The "Great Stūpa" at AlchiAuthor(s): Roger GoepperReviewed work(s):Source: Artibus Asiae, Vol. 53, No. 1/2 (1993), pp. 111-143Published by: Artibus Asiae PublishersStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3250511 .Accessed: 30/05/2012 05:39

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Artibus Asiae Publishers is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Artibus Asiae.

http://www.jstor.org

Director Emeritus Museum fiir Ostasiatische Kunst, K61n

THE "GREAT STUPA" AT ALCHI

ince David L. Snellgrove's and Tadeusz Skorupski's treatment of the temple complex at Alchi,

Ladakh,I several books and articles have been devoted to this important jewel of Buddhist art in

the Western Himalayas.2 Without any doubt the murals in the Sumtsek (gSum-brtsegs), the "Three-

Storeyed Temple," and the Dukhang ('Du-khan), the "Congregation Hall," are of utmost significance for the history of North Western Indian painting, especially in Kashmir, but also the architectural

structure and the symbolic meaning of the buildings themselves present some basic problems for the

understanding of the architecture not only of this region, but also of the more eastern Tibetan areas.

This paper, being mainly descriptive, will point out some of the questions still to be solved in this

field and will present some speculative solutions. Its theme is the so-called "Great Stupa" standing near the western end of the Religious Area (chos 'khor) of Alchi (figs. I-z).3 During several stays in

Alchi since 1981, being engaged with a photographic documentation of the Alchi murals together with Jaroslav Poncar, Fachhochschule Koln, the author has been intrigued by the formal vigour of

this building and the freshness of the paintings adorning its interior.4

I. The setting

The layout of the Religious Area (chos 'khor) in Alchi does not seem to follow a strict geometrical and therefore hierarchic scheme as we find it often applied to groups of Buddhist buildings all over

Asia from India to Japan. Its temple halls are spread out irregularly near the northern and eastern

slopes of an alluvial plateau high above the river Indus. It is hard to imagine which impression the

original setting made, since the visual context between the old temple buildings and stupas has been

seriously disturbed by the arbitrary addition of new houses. There must have been a wall as a kind of

protecting cakravddad-parvata (Icags ri) around the whole area the remains of which are still visible in

David L. Snellgrove and Tadeusz Skorupski, The Cultural Heritage of Ladakh, z vols., (Warminster: Aris & Phillips Ltd, I979-80). Z R. Khosla, Buddhist Monasteries in the Western Himalaya (Kathmandu: Chronica Botanica India, I979); Yukei Matsunaga and Kei

Kato, Mandara, Nishi-Chibetto no bukkyo bijutsu (Mandala, Buddhist Art of Western Tibet), 2 vols. (in Japanese) (Tokyo: Mainichi Shimbun-sha, 1981); Charles Genoud and Takao Inoue, Peinture bouzddhique du Ladakh (Geneva: Edition Olizane, 1981); Deborah E.

Klimburg-Salter, ed., The Silk-Route and the Diamond Path, Esoteric Buddhist Art on the Trans-Himalayan Trade Routes (Los Angeles: UCLA Art Council, 1982); Roger Goepper and Jaroslav Poncar, Alchi, Buddhas, Gottinnen, Mandalas. Wandmalerei in einem

Himalaya-Kloster (Koln: DuMont, I982 [revised English edition, Koln I984]); Pratapaditya Pal and Lionel Fournier, A Buddhist Paradise. The Murals of Alchi, Western Himalayas (Glattbrugg: Ravi Kumar, 1982); Roger Goepper, "Clues for a Dating of the

Three-Storeyed Temple (Sumtsek) in Alchi, Ladakh," in: Asiatische Studien (Etludes Asiatiques) 44, no. 2 (i99o):I59-I75. 3 Numbered JI by Snellgrove and Skorupski, op. cit. 4 The journeys have been financed to a large extent by the Orientstiftung zur Forderung der Ostasiatischen Kunst, Cologne,

founded by Hans W. Siegel, but also by several other private sponsors, to all of whom we owe our thanks. In I983 the late Johanna van Lohuizen-de Leeuw was a member of the party. She has left several important notes on the scenes painted onto the dhotz of the colossal Avalokitesvara sculpture in the Sumtsek which have been handed over to me by her husband and which will be integrated into our future research.

III

ROGER GOEPPER

some places. There must have been also a more or less defined way leading from the western end of

the chos 'khor to the sacred halls near the eastern end which all are facing south. Some so-called

"entrance ch6tens," one in the precincts of the Alchi Lonpo and two smaller ones just south of the

Sumtsek, in addition to the building we will be treating here, are the only remaining vestiges of the

original anagogicus mos. Although they are "neither symmetrical nor obviously geometrical" in their

relation to the temple buildings, they were certainly used "to define the path leading to the 'Du

khang, which is the core of the whole enclave."5 The so-called "Great Stupa,"6 situated about 37 m southwest of the Sumtsek and 33 m west of the

two smaller entrance chotens set up as twins, most probably was meant as an accentuation on the way to the sacred halls, and it possibly dominated an open space which is spoiled today by the later

building of the Kanjur Lhakhang. Since another house was erected just a few meters west of the

Stupa it has become more or less isolated from the other temple buildings. Furthermore three of its

entrances have been walled up during restoration work by the Archaeological Survey of India so that

today only the western entrance remains open. Tourists mostly pass by and the villagers use the

interior of the Stupa to store a kind of sedan-chair for the deceased during funerals.

2. The inscription

While photographing the interior of the Stupa in I983 Jaroslav Poncar discovered some long

inscriptions hitherto unnoticed on three of the heavy wooden beams placed at right angles across the

central chapel of the passage ways leading through the building (fig. 5). Their characters were hardly visible since they were covered by dust and dirt and partly obliterated by splashes of plaster from

recent whitewashes by the villagers. Anyhow, our Ladakhi friend, the priest Konchok Panday, was able to decipher and transcribe the

texts. Two of the inscriptions, covering the beams on the western and the northern side turned out to

be prayers without any historical information. On the southern beam no traces of an inscription could be found, but the text on the eastern beam which formerly faced the visitor when he was

passing through the Stupa on his way to the temple halls, revealed some interesting facts about one

of the founders of the Alchi temples and about the erecting of the Stupa. This eastern beam is I4 cm high and zIo cm wide and covered with eight lines of writing in the U

chen style. It may be translated as follows:7

"Om, may there be luck! From the sky of the non-originated Dharmakaya the unobstructed Sambhogakaya appears like a cloud and the active Nirmanakaya comes like incessant rain. I praise the Sugatas of the three times!

5 Khosla 1979, op. cit., 54. 6 The reason for our quotation marks used in connection with the term will become obvious later. 7 A first rough translation by the author together with Konchok Panday was later counterchecked by Professor Klaus Sagaster,

University of Bonn.

II2

The twelve sections of sacred writings, also the Tripitaka, the four classes of Tantras,8 the (thirty-seven) Dharmas of the Wings of Enlightenment9 and the other Dharmas (teachings) ..... .................................. w ho does this. I pay homage to the congregations (of monks)!

The fathers of religious traditions and their excellent

sons, the jewel-like teachers (bla ma rin po che) who thought by contemplating their activities without effort................................... ... I pay homage and praise him who expounds (the Dharma)!

After having paid homage to the Buddhas, the Dharma, the congregations and the teachers, I will note down this small list about the little amount of my accumulated merits.

Adhering to ............ Enlightenment ........... Mount Meru and the seven (other) mountains, among them the best ....................... In this excellent place in the range of Snowy Mountains one region of the country is Upper mNa-ris (mNa ris stod), the especially selected Lower Ladakh (La dvags smad) ................................ here in A l-lci, I myself, a monk of the 'Bro (clan), Tshul 'khrims 'od, because of my former unpurified vows (pranidhi), was born in this period of accumulation of the three bad defilements."? After I had obtained the precious body of man,"M and after being ordained already during the time of my youth having paid my respect to (the feet of) the teachers and upadhydyas (bla ma mkhan po), I then have spoken a little about my mental activities

(prapanca),I2 and I have learned the three teachings (trisiksa) for which one has to strive (brtson bya slab pa).13 The small amount (of merit) previously accumulated ... After I had realized that the riches and possessions accumulated by me eventually (will vanish?) ..... I offered them to my jewel-like teachers.

8 Cf. Ferdinand D. Lessing and Alex Wayman, mKhas Grzb rJe's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras (The Hague - Paris: Mouton, 1968), Ioi ff.; David L. Snellgrove, The Hevayra Tantra (London - New York - Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1959), I38-9.

9 Bodhipaksika-dharma, enumerated by Kenjiu Kasawara, The Dharma-samgraha (Oxford: Oriental Press, I885), no. 43. IO Or: the three bad modes of existence (non son gsum).

II See Herbert V. Guenther, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation by sGampopa (Boulder: Shambhala, I98I), 14. I2 After the young adept has found his teachers he speaks to them about his thoughts, his "mental activities" (spros pa, prapanca), in

order that they can give him appropriate advice and teaching. r3 The Three Teachings are the backbone of the Buddhist way towards Enlightenment. Kasawara: Dharma-samgraha, op. cit., no. 140.

II3

For the wholesome roots (kusfala-mzla)4 I made symbols (rten rnams) of Body, Speech and Mind.

As Symbol of the Body I made the following: I have built this (temple ?) Pile of Jewels (Rin chen

brtsegs pa). 5

As repayment for his favour I have built a tomb

(gduni khan) for Rin po che. For the sake of both of my parents and for the accumulation of merit for myself I erected about ten bigger and smaller temples (Iha khan).

... I made more than one thousand figures of the Sugata. I made ten thousand arrangements of the bhagavat Sugata Aksobhya, and I made two thousand arrangements of the figure of the

bhagavat Amitabha, and I made about two thousand arrangements of the figure of Mafijughosa. I made the thousand Buddhas of the (Bhadra)kalpa in order to attain Enlightenment in one Kalpa. I made the figures and surroundings (parivdra) of the Protectors of the Three Families (rigs gsum mgon po, trikula-ndtha),I6 all the deities (Iha, deva) and Stupas (mchod rten) and the ten thousand (Bodhi)sattvas (sems dpa') .... I formed the figures of female deities like Tara etc. however they occurred to my mind. So much there is for the Symbols of the Body as wholesome roots (kusala-mila).

Thinking to construct Symbols of Speech on extremely precious paper, not caring about price and costs, I produced fourteen volumes of the large version (of the

Prajinaparamita-sutra?), six of the middle version and one volume of the abridged version. I made three golden (books, namely) 'Jam, sDud and bZafi.17 Out of the doctrines promulgated with (Buddha's) blessings

I4 The Three Wholesome Roots (or Roots of Virtue) are given by Kasawara, op. cit., Dharma-samgraha, 138, and in a different set by Tadeusz Skorupski, Sarvadurgatiparisodhana Tantra (New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, I983), III.

15 This term, occurring also in one of the Sumtsek inscriptions could possibly be taken as the name of the Sumtsek: "Pile of Jewels" or

"Precious Storeyed (Building)". I6 The usual group is Avalokitesvara, Vajrapan-i and Manjusri. Cf. Giuseppe Tucci, Indo-Tibetica (Rome: Reale accademia d'Italia,

I932-36), IV, I, I02. The inscription possibly hints at the three colossal clay figures in the Sumtsek where Maitreya occupies the

place of Vajrapani. 17 They are: Jam dpal mtshan brjod kyi bsad 'bum (Arya-Ma4njusr-nama-samgiti-sadhana), Toh. 2108, 2538, 2599, 2600, 26I0; sDud

pa tshigs su bead pa (Arya-Prajnaparamita-sancaya-gatha-panjika), Toh. 33I, 337, 3798; 'Phags pa bZan po spyod pa'i smon lam gyi

rgyal po (Arya-Bhadracarya-pranidhana-raja), Toh. 1095, 4377.

II4

I made a golden Essence of Wisdom (Ses rab sfiifi po, Prajfia- paramita-hrdaya-sutra). As by my only son Rin cen difficult to obtain once ............ made marvellous blockprints (gsurn-dpar). That much there is for the Symbols of Speech.

But to erect a Symbol of Mind, taking as an example the Svayambhu-Sri-Dhanyakatakax8 as it exists in Central India, there was constructed a Stupa (mchod-rten) dPal Idan 'Bras phufns (Sri-Dhanyakataka). Taking as an example this bKra sis sgo mans (mchod rten), made by the incarnate teacher Rin po che, I myself erected the 'Bum mthofi bKra sis sgo marns ("The Stupa with Many Auspicious Doors of the One Hundred Thousand Visions"). ... living up to ..... without thinking of

food, wealth or trouble, of large body measurements ..... ................ made as a Symbol of Mind.

Thinking that I might acquire the Equipment of Wisdom

(ye ses kyi tshogs, jndna-sambhdra), and for the accumulation of not-composite Dharmas

(apratyaya-dharma), from the life of my teacher (Rin) cen on down to the life of the younger brother Rin cen19 I successively have asked for the Arising Mind and for Initiation (sems skyed, dban bskur) from the teachers, the abbots and the dacaryas. They gave me advise about Gradual Development (bskyed)"? and Accomplishment (rdsogs),` they transmitted to my mind profound advice, and they introduced me into the Great Seal (phyag rgya chen po, mahamudri).21 Service ........".

If we analyse the contents of this inscription we arrive at some important facts:

(a.) The Stupa was built by Tshul khrims 'od of the noble 'Bro clan. He is mentioned also in two old inscriptions in the Sumtsek of Alchi, one near the head of the large Maitreya image in the back niche where he is characterized as founder of the Sumtsek,23 and another inscription in the same niche to the left of Maitreya's feet where it is stated that he erected the three colossal images inside

8 Perhaps an allusion to the famous Stupa in Amaravati or another sacred spot further to the north popular with Tibetan pilgrims; cf. Andre Bareau, "Le stupa de Dhanyakataka selon la tradition tibetaine," Arts Asiatiques 16 (I968):8I-88; and, by the same author, "Recherches complementaires sur la site probable de la Dhanyakataka de Hiuan-tsang," ibid., 89-Ioo.

I9 The different (most probably three) persons bearing the name Rin cen and their interrelationships could not be identified. 20 utpattikrama. Cf. Lessing and Wayman, op. cit., 36,157; Snellgrove, Hevajra Tantra, op. cit.,I, I39; Shinichi Tsuda, The SamvaErodaya-

Tantra (Tokyo: The Hokuseido Press, I974), 49. sampannakrama. Lessing and Wayman, op. cit., 36; Snellgrove, Hevajra Tantra, op. cit., 139.

22 Cf. Herbert V. Guenther, "Mahamudra - The Method of Self-Actualization," Tibet Journal I, no. I (I975):5-23 23 Snellgrove and Skorupski, op. cit., z, I48, inscription no.7.

II5

the temple.24 Whereas these two inscriptions were apparently not formulated by Tshul khrims 'od

himself, but by other persons, possibly at er date, the inscription in the Stupa is definitely a creation of Tshul khrims 'od who is in several instances speaking of himself in the first person singular. Since he lists his architectural foundations, as for instance a relic Stupa possibly dedicated to Rinchen Zangpo, several temples of different size in order to promote the salvation of his parents, and also innumerable paintintings of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and deities, together with the copying of sacred texts in handwritten and blockprinted form, we can imagine that he was one of the most

active promoters of religious activities in Alchi. Our text is therefore a reliable source for the fact that

the "Great Stupa" was erected at about the same time as the Three-Storeyed Temple (Sumtsek) and

that it is an integral part of the whole Sacred Complex (chos 'khor).

Luckily we now have another inscription in the third and topmost storey of the Sumtsek which was definitely composed and perhaps even written by our Tshul khrims 'od and which gives us reliable clues about the time when the Sumtsek and the Great Stupa were built, and furthermore about the sectarian background underlying their iconography and religious context.25 From this

second inscription we can deduct a lineage of transmission (sampraddya, bla ma'i rgyud),2 beginning with the mystic Bodhisattva Vajradhara (rDo rje 'chafn) over the Indian Siddhas Tilopa (Ioth cent.)

and Naropa (956-I040) to the Tibetan priests Mar pa (IOI2-I096), Mi la ras pa (1040-1123), sGam po

pa (1079-II 53), Dvags po On, Dvags po chun pa, Phag mo gru pa (111IO-II70) down to 'Bri gun pa (died 1217).

We may therefore deduct that Tshul khrims 'od as author of the inscription most probably was a

direct disciple, but at least a follower of the famous priest 'Jig rten mgon po (1143-1217) who was

head of the monastery 'Bri gun, situated about one hundred miles northeast of Lhasa and founded by

his teacher sGam po pa.7 Taking this teacher sGam po pa Taking thinto accounts inwe a rrive at a date between the very late twelfth

or rather the early thirteenth century for the erection of the Great Stupa and the Sumtsek at Alchi.

(b.) Another piece of information gained from the inscription is that this type of Stupa was

regarded as a bKra sis sgo man mchod rten, an "Auspicious Stupa with Many Doors" (Sanskrit: Bahud-

vara-stupa?), which is one among the set of eight Stupas called Asta-sugata (bde gsegs brgyad pa) and

symbolizing prominent stages in the life of Sakyamuni.2 The characteristic feature of this special type, although not any more apparent in our Alchi

version, are the many "doors" or niche-like openings, meant to house images of the Buddhist pan- theon. No old examples seem to have survived in an intact state. The large Stupa at Changspa near

Leh which up to now has resisted all efforts for an undebatable dating may serve as a comparatively

24 Ibid., , I47, inscription no. 6. 25 The inscription was discovered while Jaroslav Poncar took detailed photographs in the upper storey in I984. The text together

with the accompanying paintings were published by Roger Goepper, "Clues for a Dating of the Three-Storeyed Temple (Sumtsek) in Alchi, Ladakh," Asiatische Studien (Etudes Asiatiquzes) 44, no. 2 (I990):I59-I75.

26 In his Indo-Tibetica, op. cit., III, 2, IIo, Tucci gives the following definition for sampradaya: "serie di maestri che si sono tramandati

fedelmente le dottrine segrete e ne hanno alimentato, con la loro diretta esperienza, la mistica efficacia, impartentone ai discepoli il loro sacra battesimo."

27 On the activity of the 'Bri-gun-pa sect in this area cf. Luciano Petech, "The 'Bri-gun-pa Sect in Western Tibet and Ladakh,"

Proceedings of the Csoma de Koros Memorial Symposium (Budapest: Akademiai Kiado, 1978), 3I3-325. 28 Illustrated by R. Khosla, Buzddhist Monasteries in the Western Himalaya, op. cit., pi. I66-I73. The earliest representation of the group

known today seems to be the one on the entrance wall of the Dukhang at Alchi.

II6

well preserved example,29 although it differs structurally in many respects from the Alchi Stupa (fig. 17).

Between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries A.D. the bKra sis sgo man type in the function of a container of relics seems to have been quite popular in Tibet. Quotations in The Blue Annals show that it was used either in a small and cask-like form or as a true architectural monument to house the ashes of famous priests, as for instance of Mar pa (IOI2-IO96), sGam po pa (IO79-II53) and 'Bri gufi pa (1143-1217),30 all of whose names, by the way, appear in the dedicatory inscription in the topmost floor of the Sumtsek.

(c.) Another interesting fact is that our Alchi Stupa was conceived as a copy after a bKra sis sgo man erected by the great Rinchen Zangpo. It is to be regretted that Tshul khrims 'od does not enlighten us about the whereabouts of this monument. Furthermore, that Stupa seems to have been modelled after the famous Svayambhu-Srl-Dhanyakataka in Central India. Such an allusion is probably more than just a pious reference to a sacred monument.

According to basic texts of the syncretistic Kalacakra system, the latest creative phase of Bud- dhism in India around Iooo A.D., Buddha preached the Kalacakra-tantra at the Stupa of Dhanyaka- taka to a multitude of deities and Bodhisattvas.31 Now, the bKa' rgyud pa School of Tibetan Buddhism and also its sub-sect, the 'Bri gun pa, regarded themselves as direct descendants of the Kalacakra tradition and have integrated many Kalacakra ideas into their teachings. Therefore the

designation of our Alchi Stupa may be taken as an accentuation of the 'Bri khun pa tradition,32 although structurally the two buildings had hardly anything in common. The Chinese, by the way, translated the Tibetan term sgo man by guomen-ta, "passage-door Stupa", thereby combining pro- nunciation and meaning of the Tibetan term.33

(d.) Tshul khrims 'od's inscription probably also has preserved the name originally given by him to his Alchi Stupa. It was called 'Bum mthon bKra Sis sgo man, "Auspicious (Stupa) with Many Doors (called) One Hundred Thousand Visions", a name that might correspond to a Sanskrit Darsanalaksa and might hint at the "innumerable" small figures of the Buddha Aksobhya and of Bodhisattvas painted onto the walls inside the building, or to the still more "innumerable" sacred images which Tshul khrims 'od commissioned, as stated in his inscription. We will return to the problem of terminology in connection with this type of Stupa at the end of this paper.

3. The architecture

The Great Stupa at Alchi has in recent years been restored by the Archaeological Survey of India, resulting in drastic changes of its outer appearance. The repairs were necessary since the whole building was in a progressing state of decay. Three of the originally four "doors" have been walled up

29 August H. Francke, Antiquities of Indian Tibet, reprint (New Delhi: S. Chan & Co., I972), I, 80; Snellgrove and Skorupski, op. cit., i, I42.

30 George N. Roerich, The Blue Annals, reprint (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1976), 406-7, 464, 6oi.

31 Helmut Hoffmann, "Das Kalacakra, die letzte Phase des Buddhismus in Indien," Saeculum I5, no. 2 (I964):I29. 32 The tendency was probably repeated when in I4I6 'Jam sbyaris chos rje bKra sis spal Idan founded the famous monastery Drepung

('Bras spufs = Dhanyakataka). 33 Li Zhiwu and Liu Lizhong, Ta Er Si Monastery (in Chinese) (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, I982), I and 5 (English summary 7 and

I3-I4).

II7

so that today the only remaining entrance lies to the east (fig. I).34 As reinforcement for the heavy

superstructure the walls of the lower storey have been furnished outside with an additional thick

layer of slanting walling nearly reaching the height of the doors and fulfilling the same function as

buttresses in Gothic cathedrals. The outside appearance of the Stupa is mainly that of a two-storeyed building, the upper storey

receding considerably from the lower and being crowned by a large central tower, whereas the lower

storey has one additional smaller turret on each of its four corners (diagram a). The whole building as such does not resemble the usual structure of a Stupa, but looks rather like an abridged Pancdyatana

layout so familiar in early Kashmiri temple architecture condensed into one single building.35 The building stands on a massive plinth about IIo cm in height and 974 cm in width from north

to south, and 840 cm from east to west (diagram c). The entrance is reached by four steps, 138 cm

wide. The main body of the lower storey consists of thick plain whitewashed vertical walls with only

one remaining entrance in the middle of the western wall, the other three openings being closed. The

rectangular opening of the western "door", I94 cm high, has a partly visible wooden lintel and no

wing. The storey is covered by a flat roof of plastered willow branches slightly projecting and

accentuated by simple bands underneath the corner turrets. The height of the storey from plinth to

roof is about 308 cm. The four turrets at the corners have a cubic body, are partly hollow and filled with old tsha tsha.

Their superstructures might have looked like sikharas or elongated Stupas, but their original

appearance is no longer recognizable (diagram d). The upper storey, receding about 150 cm from the lower, is similarly formed and has one window

on each side with a wooden frame rising directly from the roof of the lower storey. The windows are

45 cm high and 68 cm wide. The roof, which also projects slightly, has an additional band under-

neath as accentuation. The whole storey is I54 cm high. The pinnacle of the central tower has also suffered from weather and time, but it probably looked

like a vertically elongated Stupa with stepped base, a low storey above, another set of stepped tiers

followed by still another storey with a shallow central niche and stepped corners. It was crowned by a

stupa-like cone carrying a lantern-like structure with window and pyramidal roof.

Originally four passageways allowed access into the interior of the building and at the same time

the low space underneath the inner Stupa which rests on the t wooden framework bearing the

inscriptions and placed on the heavy basic walls three meters thick. These walls are about as high as a

man; above them the interior of the building widens into a chapellike space enshrining the inner

Stupa and corresponding with the upper storey (diagram b). It has no access and is used today to

deposit discarded leaves of old books. The walls of this upper space are covered completely with

paintings of"thousand" Buddhas and Bodhisattvas (fig. 3).

The wooden ceiling is constructed in the so-called "lantern form" typical for square buildings in

medieval architecture of Kashmir. It consists of seven layers of beams, each being placed diagonally

across the corners of the lower tier, the resulting triangles being closed by boards. As a result we have

34 Khosla, op. cit., pl. 24 shows the ruined state and the still open doors. 35 This idea was shared by the late Johanna van Lohuizen-de Leeuw after examining the Stupa. Anyhow, similar temple buildings

appear in the painting adorning the dhotz of the colossal Avalokitesvara in the left niche of the Sumtsek.

II8

Fig. I The Great Stupa viewed from the east. Photograph by the author.

Fig. 2 North-eastern corner of the Great Stupa. Photograph by the author.

Fig. 3 Inner Stupa and murals of the western wall, showing "Thousand Aksobhyas." Photograph by Jaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

Fig. 4 Structure of wooden beams bearing the inner Stdpa. Photograph by jaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

F'g. 5 Deta'l of ded'catory inscript'o nwetr beam. Photograph by jaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

Fig. 6 Eastern wall, showing groups of Four Bodhisattvas. Photograph by Jaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

Fig. 7 Damage done to western wall by whitewashing. Photograph by the author.

Fig. 8 Ceiling of the Great Stupa. Photograph byJaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

Fig. 9 Deities in outer triangles of the ceiling. Photograph by Jaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

Fig. IO Deities on the ceiling of the small temple in Pandrethan near Shr-nagar. Photograph by Jaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

^^1 4.; ,i

A9 1... ..-, -

,.

1; 1 t.t

_ v . ss -0

i

BL '-' ?

K l??,.

Fig. 12 Inside of the inner Stupa. Photograph by Jaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

m Pr

I 11

*' ̂ 1*

.*? *'*

Fig. II The inner Stupa. Photograph by Jaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

Fig. 13 Naropa on eastern wall of inner Stupa. Photograph by Jaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

Fig. I6 Kashmiri priest on southern wall of inner Stupa. Photograph by Jaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

Fig. 14 Rinchen Zangpo on western wall of inner Stupa. Photograph by Jaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

Fig. 15 Kashmiri priest on northern wall of inner Stupa. Photograph by Jaroslav Poncar, Cologne.

/ /

-

./ A Is

t.

1

Fig. I7 The Stupa at Changspa near Leh. Photograph by the author.

L. ii-p W III i m -i - -

I

,,ar.,,,.n;-?LI" .\?n ?

I -L ;w? . ' _ ' ??-. 4s? I~ ~ ~~~~ - -

.1 I

I

Fig. I8 Reconstructed model of the Vatadage in Anuradhapura. Photograph by the author.

A. Isometric representation of the Great Stupa. Drawing by Gregor Wiesel, Cologne.

A. Isometric representation of the Great Stupa. Drawing by Gregor Wiesel, Cologne.

B. Isometric representation of the inner Stupa. Drawing by Gregor Wiesel, Cologne.

14

'k

I13 VI

,uaSi UZA l zl ,s X7 n I7 ,

C.7n) V Itl an vie 1

, V9 la, >

C. Groundplan and view from the east. Drawing by Gregor Wiesel, Cologne.

Z77

t zit 2 '

f Atztf t

70 ,

97

_ t T

I

1 I

I

l

l

I

I

L--

ut

t

F ,

I^

k-

01 i , R . .- . ,

^- / A V ^ i ts vxs ?

X 5 0 Z I /t HZ g,

g.a $ \ I oe o1 * os

I ? I 1

I^ILJ) ^ JB us lilj ^5 / ia/Wi[ V

{ w4`

C

I

i

11 1

I

i

i I

\I 1 l \

l11 11111 r 111 i

I

I

I

'l'! ~ f!' II i:'141 t1 1 I I I :1 1'~~~~~~~I'^ , ,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I l

I l

I I

I I 1 l 1

I

I

i

I

I I I I

I

l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I

:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I

, ,~~~~~~~~~~~~ l l~~~~~~~~~~~~

SM//Z//////////////W///W///mE~~~

il , ,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i I

l l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ l l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ l l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I

;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ i

I I

l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

J ;

II II I

'

. .

E. The inner Stupa. Drawing by Gregor Wiesel, Cologne.

eight "overlapping squares, each of which cuts off the angles of the square below it, and thus reduces the extent of the square to be covered" (diagram d).36

This kind of structure, forming a false cupola, possibly originated in Iran and spread over large areas of the Asian continent.37 We find it in the cave temples of Bamiyan (5th-6th cent. A.D.), in the

grottoes of Kyzyl (6th-7th cent.) and in the cave temples of Dunhuang at the western border of China. In the Buddhist architecture of Ladakh it has become the most common device for ceilings over a square groundplan.38

4. The murals in the outer building

The walls of the chapel-like upper floor which enshrines the inner Stupa are completely covered

with murals showing the Buddha Aksobhya and a group of four Bodhisattvas. The western wall, above the former main entrance, has eighteen horizontal rows with twenty-four

figures each of the blue Buddha Aksobhya (figs. 3 and 7). Where the opening of the window interferes with their regular arrangement the figures are reduced to a smaller scale and the spaces between them are filled with "plans" of square altars set diagonally.39 The Aksobhyas are continued on the two side walls to the north and the south, but stop abruptly one vertical row after the windows

in these side walls. From here on they are suddenly replaced by groups of Bodhisattvas as we meet

them on the eastern wall. Altogether there are depicted about one thousand small images of

Aksobhya, identifiable by their blue colour and their Gesture of Touching the Earth (bhumisparsa- mudrd). The mystical Buddha or Tathagata Aksobhya has his paradise Abhirati (mNon dga' ba) in the

eastern region of the cosmos, opposite to Amitabha's Sukhavati in the west. Still, in Stupas he is

represented mostly on western walls, facing his appropriate cardinal direction, the east.40

In the dedicatory inscription Tshul khrims 'od explicitly states that he made ten thousand images of this Buddha, thereby giving him a prominent position. Also in the Sumtsek the western wall of

the groundfloor is completely covered with Aksobhya images.41 The multiplication of a certain

Buddha or Bodhisattva up to the number "thousand" is a common devise in later Buddhist art and literature to indicate the mystic or cosmic character of that figure.42

36 With these words Rama Chandra Kak describes the ceiling of the small masonry temple in Pandrethan, Ancient Monuments of Kashmir, reprint (New Delhi: Sagar Publications, 1971), II3.

37 Percy Brown, Indian Architecture (Buzddhist and Hindu), reprint (Bombay: D. B. Taraporevala & Sons, 1976), I58, 161; Benjamin Rowland, The Art and Architecture of India, The Pelican History of Art, paperback edition (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1970), 203. Possibly already the "Square Hall" of Old Nissa (Ist-2nd cent.A.D.) had this kind of ceiling. Cf. Boris J. Stawiskij, Die Volker Mittelasians im Lichte ihrer Kunstdenkmaler (Bonn: Keil Verlag, 1982), fig. 30. For the development of this device and its transmission down to modern times see Albert von Le Coq, Bilderatlas zur Kunst- und Kultuzrgeschichte Mittelasiens (Berlin: D.

Reimer, I925), 3I-32 and figs. 23I ff. 38 For instance in the other "entrance ch6tens" at Alchi and the stupa-like building at Manggyu. 39 Geometrical altars of different shapes, as they are used in the different rituals of Esoteric Buddhism, are quite common in the Alchi

murals. Cf. Pal and Fournier, op.cit., pls. 70-74. 40 In Mandalas of Japanese Shingon Buddhism the eastern section, being below and directly in front of the officiating priest, is called

"first quarter" (shoho). Cf. Sho Nishimura (ed.), Mikkyo Daijiten, reprint (Kyoto: Hozokan, I969), I233. 41 Goepper and Poncar, op. cit., pl. 15; Pal and Fournier, op. cit., pls. S 24-29. 42 The term "thousand Buddhas" has two different meanings: I. the multiplication of one and the same figure; 2. the different

Buddhas of the past, the present and the future kalpas. Cf. Hajime Nakamura, Bukkyogo Daijiten (Tokyo: Shoseki, 1975), 834-5, s.v. sentai-butsu and sembutsu.

I35

As stated above, the representations of Aksobhya on the two side walls suddenly change into

groups of Bodhisattvas. On each side the eighteen rows of figures contain six Bodhisattvas each, and the eastern wall is completely covered by them.

Whereas there was only one Buddha, namely Aksobhya, we are here confronted with a group of four Bodhisattvas in sequential repetition. They are characterized by the colour of their complexion and the emblems in their raised right hand. They are: The blue Vajrapani with his Vajra, rep- resenting the Vajra Family (vajra-kula) of deities like his lord Aksobhya,43 the red Padmapani with his lotus, symbolizing the Lotus Family (padma-kula);44 the greenish Visvapani with his four-sided

visva-vajra, presiding over the Action Family (karm-kula)'4 and lastly the white Samantabhadra

with his wheel (cakra) as representative of the Buddha Family (tathagata-kula).46 The Bodhisattvas

are shifted in the superimposed rows in such a way that the repetition of their colours runs diagonally over the space of the wall (fig. 6).

This iconographic program which projects the four Families of the Buddhist pantheon onto the

walls of the Stupa clearly impregnates it with an all-embracing cosmological character and invests

the Stupa with a marked "orientation" in the strict sense of the word, a direction from west to east, which is also accentuated by the paintings inside the inner Stupa, as we will see later.

5. The decoration of the "cupola"

The surfaces of all planes, vertical or horizontal, of the so-called lantern ceiling in the outer

building are completely covered with paintings, partly figurative, partly ornamental (fig. 8).

(a.) The lowest layer of triangles bridging the corners is set apart from the walls by a frieze of

marching white geese which we meet also in other Alchi buildings.47 The main motive of the four

triangles are pairs of four-armed male deities clad in fanciful garments made of colourful and

precious material (fig. 9). They wear short jackets with sleeves of half-length and with "Central

Asian" collars. Most of the jackets are open and expose the bare bellies. The deities are wrapped in

short skirts and their feet are stuck into richly decorated boots of half-length. They are bedecked with jewelry and wear diadems.

Like their historic predecessors, the Apsaras or Devas on the ceilings of masonry temples in

Kashmir, for instance in Pandrethan48 and Payar, they are represented in a "flying" attitude,

although without wings, as if they were running across empty space. In their four hands they carry

emblems and offerings. Their overall appearance very much resembles that of similar figures flanking Mandala portals in the murals of the Dukhang.49

(b.) That the whole lantern ceiling might be explained as a kind of Mandala becomes evident by the groups of the same four Bodhisattvas as in the murals being painted onto the vertical planes of

43 Benoytosh Bhattacharyya: The Indian Buddhist Iconography (Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, I968), 53. 44 Ibid., 5I. 45 Ibid., 73. 46 Ibid., SS55. 47 Goepper and Poncar, op. cit., pl. I. 48 Kak, op. cit., pl. 66. 49 Genoud and Inoue, op. cit., pl. gd.

I36

the beams carrying the next layer, the trapezoid planes of which are decorated with magnificent textile designs very similar to those painted onto the ceilings of the Sumtsek.5?

(c.) The Bodhisattvas and other textile designs with friezes of running animals decorate also the

triangles of the next third layer of the "cupola". (d.) The fourth layer has, apart from the Bodhisattvas, in its triangles the four superstructures of

Mandala portals, again similar to representations on the walls of the Dukhang and the Sumtsek.I5 (e.) The next vertical step has the usual four Bodhisattvas, but the central figure is placed inside a

T-like element which is the common topos for the actual Mandala portal. The horizontal planes of the

triangles contain a large vase emitting ornamental bands.

(f.) The sixth layer is set off vertically by figures of goddesses and the Seven Jewels (sapta-ratna) of a Cosmocrator (cakravartin) or a Buddha, together with more textile designs.

(g.) The seventh layer of small triangles again shows the Bodhisattvas, heraldic flowers and dots which possibly imitate the dyeing technique ofplangi.

(h.) The last and central layer which orginally closed the "cupola" has been removed. Only in one corner the rest of an original board remains, showing the head of a small Buddha, underlining the

theory that the whole ceiling was meant to represent a kind of Mandala, similar to the one appearing on the ceiling of the large chapel in Manggyu, possibly executed by the same artists.52

6. The inner Stgpa and its paintings

The inner Stupa resting on the framework of beams seems to be partly hollow in its upper part (diagram b). It is made of reddish clay and covered with thin whitewash.3 Originally it was probably painted with bright colours as can still be observed in other entrance chotens at Alchi.54 The overall

height of the inner Stupa is about s about 260 cm, its width at the base base I55 cm. Set on its wooden framework without any connection to the massive walls of the outer building it seems to float symbolically in

empty space (figs. 4 and II).

The vertical walls of its lower cube are decorated outside with eight columns in half-relief and

were probably painted with pairs of the symbolic animals of the four Tathagatas as can still be seen in

the entrance StupaJz2.55 The Stupa proper rises above this substructure (called "lion throne", sen khri) in several layers, its

square groundplan being broken by stepped corners resulting in projections of the walls (glo 'bur can)

(diagram e). On each side flights of projected steps (glo 'bur them skas) lead to the two receding storeys with central sham doors. The "cupola" (bum pa) is crowned by a narrow square harmika, above which

the original parasols (chos kyi 'khor lo) are missing. When in former days the visitor entered the building through the now barred western door and

looked up into the hollow interior of the inner Stupa, he saw himself confronted on the eastern wall

50 On this interesting aspect of the Alchi paintings see Roger Goepper: "Early Kashmiri Textiles? Painted Ceilings in the Three- Storeyed Temple at Alchi, Ladakh," forthcoming in the Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, London 1993.

5I Goepper and Poncar,op. cit., pl. 23. 52 See Matsunaga and Kato, op. cit., pl. V-2. 53 During the last years repeated whitewashing by the villagers has done considerable damage to the paintings (fig. 5). 54 For instance choten no. Jz (numbering according to Snellgrove and Skorupski, op, cit., I, 29). 55 Lions for Vairocana (western wall), horses for Ratnasambhava (east), elephants for Aksobhya (south), Garudas for Amoghasiddhi

(north). Cf. Tucci, Indo-Tibetica, op. cit., IV, I, 17I; David L. Snellgrove: Buddhist Himalaya (Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, I957), I86.

I37

with a dark-skinned Indian Siddha (fig. 13) who faces a Tibetan priest with white complexion on the

opposite western wall (fig. I4). On both sides he recognized two dark-skinned priests, the one to the

right middle-aged and clad in a robe of brownish patchwork, the one to the left white-haired wearing a white patched robe. There are no inscriptions giving their names.

(a.) The Siddha Naropa The most prominent figure among the four is the dark brown Siddha on the eastern wall since he

is the only one represented in strict frontality (abhimukham) (fig. I3). In contrast to the poor condition of the present example, the formally identical one at the lower end of the central fold in the dhoti of the colossal Mafijusri sculpture of the Sumtsek56 is perfectly preserved. He sits in a squatting attitude

(utkutdsana, tsog pu'i 'dug stans), his legs secured by a band (yoga-bandha). He has long curly hair and

staring, slightly squinting eyes. His body seems to be naked, no loincloth can be discerned, but a

long cape of white fur is draped over his shoulders. In his right hand he holds a plant with three

leaves, in his left a sticklike emblem, probably a flute. He is backed by a throne consisting of the elements common for North Indian deities, whether Buddhist or Hindu.57

Although there is no direct iconographical clue, the Siddha seems to be the famous Vajrayana master Naropa (Na.dapada, rCa sad pa, 956-Io40) who, according to legend, lived for several years in

Kashmir and there was one of the main religious sources for visiting Tibetan priests, among them

Mar pa and, again according to legend, Rinchen Zangpo, who is represented on the opposite wall of

the inner Stupa. There seems to be no fixed iconographic canon for the rendering of Naropa,58 but the

constellation of the four priests makes the identification plausible.59

(b.) Rinchen Zangpo The white-skinned Tibetan priest on the opposite wall was already identified as Rinchen Zangpo

by Snellgrove and Skorupski (fig. I4). ? He sits in vajraparyankasana (rdo rje'i skyil krun), his hands

forming the dharmacakra-pravarttana-mudrai (chos 'khor gyi phyag rgya); his head is turned to the left in

half profile and he is clad like a Tibetan priest. His importance is accentuated by the rich throne.

(c.) Kashmiri priests On the southern and northern walls, bridging the space between Naropa and Rinchen Zangpo,

two priests with brown complexion are represented in half profile (ardha-vilocana), looking at the

Tibetan monk. The priest on the southern wall sits in meditation, his hands in dhyana-mudra with a

rosary (aksa-mal) (fig. I6). Over his undergarments he wears a reddish brown kasdaya with a star-like

flower ornament. The area around his face is heavily destroyed, only the vestiges of a band-like

diadem remain. Paraphernalia for the ritual and an altar are placed in the plane of the mandorla, and

a small adoring monk sits in front.

56 Snellgrove and Skorupski, op. cit., I, pl. XI; Goepper and Poncar, op. cit., pi. 8. 57 Common already in bronzes of the tenth century from Nalanda (Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, History of Indian and Indonesian Art

[New York: E. Weyhe, 1927], pl. LXXII, fig. 233) and in Pala sculpture of the eleventh century (ibid., pi. LXXI, fig. 229). 58 Perhaps the plant in his right hand symbolizes the vegetable meal (sno bdas) by which he won the favour of his teacher Tillopa, but

this is, of course, pure speculation. Cf. Albert Griinwedel, "Vierundachtzig Zauberer," Baessler Archiv 5 (i9i6):I68-9. 59 Snellgrove and Skorupski, op. cit., I, 79. 60 Ibid.

I38

An older priest with trimmed white hair and beard occupies the northern wall, clad in a white

kasaya with svastika design (fig. IS). Also in this case the ritual implements are important documents for the ceremonial atmosphere in Kashmir at that time.

Because of the lack of inscriptions an exact identification of the two priests is not possible. At

least, they must be older than Rinchen Zangpo, and are most probably two of his Kashmiri teachers or companions in his gigantic work of translation.6 The white-haired priest might be

Sraddhakaravarman,62 pupil of the famous Santipa, the other one Tathagataraksita,63 both of them

being close collaborators of Rinchen Zangpo, but this, of course, is pure speculation.

(d.) "Cupola" The inner Stupa also has a lantern ceiling made of wood, but in a simpler structure with only

three steps. In an absolute horror vacui it is decorated with paintings, mostly representing textile

designs, with a large lotus in the center (fig. It).

(e.) Technique of painting and modes of representation The painting technique in the inner Stupa is in general identical with the one in the Sumtsek, but

the ductus of the brush is here bolder and more vigorous, and the representation seems less detailed. The successive steps of the painting process seem to correspond roughly to that of traditional Indian murals as described by Jayanta Chakrabarti.64

The actual painting is executed on a rough ground (mani-bhumi) of mud plaster (suzdha) mixed with fibres of plants and with a thin layer of prime coating (mrttik-nirnaya). The painting technique seems to have been the usual tempera with glue (vajra-lepa or carma-kvdta) prepared from boiled animal skins, using a brush (tulikd). To suggest three-dimensionality a special device of shading was used: Whereas in some of the fine paintings in the Sumtsek 5 differences in values of the same colour were achieved by tiny dots placed together in different density (vindu-vartana), in the Stupa a

"shading by bands" (hairika-vartan) was used by which the raised parts (unnata) of a form appeared

in the unbroken hue of the colour and the receding or depressed areas (nimna) were indicated by

parallel bands of increasingly darker hues, a device common not only in Indian, but also in Central

Asian, and at times even in Chinese wall painting. Prominent parts of the face, like the ridge of the

nose, could be accentuated by white highlights (ujjotana).

A peculiar mode of representing figures, characteristic for North Indian painting of the twelfth-

thirteenth centuries, should also be noted: Whereas the face and other bare parts of the human body

were represented in a certain illusionistic three-dimensionality with shading and highlights, the

body in its clothing was given as an absolutely flat plane showing the designs of the garbs, here for

instance the squares of the kasdyas, without any perspective foreshortenings. The same device

appears, for instance, in the famousramita-sutra manuscript in the Nasli

and Alice Heeramaneck collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.66

6I Already Snellgrove and Skorupski have regarded them as Kashmiri priests, op. cit., I, 29 and 78. 62 Jean Naudou, Buddhists of Kasmzr (Delhi: Agam India, 1980), 190-93; Snellgrove and Skorupski, op. cit., 2, 89-90. 63 Naudou, op. cit., 73 and and I90. 64 Jayanta Chakrabarti, Techniques in Indian Mural Painting (Calcutta: K. P. Bagchi, 1980). The Sanskrit terms used here are borrowed

from this book. 65 Especially in the niches. 66 Pratapatitya Pal: The Art of Tibet (New York: Asia Society, I969), p. 113, no. 92.

139

7. Conclusions

If we now try to come to some general conclusions about the meaning of the "Great Stupa" in

Alchi we are again forced, lacking textual foundations, to enter the field of speculation and thereby possibly find roads for further research.

(a.) Terminology One of the several designations given by the local monks for the Stupa and other entrance chotens

is the enigmatic term kakani choten, which is occasionally also quoted without further specification

by western authors.67 Apparently only August H. Francke aimed at an explanation,68 declaring the term kha gan (which is also in use in Ladakh) as a corruption of khanggani, "door", but without

quoting his source for this identification. Whether this is a local idiomatic version of Tibetan kha,

"opening",69 must remain speculation. Possibly kakani may be explained as metathesis of kanika which Tucci quotes as the name of a

Stupa in Vaisali, built by the prince of the Licchavis.7? Anyhow, the Pall term kannikd (Skr. karnika, "ear ornament") is also used with architectural connotations, meaning "upper storey" of a house,

palace or Stupa.71 But it is doubtful whether such a combination of an Indian with a Tibetan term

would be possible under the circumstances prevalent in Alchi today. Another term given by Alchi monks for the "Great Stupa" is mgo Ina mchod rten, "Stupa with Five

Spires", corresponding to a Sanskrit panca-siras, which is actually reflected in the structure of the

building, reminiscent of the Pancayatana Type of Indian temple architecture. Still another designation is sku 'bum mchod rten, "Stupa of the One Hundred Thousand Bodies (or

Images)", a name used for several well-known buildings in Tibetan Buddhism72 referring to the

numerous painted or sculptured images adorning the building, hereby comparable with the Stupa in

Alchi. The "astronomic" number 'bum appears in the designation for the Stupa which Tshul khrims 'od

uses in his own dedicatory inscription. The name 'bum mthon corresponds to a Sanskrit darsana-laksa,

"One Hundred Thousand Visions (or Appearances)" and then could refer to the "innumerable" sacred

images painted onto the inner walls of the building, although Tibetan scholars73 hinted at the

possibility that the designation might be a corruption of some obsolete place name.

(b.) Structure and meaning

Structurally the inner Stupa as the sacred core of the whole building may be placed into the later

phase of development of Stupas in the Northwestern area of Indian Buddhist culture. Near relatives

67 Snellgrove and Skorupski, op. cit., I, 29; Khosla, op. cit., 54 and 60.

Francke, Antiquities of Indian Tibet, op. cit., I, 87. 69 Heinrich A. Jaschke, A Tibetan-English Dictionary, reprint (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., I968), 35; Sarat Chandra Das, A

Tibetan-English Dictionary, reprint (Alipore: West Bengal Government Press, I96o), 125. 70 Tucci, Indo-Tibetica, op. cit., I, 22. 7I Robert C. Childers, A Dictionary of the Pali Language (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, I909), 183; T. W. Rhys Davids and

W. Stede, The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary, reprint (London: Pali Text Society, I979), I80. 72 For instance in Gyantse, Tucci, Indo-Tibetica, op. cit., IV, I, 169 ff.; or the large monastery in Amdo, founded I577, portrayed by

Wilhelm Filchner, Kuimbum Dschamba Ling (Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus, 1933), and lately by Michael Henss, Tibet, die Kulturdenkmaler (Zuiirich-Freiburg: Atlantis Verlag, 198I), 231-237. Cf. also the Chinese publication by Li Zhiwu and Liu Lizhong, Ta Er Si Monastery, op. cit.

73 Mr. Tsering Tashi Thingo, Cologne, and Mr. Loden Sherap Dagyab, University of Bonn, have thought of such a possibility.

I40

are the clay Stupas of Tapa Sardar in Ghazni, datable to the eighth century A.D.74 They also have two

storeys as basis of the "cupola" and flights of steps on each side for every storey, their corners are

stepped forming projections (glo 'bur can). In an elongated form, but without the projections the

basic structure also appears in a small wooden Stupa, preserved in the Dukhang of Alchi, which

surely is ancient, but difficult to date.7 The several Stupas represented in the murals of Alchi differ

formally, but could be explained as fanciful variations of the basic type.76 The Stupas engraved in

large numbers as rock carvings on boulders near the Indus below Alchi are of a considerably different

type and period. Whether the outer building called "Great Stupa" throughout this paper actually was meant as

Stupa seems highly improbable. Structurally it is the outer shrine protecting the sacred inner core, the clay Stupa. Its appearance relates it to the temple complex of the Pancayatana type, condensing its five buildings into one. Although looking similar at first sight it differs in many respects from the

Stupa form developed in Central Asia and China and known under the designation simen-ta, "Stupa with Four Doors", in Chinese.77

Possibly the "Great Stupa" at Alchi corresponds in its basic structural meaning to another type of

early Buddhist architecture expressing "the idea of installing a stupa of appropriate dimensions as the

central object of worship in a shrine,"78 namely the caitya-grha of early cave temples in India79 which seem to have been derived from free-standing wooden structures. Here also the Stupa is enshrined

and protected by an outer building, the idea being later developed into the famous cetiya-ghara or

vataddge of Ceylon.8? The main difference between this type of building and the "Great Stupa" is, that the vatadage provides inside space for the ritual circumambulation (pradaksina) of the Stupa, whereas in Alchi the devotee has to circumambulate outside of the building, but can also enter from all four sides and pass underneath the Stupa and look into its "secret" interior.

In spite of the west-east axiality reflected in the murals inside, the openings towards all four

heavenly directions let an identification of the "Great Stupa" with the usual type of entrance chotens seem unlikely. The formulations in the dedicatory inscription underline the fact that the building was regarded as one of the major components of the ritual setting within the monastic area as a whole, and not just as an accentuation of the entrance. But what, then, was its essential meaning and function?

The explanation which we venture to offer is at the same time tempting, but also highly specu- lative. As long as no textual support can be found it must remain unproven.

By erecting this "Great Stupa" in Alchi its founder Tshul khrims 'od set up a cosmological and

religious symbol. The outer building with its central tower, the four turrets at the corners and its

accessability from all four heavenly directions together with its murals is transformed into the mystic sphere of Buddha Aksobhya's heavenly realm, the paradise Abhirati. Enshrined within this tran- scendental space, the apparitional inner Stupa as the spiritual core of the building, is represented as

74 Lately illustrated by Burchard Brentjes: Volkerschicksale am Hindukusch (Leipzig: Koehler & Amelang, 1983), pl. I37. 75 Snellgrove and Skorupski, op. cit., I, 43, fig. 26. 76 For instance the example on the right wall of the Dukhang between the two large Mandalas; Goepper and Poncar, op. cit., pl. 29. 77 A typical example is the one in the Shentong-si, Lincheng Xian, Shandong Province, dated 544; see Bulletin of the Society for

Research in Chinese Architecture 4, no. 4 (I937):pls. I-z; Laurence Sickman and Alexander Soper, The Art and Architecture of China (Harmondsworth: Penguin, I956), 23I and pl. I57 B.

78 Senake Bandaranayake, Sinhalese Monastic Architecture (Leiden: Brill, I974), 40. 79 For instance in Guntupalle and Junnar, as early as first century B.C. 80 On this type of Buddhist architecture, characteristic for Ceylon see Bandaranyake, op. cit., I39-I60.

I4I

actually "floating." It is elevated over the secular plane of the pious devotee, but gives him at the same time the possibility of a visual approach into its secret.

This secret is the group of the four closely related priests painted onto the inner surface of the

walls, and shown as engaged in religious conversation. In this connection we may remember the

magic Stfpa described in the eleventh chapter of the Saddharma-pundarika-si7tra which "sprang up from the earth and abode in the sky,"81 into which the Buddha Sakyamuni entered and received the consecration to preach the Law from the mystical Buddha Prabhutaratna. We may also remember the

so-called Iron Stupa of Southern India (Nanten-tetto) into which, according to legend, the patriarch

Nagarjuna (Ryumo) was invited to be introduced into the secret teachings of the two basic Sutras of

Esoteric Buddhism which is still living today in the Shingon and Tendai Schools ofJapan.82 In analogy to this idea of the Stupa serving as site of mystic revelation of a certain religious

tradition in Buddhist teaching Tshul khrims 'od may have had the priest Rinchen Zangpo repre- sented as initiator of a new propagation, receiving instruction from the Siddha Naropa, with two

Kashmiri priests acting as mediators, inside this inner Stupa. The revered master Rinchen Zangpo as

the spiritual father of a new Buddhism in Western Tibet was thereby invested with a mystic quality. But the mystic character of the "Great Stupa" at Alchi was not only expressed by its paintings and by

disconnecting it from the contact to this secular earth, representing it as floating in space, but also by its name as quoted in its dedicatory inscription: 'Bum mthon, "One Hundred Thousand Visions".

Tibetan text of the dedicatory inscription Om bkra sis par gyur cig // chos sku skye myed namkha' las // lofs sku 'gag myed sprin Itar snan //

'phrin las sprul sku'i char rgyun 'byun // dus gsum bde(r) gsegs rnams la bstod // gsufn rab yan lag bcu gnis dan // sde snod gsum dan rgyud sde bzi // byah chub phyogs la sogs pa yi // dam pa'i chos

......... mdzad pa'i // dge 'dun rnams la phyag 'tshal lo // .......... sras mchog bla ma rin po che // 'phrin las lhun grub rdzogs mdzad pa'i // ..... gsufi ba la phyag 'tshal bstod // sanis rgyas chos dafn dge' 'dun dafn 1 bla ma rnams la phyag 'tshal nas // bsod nams bag tsam bsags pa yi // kar chags dum bu 'bri bar

bya // byafi chub ...... la brten pa'i // ri rab dafn ni ri bdun dan // glifi bshi dafn ni glifi phran brgyad // de'i nan na mchog gyur pa'i // .................................. gnas mchog gans can 'di'i rgyud na // sa'i

phyogs gcig mna ris bstod // mchog tu bton pa'i la dvags smad //..... al Ici 'dir // dnos ran 'bro ban tshul khrims 'od // sna ma'i smon lam ma dag pas // nan gsum tshogs pa'i dus 'dir skyes // myi lus rin

chen thob nas ni // churn niu'i dus su rab byufi nas // bla ma mkhan po'i shabs btud nas // sems kyi

spros pa cun shig bsad .... // sna ma'i bsags pa phra mo dan // ................................ rgyu nor lons

spyod bsags nas kyain // tha ma ...... yin sfnam nas // bla ma dkon mchog phyogs su btan // bsod nams

tshogs cig bsag snam nas // 'dus byas kyi dge ba'i rtsa ba la // sku gsun thugs kyi rten rnams bshens //

sku yi rten du bshens pa ni // lha .... rin cen brtsegs pa bshens // drin la lan gyis blan pa'i phyir 11 rin

po che la rduni khafi bshens // pha ma gfiis kyi don du ni // rant gi bsod nams bsags pa'i phyir //l ha

khafi che churn bcu tsam bshefis // ..................................... bde bar gsegs pa'i // sku yi bkod pa stoni

lhag bshens // bcom Idan bder gsegs myi 'khrugs pa'i // sku'i bkod pa khri tsho bshefis // bcom Idan

81 Myoho-renge-kyo, The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, translated by Bunno Kato, revised by W. E. Soothill and

Wilhelm Schiffer (Toky6: Kosei Publishing Company, I97I), 235. 82 See Sho Nishimura (ed.), Mikkyo Daijiten reprint (Kyoto: Hozokan, 1969), I706, s.v. Nanten-tetto. An illustration of the event is

given in the ritualistic handbook Kakuzen-sho, I23, reproduced Taisho-shinshu Daizokyo, Zuzo (The Tripitaka in Chinese, Picture

Section) (Tokyo: Daizo Shuppan, 1933 ff.), 5, 569, ill. no. 392.

I42

'od dpag myed pa yi // sku'i bkod pa gnis ston bshens // 'jam pa'i dbyans kyi sku gzugs kyan // bkod

pa ston tso gnis tsam bshens // bskal pa gcig la 'tshan rgya ba'i // bskal pa ston gi sans rgyas bshens 11

rigs gsum mgon po'i sku 'khor bshens // lha dan mchod rten thams cad dan // sems dp'a ston ...................... sgrol ma la sogs lha mo'i sku // blo la ci tsam byun tsad bshens // 'dus byas dge ba'i rtsa ba la // sku yi rten du de tsam cig // gsufi gi rten cig bshens sfiam nas // sin tu dkon pa'i bu sog la // gon dan rin la ma Itas par // rgyas pa bcu bshi'i gdum bu (?) bshens 11 rab ma dum bu drug pa bshens // bsdus pa dum bu gcig pa bshens // gser gyi 'jam sdud bzan gsum bshens // byin gyis rlabs

pa'i bka' las ni 11 gser gyi ses rab snin po bshens // na yi bu cig rin cen gyis (?) 11 rned par dka' ba'i thens ...//i no mtshar can gyi gsufi dpar bshefis // gsun gi rten de tsam cig bshefis // thugs kyi rten du bshefns pa ni // rgya gar dbus na bshugs pa yi ran 'byufn dpal Idan 'bras phufn gi // de'i dpe' la byas nas ni // mchod rten dpal Idan 'bras phuns bshens // sprul sku bla ma rin po ches // bkra sis sgo mans bshens pa yin // de yi dpe' la byas nas ni // 'bum (m)thon kra sis sgo mafns bshefns // ....... bar du

bshugs nas ni // zas nor tshegs la ma bsam par // sku tshad che bas ................ thugs kyi rten du bgyis // // ye ses kyi tshogs bsag sfiam nas // 'dus ma byas gyi tshogs sog la // bla ma ...... cen gyis bshugs mdsad nas // nu bo rin cen bshugs kyi bar // bla ma mkhan po slob dpon la // sems bsked dbafn bskur rim par shus // bskyed rdsogs gnis kyi gdams nag gnan // gdams nag zab mo thugs la mnags // phyag rgya chen po'i rio sprod mdsad // shabs tog ...............................

Postscriptum

During July 1992 the Archaeological Survey of India began to add new plastering to the outside of the two lower storeys of the Great Stupa and to repair the roofs. At the same time a group of German

specialists of the Fachhochschule, Koln, started to clean and conserve the murals inside the Stupa. Also in July 1992 the author discussed the identification of the four priests inside the inner Stupa

with Tsering Dorje of Kyelong (Lahoul and Spiti), who seriously doubted the identification of the white-skinned priest on the western wall with Rinchen Zangpo, since the figure was not characterized as a Vinaya monk by the addition of an alms bowl and a staff. According to Tsering Dorje the priest should rather represent the translator Mar pa (Chos kyi blo gros, IOI2-IO96), who was a direct pupil of Naropa and who would fit better into the original Bri gung pa tradition of Alchi. But in this case the two priests flanking him are difficult to explain since Mar pa's other teachers were so-called Mahasiddhas who are usually not represented like ordinary monks. Anyhow, Rinchen Zangpo is nowhere mentioned directly in Alchi inscriptions. Mar pa's biographies give no direct clue (Jacques Bacot, "La view de Marpa le "traducteur," Buddhica [Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Guenther, I937] I, no. VII; Tsang Nyon Heruka [tr. Chogyam Trungpa], The Life of Marpa the Translator [Boulder: Prajna Press, 1982]).

Colour plates made possible throuzgh a generozus contribution from the Orientstiftung zur Forderung der ostasiatischen Kunst, Cologne.

I43