples built and maintained by Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese monks. This temple houses a statue of Shakyamuni Buddha or Buddha in a resting position. Famous for its Thangka or Tibetan Buddhist paintings, and frescoes, the Tibetan Temple showcases many of these on the walls and ceilings.
Contents
8 sections · tap a section for its opening lines1Orientation
Welcome to Gyantse, located at the very heart of the upper Nyangchu Valley in the Tsang region of central Tibet. The magnificent and awe-inspiring structure standing before you is the Gyantse Kumbum, the undisputed masterpiece of…
Listen in the app2The Four-Tiered Terrace: Architectural Layout and Lower Tantras
The lower base of the Gyantse Kumbum is meticulously engineered with a complex twenty-corner ground plan. The base rises in a stepped system of four terraces, with an open-air balcony circumambulation path surrounding each level. …
Listen in the app3Third and Fourth Levels: Yogatantra and the Lineage Masters
Ascending the staircases beyond the lower base terraces brings visitors to the third and fourth stories of the Gyantse Kumbum. Following the systematic classification scheme of Buton Rinchen Drub, the chapels located on the third…
Listen in the app4The Bumpa: Cylindrical Vase and the Four Sacred Temples
After venerating the lineage masters on the fourth story, visitors reach the fifth story of the Kumbum, known as the bumpa. The bumpa takes the form of a massive cylindrical vase, symbolizing a sacred treasure vessel that holds…
Listen in the app5The Harmika and Spire: Anuttarayoga Tantra and Vajradhara
Ascending the internal staircases leading upward from the bumpa, visitors reach the harmika, a double-story square structure positioned directly beneath the towering conical spire. Inside the harmika, a large Central Pillar…
Listen in the app6Mural Art and Artist Collectives: The Birthplace of Tibetan Art Schools
The artistic magnificence of the Gyantse Kumbum is the product of an extraordinary collaborative enterprise that brought together many of the finest artists of fifteenth-century Tibet. Overseeing this monumental undertaking was…
Listen in the app7The Giant Thangka Wall: Liberation through Seeing
Looking toward the mountain ridge behind the Pelkhor Chode monastic complex, visitors can see a massive stone structure built directly onto the sloped hillside. This imposing wall, visible from miles away across the Nyangchu…
Listen in the app8Closing
Throughout this audio guide tour, we have explored the monumental architecture and sacred tantric iconography of the Gyantse Kumbum at Pelkhor Chode Monastery. Following the political decline of the Gyantse principality at the…
Listen in the app
What is Tibetan Temple?
Tibetan Temple is a place in Uttar Pradesh · India with 8 story sections on Tellby. You can read the opening of each section on this page; the sound plays in the app.
| Location | Uttar Pradesh · India |
|---|---|
| Type | Heritage |
| Story sections | 8 |
| Text language | English |
| Coordinates | 25.3799, 83.0336 |
| Last updated |
