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38-520: The earliest history of the Penchor Chode Monastery is traced to the ninth century. Pelkhor-tsen , son of Langdarma (anti Buddhist King of West Tibet ) after whom the monastery is named as Pelkor Chode, lived here and attempted to perpetuate the Yarlung dynasty of his father who had been assassinated. The town of Gyantse was established between the 14th and 15th centuries as a feudatory , with

76-476: A Tibetan prince, Langdarma was Buddhist, but under the influence of Wégyel Toré ( Wylie : dbas rgyal to re ), he became a follower of Bon , after which he assassinated his brother King Ralpachen , in 838. Following this, he widely persecuted Tibetan monks, nuns, and destroyed their monasteries which were those of the Nyingma school, the only school of Tibetan Buddhism at that time. Langdarma only reigned for

114-510: A clockwise order. In the fourth tier, there are twenty chapels depicting images of Yogatantras in a clockwise order. The fifth tier has 12 chapels depicting lineage holders. In the sixth tier there are four chapels, which show Yogatantra deities. The seventh tier has a single chapel with 10 mandalas, a unique depiction of the "Father Class of Unsurpassed Yogatantras". The eighth tier has also a single chapel but depicts 11 mandalas of "Mother Class of Unsurpassed Yogatantras". The last and tenth tier has

152-616: A sacred small image of Tara . The Tsongkhapa Chapel on the same floor has images of Tsongkhapa, Dalai Lama VII, Shakyamuni , Buton Rinchen Drub , Sakya Pandita , Padmasambhava and the Sakyapa lamas of the Lamdre lineage. Neten Lakhang is another Chapel, which has Chinese-style images of Sixteen Elders, aside from images of the Five Aspects of Manjushri and the Four Guardian Kings. On

190-569: A single chapel, which has an idol of the Vajradhara Buddha but is "flanked by the masters of the Kalachakra ". Tsulaklakang is the main temple. It has an Assembly Hall called as 'Tshomchen' in Tibetan and well preserved. The structure has three floors and has well-preserved murals and images of the fifteenth century. The ground floor has at the entry itself four images of Four Guardian Kings. At

228-642: A temple on the hill top called the Sampel Rinchenling. However, this is seen only in ruins now except for some murals made in genuine Newari and Gyantse Tibetan styles. The most popular festival celebrated in the monastery is held on 15 April. It is known as the Saka Dawa festival to commemorate Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism; this day is said to mark his birthday and also the day of his death. On this occasion, five hundred Lamas chant sutras when local people attend. Horse racing and archery festivals are held in

266-502: A year to a year and a half, before his own death. Another source says the reign was either six or thirteen years. A Buddhist hermit or monk named Lhalung Pelgyi Dorje is often credited with assassinating Langdarma in 842, or in 846, but other sources credit Nyingma master Nubchen Sangye Yeshe with frightening him to death after Langdarma threatened the practitioners in Nubchen Sangye Yeshe's monastic institute. His death

304-606: Is a 32 metres (105 ft) high structure, a nine-tier building with 108 gates (108 interpreted as nine-tier structure representing space multiplied by the time element of 12 zodiac signs ), and 76 chapels and shrines; out of the nine floors, the first five are square in shape while the rest are circular giving it a pyramidal appearance. It is also given the name “the Ten Thousand Buddha Pagodas”, as it has enshrined about ten thousand figures of Buddhas as images and murals. It has hundred chapels overlapping each other, which

342-470: Is an important Buddhist teaching both on the nature of reality, and what a Buddha is. By the 4th century CE , the Trikaya Doctrine had assumed the form that we now know. Briefly, the doctrine says that a Buddha has three kayas or bodies : the nirmanakaya or created body which manifests in time and space; the sambhogakaya or body of mutual enjoyment which is an archetypal manifestation; and

380-683: Is called the 'tower upon tower' structure. The chapels have the finest display of Tibetan art in "vibrant colour and naturalistic style"; in the faces of the murals Chinese images are discerned. Three Buddhist sects namely, Sakyapa, Kadampa and Gelugpa are represented here. It is considered the largest of the three Kumbums in Tibet; the other two Kumbams are the Jonang Kumbum and Ching Riwoche. Kumbum has nine floors or tiers and each tier has unique chapels. The 76 chapels have images that form "a progressive hierarchy of three-dimensional manadalas, as outlined in

418-506: Is dated to 1268 and a castle was also built inside by local Prince Phakpa Pelzangpo (1318–1370) who was influential with the Sakyapa overlords. Buddhist guru Butan Rinchen Drub of Zhalu resided here at the invitation of the prince and made it his religious seat. Later, in the 14th century, the palace was moved from the fort to the Gyantse town where Kunga Phakpa had built a larger complex of buildings and monasteries. During this period, he also built

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456-630: Is numbered amongst the ' Seventeen Tantras of Menngagde ' ( Tibetan : མན་ངག་སྡེའི་རྒྱུད་བཅུ་བདུན , Wylie : man ngag sde'i rgyud bcu bdun ) within Dzogchen discourse and is part of the textual support for the Vima Nyingtik . In the Dzogchen tantric text rendered in English as "Shining Relics" ( Tibetan : སྐུ་གདུང་འབར་བ , Wylie : sku gdung 'bar ba ), an enlightened personality entitled Buddha Vajradhara and

494-551: Is primordial Buddhas: Samantabhadra is unadorned, that is depicted without any attributes; conversely, Buddha Vajradhara is often adorned and bears attributes, which is generally the iconographic representation of a Sambhogakaya Buddha. Both Buddha Vajradhara and Samantabhadra are generally depicted in yab-yum unity with their respective consorts and are primordial Buddhas, embodying void and ultimate emptiness . The Trikaya doctrine ( Sanskrit , literally "Three bodies or personalities"; 三身 Chinese : Sānshēn , Japanese : sanjin )

532-583: Is the Tantric form of Sakyamuni which is called Vajradhara. Tantras are texts specific to Tantrism and are believed to have been originally taught by the Tantric form of Sakyamuni called Buddha Vajradhara. He is an expression of Buddhahood itself in both single and yabyum form. Buddha Vajradhara is considered to be the prime Buddha of the Father tantras (tib. pha-rgyud) such as Guhyasamaja , Yamantaka , and so on. From

570-549: Is the residential quarters of the monks. There is separate hall for each sect. Murals on themes of "Esoteric and Exoteric Buddhism", and the story of the Buddha are found in profusion in the monastery. Gyantse Fort or Gyantse Dzong (Jiangzi Dzong) built on the rugged hills surrounding the Gyantze town (once the third largest town in Tibet) has an arresting presence behind the town. The fortress

608-592: The Dharmakaya or reality body which embodies the very principle of enlightenment and knows no limits or boundaries. In the view of Anuyoga , the ' Mindstream ' (Sanskrit: citta santana ) is the 'continuity' (Sanskrit: santana ; Wylie: rgyud ) that links the Trikaya. The Trikaya, as a triune, is symbolised by the Gankyil . ' Shining Relics of Enlightened Body ' ( Tibetan : སྐུ་གདུང་འབར་བ , Wylie : sku gdung 'bar ba )

646-530: The Cultural Revolution , but has since been largely restored. Prior to the uprising there were 1,520 monks at the monastery but now they number less than 80. Architecturally, Pelkhor monastery is a fusion of Han , Tibetan and Nepali architecture. The most striking architecture in the complex, a symbol of Gyantse, is the Bodhi Dagoba ( Tibetan name: Pelkhor Choede), popularly called as the 'Kumbum'. It

684-654: The Sakya sect playing a crucial overlord role. During this period, the Buddhist monuments were also built with the Dzong (the old fort) followed by the Kumbum and the Pekor monastery. All three structures have been dated. Tsuklakhang monastery was built by prince Rabton Kunzang Phak between 1418 and 1425. However, Gyantse's historical importance declined by the end of the 15th century. The Tsuklakhang,

722-412: The Sakya , Gelug and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism . It is also a name of Indra , because "Vajra" means diamond, as well as the thunderbolt, or anything hard more generally. In the evolution of Indian Buddhism, Buddha Vajradhara gradually displaced Samantabhadra , who is the 'Primordial Buddha' in the Nyingma , or 'Ancient School.' However, the two are metaphysically equivalent. Achieving

760-765: The Sutras of the Auspicious Acon ( Bhadrakalpikasutra ) . In the Vajradhatu Chapel (Dorje Ying Lhakhang) on the west, Sarvavid Vairochana 's statue made in clay is deified and is surrounded by four meditational Buddhas. A gold-inscribed manuscript of Kangyur dated 1431 is also on display here. The Royal Chapel (Chogyel Lakhang) depicts clay images of the ancient kings. Images of Atisha , Kamalashila , Padmasambhava , Shantarakshita , Manjushri , eleven-faced Avalokiteshwara , Vajrapani and Shakyashri of Kashmir are also seen in this chapel. The large statue of Maitreya at

798-546: The 'state of Vajradhara' is synonymous with complete realisation. According to the Kagyu lineage, Buddhā Vajradhara is the primordial Buddha, the Dharmakaya Buddha. He is depicted as dark blue in color, expressing the quintessence of buddhahood itself and representing the essence of the historical Buddha's realization of enlightenment. As such, Buddha Vajradhara is thought to be the supreme essence of all (male) Buddhas; It

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836-743: The Bull"), was the 42nd and last king of the Tibetan Empire who in 838 killed his brother, King Ralpachen , then reigned from 841 to 842 CE before he himself was assassinated. His reign led to the dissolution of the Tibetan Empire , which had extended beyond the Tibetan Plateau to include the Silk Roads with the Tibetan imperial manuscript center at Sachu (Dunhuang), and neighbouring regions in China, East Turkestan, Afghanistan, and India. Earlier in his life as

874-520: The Main Chapel has idols of Buddhas of the Three Times with a bronze statue of Shakyamuni Buddha as the main deity at the centre. This image is 8 metres (26 ft) in height and is made from about 14,000 kilograms (31,000 lb) of copper. The three Buddha images are also flanked by images of Manjughosha and Maitreya in standing posture. The entire interior chapel walls are painted with scenes from

912-571: The Sakyapa compilation known as the Drubtob Gyatsa , ensuring that the stupa encapsulates within it the entire spiritual path and gradation of the tantras". The first tier of the Kumbum has staircases at the cardinal points which lead to the second tier, with the main entrance being that from the southern side. The second tier has 20 chapels which house images of Kriyatantras in a clockwise order. The third tier has 16 chapels and also depicts images of Kriyatantras along with Caryatantras , arranged in

950-497: The centre of this chapel is said to be a later addition. The south wall of this chapel depicts a Reliquary of Prince Rabten Kunzang Phak (founder of the temple) in a recessed chamber and also many volumes of canonical texts. The upper floor has five chapels. It houses clay images of Sakyapa lineage. The prominent images seen here are: the three-dimensional model of mandala palace of the deity Cakrasaṃvara , yogic poses of eighty four Mahasiddhas of ancient India , Maitreya Chapel and

988-489: The end of 17th century, increasing to 18 by the start of the 19th century. However most of them were later closed. Now, only two colleges of the Gelukpa order remain, which are stated to be of little consequence. Another testament to Prince Rabten Kunzang Phak's period is the public display of two gigantic paintings; ( Thangkas ) of Shakyamuni Buddha flanked by his two principal disciples, of Maitreya , Manjushri and many more on

1026-497: The entrance to the main Assembly hall, there is a protector shrine called Gonkhang. The impressive 48 pillared hall is decorated with numerous silk Tankhas , images of Sakya protectors, frescoes of frightening scenes of charnel grounds and several original paintings and sculptures, in 15th century Tibetan style. The Sakya protectors depicted are: Panjurantha (Gompa Gur), Six-Armed Mahakala , Sri Devi and Ekajati . The inner sanctum in

1064-577: The late 10th century, although his army originally numbered only 300 men. Kyidé Nyima Gön founded several towns and castles and he apparently ordered the construction of the main sculptures at Shey . "In an inscription he says he had them made for the religious benefit of the Tsenpo (the dynastic title of his father and ancestors), and of all the people of Ngaris (Western Tibet). This shows that already in this generation Langdarma's opposition to Buddhism had disappeared." Shey, just 15 km east of modern Leh ,

1102-641: The main temple of the monastery was built in 1418–1428 by Rabten Kunzang Phak, the second Prince of Gyantse, who was a devotee of Kedrub Je (1385–1438), one of Tsongkapa 's leading disciples later recognized as the 1st Panchen Lama . It became an important centre of the Sakya sect of Tibetan Buddhism . The Kumbum or Tashigomang, commenced construction in 1427 and completed by 1437, also by prince Rabten Kunzang Phak. Several other buildings followed, with Buddhist sects such as Sakyapa, Zhalupa and Gelukpa building religious colleges or hermitages; 16 colleges were recorded by

1140-438: The malevolent king. Vajradhara Samding Dorje Phagmo Vajradhara ( Sanskrit : वज्रधर , lit.   'Diamond-holder'; Tibetan : རྡོ་རྗེ་འཆང , Wylie : rdo rje 'chang , THL : Dorje Chang ; Chinese : 金剛總持 ; pinyin : Jīngāng zǒng chí ; Javanese : Kabajradharan ; Japanese : 持金剛仏 ; Vietnamese : Kim Cang Tổng Trì ) is the ultimate primordial Buddha , or Adi-Buddha , according to

1178-616: The middle of fourth lunar month. Pelkhor Choede in Gyantse town is located about 230 kilometres (140 mi) to the south of Lhasa and 100 kilometres (62 mi) to east of Shigatse . The monastery is a short walk from the heart of the town. The Friendship Highway that connects Kathmandu , Nepal to Lhasa passes through Gyantse . Samding Dorje Phagmo Langdarma Darma U Dum Tsen ( Tibetan : དར་མ་འུ་དུམ་བཙན , Wylie : dar ma ' u dum btsan ), better known as Langdarma ( Tibetan : གླང་དར་མ། , Wylie : glang dar ma , THL : Lang Darma , lit. "Mature Bull" or "Darma

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1216-505: The occasion of the Gyantse festival that is held in the fourth lunar month of the Tibetan calendar . This practice was started between 1418 and 1419 in the northeast corner of the monastery walls, known as Goku Tramsa. In 1904, the British expedition to Tibet led by Colonel Francis Younghusband reached Gyantse on 11 April. The town's garrison had already fled, and the expedition's members entered

1254-576: The primordial Buddha Vajradhara/Samantabhadra Buddha /Dorje Chang were manifested the Five Wisdom Buddhas (Dhyani Buddhas): Buddha Vajradhara and the Wisdom Buddhas are often subjects of mandala . Buddha Vajradhara and Samantabhadra Buddha are cognate deities in Tibetan Buddhist cosmology with different names, attributes, appearances and iconography. Both are Dharmakaya Buddhas, that

1292-469: The top floor, is the Zhalyekhang chapel, which has 15 mandalas of 8 metres (26 ft) diameter painted on the walls, associated with meditational deities. Images of Jowo Shakyamuni , Maitreya, Manjushri, Tsongkhapa with his disciples, Amitayus , Tara , Sitatapatra and Padmasambhava are depicted. The chapels on this floor also contain images of Amitabha Buddha , Dakinis and esoteric murals. Zhacang

1330-465: The town bloodlessly through the front gates, which were opened for them, and occupied Gyantse. After the town was occupied, several British officers visited the monastery and seized several statues and scrolls, some of which were subsequently brought back to the United Kingdom. The monastery was partially destroyed by Chinese forces in 1959 after the 1959 Tibetan uprising . It was ransacked again during

1368-535: Was followed by civil war and the dissolution of the Tibetan empire, leading to the Era of Fragmentation . Langdarma had at least two children: sons Tride Yumten by his first wife, and Namde Ösung by his second wife. They apparently competed for power, the former ruling over the central kingdom of Ü , and the other ruling over the "left wing", probably the eastern territories. One of Langdarma's grandsons, Kyidé Nyima Gön ( Wylie : skyid lde nyi ma gon ), conquered Ngari in

1406-530: Was said to be the incarnation of Gośīrṣa , the Ox-Head and Horse-Face guardian of hell, thus he got the nickname, Langdarma, literally, "Darma, the bull". Langdarma was said to have had "a black tongue", and a common gesture of Tibetans briefly sticking out their tongues is interpreted to show agreement, and as a sign of respect. When they demonstrate that they do not have black tongues, they show they are not guilty of evil deeds, and that they are not incarnations of

1444-460: Was the ancient seat of the Ladakhi kings. Following his persecution of Tibetan Buddhism, Atiśa was called from Sumatra to restore Buddhism to Tibet. The anti-Buddhist portrayal of this king is well documented in primary and secondary Tibetan sources, but reinterpretations have been published from two historians, most prominently Zuiho Yamaguchi . In Tibetan Buddhist culture, Darma U Dum Tsen

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