A Kumbum ( "one hundred thousand holy images") is a multi-storied aggregate of Buddhist chapels in

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

. The most famous Kumbum forms part of

Palcho Monastery The Palcho Monastery or Pelkor Chode Monastery or Shekar Gyantse is the main monastery in the Nyangchu river valley in Gyantse, Gyantse County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. The monastery precinct is a complex of structures which, ...

. The first Kumbum was founded in the fire sheep year 1427 by a Gyantse prince. It has nine ''lhakang''s or levels, is high surmounted by a golden dome, and contains 77 chapels which line its walls. Many of the statues were damaged during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

but have since been replaced with clay images, though they lack the artistic merit of the originals. The 14th century

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s showing Newar and Chinese influences, survived much better. The Kumbum or great ''gomang'' ("many-doored") stupa at Gyantse is a three-dimensional

mandala A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...

meant to portray the Buddhist cosmos. The Kumbum, like other mandalas, which are portrayed by a circle within a square, enables the devotee to take part in the Buddhist perception of the universe and can depict one's potential as they move through it. Mandalas are meant to aid an individual on the path to enlightenment. The Kumbum holds a vast number of images of deities throughout its structure with

Vajradhara Vajradhara (Sanskrit: वज्रधर. (Also, the name of Indra, because 'Vajra' means diamond, as well as the thunderbolt, anything hard more generally) Tibetan: རྡོ་རྗེ་འཆང། rdo rje 'chang (Dorje Chang); zh, t=金� ...

(Sanskrit:Vajradhāra, Tibetan: rdo rje 'chang (Dorje Chang), English: Vajraholder), the cosmic Buddha, at the top. :"The lhakangs of the nine levels of the Kumbum, decreasing in number at each level, are structured according to the compendium of Sakya ''tantra''s called ''Drubtab Kantu''. Thus each lhakang and each level creates a

, and the entire Kumbum represents a three-dimensional path to the Buddha's enlightenment in terms of increasingly subtle tantric mandalas." The best known Kumbum is the

Gyantse Gyantse, officially Gyangzê Town (also spelled Gyangtse; ; ), is a town located in Gyantse County, Shigatse Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It was historically considered the third largest and most prominent town in the Tibet region ( ...

Kumbum, built in 1497 by a prince of Gyantse, but there are other surviving examples at

Jonang The Jonang () is one of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Its origins in Tibet can be traced to early 12th century master Yumo Mikyo Dorje, but became much wider known with the help of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, a monk originally trained in the ...

, built by

Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen Dölpopa Shérap Gyeltsen () (1292–1361), known simply as Dölpopa, was a Tibetan Buddhist master. Known as "The Buddha from Dölpo," a region in modern Nepal, he was the principal exponent of the shentong teachings, and an influential memb ...

and consecrated in 1333, and the Chung Riwoche Kumbun at Päl Riwoche, which was built by

Thang Tong Gyalpo Thangtong Gyalpo () (1385 CE–1464 CE or 1361 CE–1485 CE), also known as Chakzampa, the "Iron Bridge Maker" (), Tsöndrü Zangpo "Excellent Persistence" (), and the King of the Empty Plain.Sarah Harding. Niguma, Lady of Illusion. Snow L ...

, who began work on it in 1449.Gerner, Manfred
Chakzampa Thangtong Gyalpo - Architect, Philosopher and Iron Chain Bridge Builder
'', p. 15. Thimphu: Center for Bhutan Studies 2007. A further one is at

Kumbum Monastery Kumbum Monastery (, THL ''Kumbum Jampa Ling''), also called Ta'er Temple, is a Tibetan gompa in Lusar, Huangzhong County, Xining, Qinghai, China. It was founded in 1583 in a narrow valley close to the village of Lusar in the historical Tibeta ...

near

Xining Xining (; ), alternatively known as Sining, is the capital of Qinghai province in western China and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. The city was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2000 years, and w ...

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

. The Great Stupa of Universal Compassion being built near Bendigo, Australia is modelled on the

Kumbum.

Footnotes

Gallery

Image:Kumbum eyes.jpg, Artwork on the exterior of the Kumbum in Gyantse. Image:Entrance Pango Chorten, Gyantse.JPG, Entrance to Pango Chorten, Gyantse, 1993 Image:Wrathful Deity, Gyantse.JPG, Wrathful Deity, Pango Chorten, Gyantse. Image:Pango Chorten, Gyantse.JPG, Pango Chorten, Gyantse. Image:Tara, Gyantse Kumbum.JPG, Tara statue.

Kumbum. 1993 Image:Protective deity, Gyantse Kumbum.JPG, Protective deity, Gyantse Kumbum. 1993 Image:Sitting Buddha, Gyantse Kumbum.JPG, Sitting Buddha, Gyantse Kumbum. 1993 Image:Deity, Gyantse Kumbum.JPG, Deity, Gyantse Kumbum. 1993 Image:Statue, Gyantse Kumbum.JPG, Statue, Gyantse Kumbum. 1993 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-07-24-30, Tibetexpedition, Großer Chörten in Gyantse.jpg, Gyantse Kumbum and

gompa A Gompa or Gönpa ( "remote place", Sanskrit ''araṇya''), also known as ling (), is a Buddhist ecclesiastical fortification of learning, lineage and sādhanā that may be understood as a conflation of a fortification, a vihara and a universit ...

, 1938

Literature

*von Schroeder, Ulrich. 2006. ''Empowered Masters: Tibetan Wall Paintings of Mahasiddhas at Gyantse''. (p. 224 pages with 91 colour illustrations). Chicago: Serindia Publications. {{Indian Philosophy Tibet Buddhist temples in Tibet