Download Portraits of Tibet - Drepung Gomang Monastic College

Portraits of Tibet
Map of Tibet
Explanation of Map of Tibet
Tibet is a country slightly larger than Europe, and shares borders with India, China, Mongolia, Nepal and Bhutan. With an average elevation of 15,000
feet, it is the highest plateau in the world. It is often called the Land of Snows, because of its high snow mountains, including Mt. Everest.
Politically, Tibet is divided into three provinces, the central region of U-Tsang, and the eastern provinces of Kham and Amdo. The capital city, Lhasa,
is located in U-Tsang.
All Pictures Are Taken from Photos Borrowed From Monks
(Top right)
(From lower left - with horse)
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Monk from Amdo Machu region
Women from Amdo Joney
Dancer from U-Tsang Shigatse (with tasselled hat)
Woman from Kham Tehor
Woman from Lhasa
Couple from Kham Tehor
Woman from Amdo Tso Ngonpo
Woman from Amdo Machu
Couple from Amdo Golok
(Top left)
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Woman from U-Tsang
Couple from Kham Lithang
Amdo Couple
This couple from the Tsang-ko region of Amdo, about 100km from the Chinese border. Only 3km from the huge monastery complex of Labrang, the
area is mainly grassland, inhabited by nomads. Labrang is one of the biggest Gelugpa monasteries in Tibet, home to about 3,000 monks, about half
of who officially attend the prayers and debate. It consists of six colleges, including a college dedicated to medicine and another to mandala. An
abbot of Gomang, Kunkhen Jamyang Sheypa, founded Labrang in 1700. This abbot was also the composer of the textbooks used by Gomang
Monastery. Labrang was damaged heavily during the Cultural Revolution, although its main prayer hall did escape destruction. Later, around 1980,
many buildings were destroyed by a fire, but have since been rebuilt.
Amdo Girl with Sheep
This young girl is from the Pa-rey district of Amdo, near Mongolia, and her clothing shows the influence of her Mongolian neighbors.
Historically, Tibet and Mongolia have had many connections in politics and religion. It was a Mongolian king who bestowed the title of "Dalai
Lama." Tibetan Buddhism was once widespread in Mongolia, but became virtually extinct under Communism. Now it is beginning to make a
comeback, and many teachers have been sent to Mongolia from Drepung Gomang Monastery at the Dalai Lama's request. In addition, many monks
are sent from Mongolia to study in the monastery, and there are currently about 200 students from Russia and Mongolia in Gomang.
Amdo Nomad
Traveling mainly in family groups, nomads live in black tents woven from yak hair. The men and boys look after the herds of yak, dzo, and sheep
while the women and girls take care of the milking, cooking, weaving, spinning, and the tanning of animal hides. However, since 1968, when nomads
were forced to live in collectivized settlements, the traditional nomadic life-style has been slowly dying out. The commune settlements were
disbanded in the early 1980s but these days most families are either nomadic in the summer--living in town for the winter months, or farmers in the
growing season--sending a few family members out as nomads.
Chamdo Dob-Dob
Monlam is a festival celebrating Buddha's victory in the competition of miracles with six teachers of the extremes. Established originally by
Tsongkhapa in conformity with the customs of Nalanda Monastic University, it takes place immediately following the Tibetan New Year in early
March. Thousands of monks gather for these prayers and a special "monk police" squad is chosen to keep control during that time. Dob-dobs were
chose from the strongest and bravest of the monks.
Dege Woman
Dege is one of the regions in the province of Kham in southeastern Tibet. Tibet consists of three provinces. U-Tsang is made up of the central and
western parts of Tibet and shares borders with India, Nepal, and Bhutan. This is also the area known these days as the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
The province of Amdo lies to the northeast, near Mongolia and along the border of China. The majority of the monks of Drepung Gomang Monastery
are from this province. Kham is known for its tall, brave men, and the original Tibetan army was made up mainly of Khampas. Each province has a
very distinct dialect of Tibetan , and monks from Kham or Amdo struggle to understand the language when they visit Lhasa. Apart from provincial
dialects, villages and communities have very different accents. This is due to the difficulty and, therefore, rarity of communication between settled
areas in the past.
Discipline in the Monasteries
The central figure in this painting is the monastery disciplinarian. Second only in power to the abbot of the monastery, the disciplinarian is in charge
of the monastic rules and punishments for infractions. He is elected once a year. Discipline is strict in the monastery. In addition to the monks' vows,
they are not allowed to play games or watch movies. Attendance at prayer and debate sessions is imperative. The monks to the right is the disciplinarian's
assistant (chab-rey), helping him with the control of the rules. On the left is one of the "monk police" called "dob-dobs." The police monks are chosen
to help keep order during the Monlam Prayer Festival.
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
This young boy is a reincarnation of a high Nyingma lama, a talented scholar who was said to be able to perform miracles. The Dalai Lama himself
received many teachings from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.
Gyalrong Woman
This woman is from the Touche area of Gyalrong region in Amdo, northeastern Tibet. This area lies at the Chinese border and enjoys a much milder
climate than the high, arid plateaus of Central Tibet. This means that Gyalrong has a longer growing season and a wider variety of crops and
vegetables. Therefore, its people are mostly farmers. About 100km from the city of Chengdu, it is a region of dense forests, waterfalls, lakes, caves,
and is home to a vast array of wildlife, including one of the last populations of pandas in the world.
Kubum Jampaling Monastery
This monastery is located in the Tso-Ngon region of Amdo in northeast Tibet, 25km southeast of the city of Xining. This large Gelugpa
monastery was founded on the birthplace of Tsongkhapa, and it is said that a sandal wood tree grew from the place where a few drops of blood
from the birth fell. This tree was later encased in a chorten built on that spot. In 1577, Gomchen Rinchen Tsondu Gyaltsen built a temple
nearby to honor Jampa (Maitreya, the future Buddha). In 1583 on his way to Russia, the Third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso, visited the temple
and founded the present monastery. According to his request, many monks gathered there for study and, eventually, Kubum included five
colleges. Kubum is the Dalai Lama's monastery, and his older brother, Taktser Rinpoche, was an abbot there.
painting taken from a photo by Galen Rowell
Lithang Man
Approximately 300km from the Chinese border, Lithang district is a high, windswept, grassy plateau, inhabited mainly by nomads. A day's drive from
the city of Chengdu, Lithang town is the home of Cham Chen Cho-Ling, the largest monastery in Lithang, with over 3,500 monks. Once famous for
its study of philosophy and debate, nowadays fewer than 100 of its monks actually study Buddhist philosophy. The others are occupied with prayers
and recitation. Many monks from Lithang have fled to India and joined Hardhong Khangtsen, the largest of the hostels of Gomang Monastery. This
man wears traditional Khampa headgear, a bundle of red or black thread wrapped round his head. Years ago, this bundle had a core of steel wire,
acting as protection in fights, but this headdress has since evolved to be merely decorative.
Lithang Woman
The jewelry worn by Tibetans is made mostly of coral, gold, silver, and large chunks of amber and turquoise, as well as the geometrically patterned
stones known as "dzi." These are heirlooms passed down through generations and represent the family's wealth. Occasions such as Losar, the Tibetan
New Year, are opportunities to flaunt this wealth! But there are more practical uses as well. Coral is said to be a precious materials that is able to
remove poison, and the small knives and eating utensils carried by the women traditionally were set with small pieces of coral to purify their food. It
was also a tradition for pieces of coral to be inset into horseshoes to protect the animals. This custom still exists today in some areas of Lithang.
Precious and semi-precious stones also played a key role in the making of Tibetan medicines. Although mining for them was forbidden as a violation
of the earth, the Chinese began to exploit Tibetan resources after the Cultural Revolution.
Ngari Woman
Ngari is the western part of Tibet, sharing boundaries with India and Nepal to the southwest and culminating in the Kunlun mountain range to the
north. Western Tibet is one of the most beautiful and remote regions of Asia and is home to the sacred pilgrimage sites of Mt. Kailash and Lake
Manasarovar (the source of four of the greatest rivers of Asia). It is home to a vast population of wildlife, including many endangered species such as
Tibetan antelope, blue sheep, wild ass, the Tibetan brown bear, wild yak, and snow leopards. Its vast plateau also has hot springs, prehistoric rock
carvings, and ruins of many hilltop monasteries.
Old Gaden Monk
What the West knows of Tibet is mainly its monastic community. The monks' main vows are not to steal, kill, lie, or marry; Their lives are dedicated
to the study of Buddhism. The course of study followed in Drepung Gomang Monastery takes 15 years to complete. The first four years, Tsema, are
based on the study of Logic reasoning (Pramana). The next five years are the study of the perfections called Parchig (Paramita); then another two
years completes the study of views of the Middle Way known as O-ma (Madhyamaka). Two more years are the classes learning metaphysics, Dzo,
(Abidharma-kosh); and the final two years are dedicated to the study of morality, Duwa (Vinaya). Then monks can choose to take the rigorous six
years of exams to be became a Lharim Geshe, equivalent to a Ph.D. Even after that, the geshe continues his studies, going to join one of the tantric
colleges for a year.
Novice monks are called Rabung and have to abandon lay life. The next level is called Get-sul, which has 36 vows to keep. Full ordination is called
Ge-long, which comprises 252 vows.
taken from a photo
by Galen Rowell
Old Ladakhi Monk
Known as "little Tibet," Ladakh lies under the Karakoram mountains of the Himalayas. It is a desolate, windswept place of broad valleys surrounded
by towering peaks--a land of high, arid plateaus and bitterly cold winters. With strong cultural ties to Tibet, its people speak a dialect of Tibetan, and
like other Himalayan regions such as Bhutan, Mustang, and Assam, follow Tibetan Buddhism. Politically, Ladakh is part of the Indian State of Jammu
& Kashmir. It is divided into two districts: Kargil, which is mostly Muslim, and Leh, primarily Buddhist. There are approximately 200 monks from
Ladakh residing in Gomang Monastery's Ngari Khangtsen, about half of whom are young children studying in the monastery school.
Shigatse Flute Player
Music is an integral part of the Tibetan culture, from the flutes of the nomads to the numerous instruments used in the monastic tradition. Some of
those included in regular monastery rituals include the Dungchen--long, telescoping, guttural horns and Gyalong--the smaller ornate horns that
produce eerie, wailing sounds. Apart from these, there are the drums, cymbals, bells, conch shells, and horns made from human thighbones. In the
lay community, there are various versions of instruments similar to small guitars, banjos, and even one that looks like a long-necked violin. Songs
have poetic lyrics, often associated with nature or religion.
Young Girls from Mundgod
The Tibetan refugee settlement of Mundgod is the second largest in India. It comprises a total of eleven camps, two of which are the monasteries of
Gaden and Drepung. The other nine are home to the lay community. Most of the children here have been born in exile and have never seen Tibet. As
a result, they grow up surrounded by the Indian and Western cultures. Gomang Monastery's school holds a special summer school during the holidays
to teach the children the Tibetan language, grammar, script, and also the basic elements of Buddhism.
Woman with Churn
The staple of the Tibetan diet is "tsampa," a flour made from roasted barley. Nomads, in particular, survive on a high protein diet of meat and tsampa,
as well as dairy products. The women milk the "dzi" (female version of the yak) and produce cheese, yogurt, and butter by hand using wooden churns.
Butter is packed into bags made from the cured stomachs of yaks and is used for trade or as offerings to monasteries. Other Tibetan foods include
"momos," a kind of steamed dumpling filled with meat and varieties of "thukpa," a thick noodle soup. In the eastern areas of Amdo and Kham where
the climate is less harsh, food is more varied with rice, wheat, and fresh vegetables. Amdo is famous for its huge, wheel-sized rounds of bread.
Map of Tibetans in India
Map of Tibetans in India
(Explanation)
Shey was the former summer palace of the Kings of Ladakh. It is now a monastery in the process of restoration.
Leh - This palace was built in the seventeenth century. It looks like a miniature of the Potala.
Likir translates as "water spirits." It was founded in the fourteenth century and was built under the direction of Tibetan monks.
Tashi Khyil is a small Gelugpa monastery with about seventy monks. It has connections with Gomang as it is the exiled monastery of Labrang Tashi Khyil
in Tibet.
Norbulingka is a cultural academy set up to teach and preserve Tibetan art.
Kushinagar is the site of the Buddha's death where he breathed his last words "decay is inherent in all things."
Sanchi - The stupas here were built by Emperor Ashoka, Buddhism's most famous convert.
Sarnath - This pilgrimage site is where Buddha gave his first teachings on the Four Noble Truths after reaching enlightenment.
Bodh Gaya (Dorje Dun in Tibetan) is where the Buddha achieved enlightenment. It is the most important Buddhist pilgrimage site in the world.
Nalanda was founded in the fifth century and was one of the world's greatest universities and an important Buddhist center until it as sacked by Afghans in
the twelfth century. It used to have 10,000 monks.
Footsteps in Stone - These are said to be the footprints Buddha left when he first stood up after being enlightened. The stone is now in Bodh Gaya.
Tawang is the most important monastery in the northeastern part of India and is the sight of the Sixth Dalai Lama's birth.
Chorten - Stupas were originally memorials containing Buddha's relics, but now may contain scriptures, texts, or statues.
Ajanta - These Buddhist caves hold ancient tempera paintings of Buddhist figures painted using pigments made from local minerals.
Ellora - The thirty-four caves here were monasteries, chapels, and temples carved out of a 2km long cliff face and were filled with intricate sculptures and reliefs.
Map of Tibetans in India (Continued)
Stupa at Kushinagar - These are the remains of Buddha's cremation stupa.
Vulture's Peak - (Shago-Pongpo-Ri in Tibetan) The site of the second of the Buddha's three great teachings, principally the Prajnaparamitra sutras.
Bodh Gaya - A 25km high statue built by the Japanese was inaugurated by the Dalai Lam in 1989.
Drepung Gomang - The rebuilt monastery in exile is the oldest of Drepung's colleges and has about 1,700 monks in the Mundgod settlement.
Gaden Jangtso - The second of the three main Gelug monasteries, Gaden has two colleges. Jangtse has connections with Gomang. It is also in
Mundgod.
Sera Je - the Third of the main Gelug monasteries, Sera has about 2,000 monk and also has connections to Gomang. This monastery is near Mysore.
Dzogchen - a Nyingma monastery in south India which focuses its studies on Dzogchen or "great perfection" texts.
Sakya - A small branch of Sakya monastery in Mundgod has about 200 monks, mainly from Nepal and other Himalayan areas.
Namdroling - A large Nyingma monastery near Sera Je in the Bylakuppe settlement of Tibetan refugees.
Lumbini - This pilgrimage site is where Sakyamuni Buddha was born and is actually just across the Indian border in Nepal.
Palden Drepung - This is the site where Buddha gave tantric teachings to a select group of his disciples.
Nagarjunakonda - The ruins of the monastery where the great Indian Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna studied.
Rajgir - The Japanese Shanti Stupa is built on the top of a hill near Vulture's Peak where the Second Teachings were given by Buddha.
Varanasi - The remains of this stupa mark the site where Sakyamuni Buddha first met his five main disciples after his enlightenment before the first teachings
at Sarnath.
Kawa-Chepa - Translates as "the difficulties of effort" is a statue to commemorate Buddha's perseverance and rigorous self-denial in his search for
enlightenment. The actual site is near Bodh Gaya, but the statue is now in a museum in Lahore.
Dasmache Cham Dances - Traditional Tibetan religious dances performed are performed in Ladakh.
Monk Dolls
Left to Right: Handwritiing Monk, Dob-Dob, Memorizing Monk, Two Monks Debating, and Monk Painting