My first
contact with the word Kumbum has been in a book by the German explorer Wilhelm
Filchner (13.09.1877 – 07.05.1957). Now that I read the Wikipedia article on
Filchner (“he travelled alone and on horseback through the Pamir Mountains,
from Osh to Murgabh to the upper Wakhan to Tashkurgan and back”), I recall that
I’ve been there, too, which means that his books (I’ve read others, too, five
of the books mentioned in the German article) had an impact on my life. And
then of course I’ve read all the books by Alexandra David-Neel, who also
mentioned the Kumbum. The Institute of Ethnology at the Cologne University,
where I’ve studied ethnology / social anthropology, had all the old books on
Tibet in its library; I still recall, where these books were back then (1975),
as I had to climb a ladder.
But
Filchner explored the Kumbum Dschamba Ling in the province of Qinghai (青海), whereas I want to talk about the Kumbum of Palcho Monastery at
Gyantse. The Kumbum has nine floors and each there are 76 chapels, it forms a
three-dimensional mandala. The Kumbum is 32 m high and has 108 gates, which I
didn’t count. As there were repair works under way and some doors were left
open by the workers, I could climb the stairs much higher than is usually
allowed. I had visited the Kumbum in 1998 and even then I didn’t get as far as
this time. The original building had been constructed from 1427 to 1437.
The
small rooms, much like caves, get their light mostly through the opened doors.
Some contain statues, other more wall paintings. Every little cave is a new
adventure. And some have a low beam, so that you can bump your head easily.
A pipe for the removal of debris
Same topic - different statues
Painting on one of the doors to a chapel
Reminds me of Indian dancers
or the frescoes at Sigiriya Rock
Links
and References:
Filchner, W. und W.A. Unkrig: Kumbum Dschamba Ling. Das
Kloster der Hunderttausend Bilder Maitreyas, Leipzig 1933
.
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