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About 365 km from Shimla hidden away within the folds of
the mighty Himalayas lies a small ham. let with a
population of about 650 souls. The village of Tabo at a
height of 3280 metre lies at the lower edge of the Spiti
valley, close to the borders of Tibet. Surrounded by
towering Mountains, this small valley is the home to a
monastery that is probably the most revered in this
region. The Tabo Monastery - believed to be one of the
most sacred shrines of trans Himalayan Buddhism, is the
oldest continuously functioning Buddhist monument in
India. As the 10th century had drawn to a close, the
then ruler of West Tibet Yeh-she-od in order to spread
Buddhism in the region invited the great translator or
'Lotsawa' Rinchen-zang-po to help in setting up a
monastery along the banks of the Spiti river. In 996 AD
the monastery of Tabo was founded.
The monastery celebrated a millennium of its existence
during the months of June and July 1996, a fortnight that
was devoted to prayers and rituals, and colourful dances.
Also, vibrant pageants that are so much a part of any
Tibetan Buddhist ceremony. On the 14th day of the fifty
month by the Tibetan Lunar Calendar, amidst the chanting
of sacred mantras, His Holiness the Dalai Lama conducted
a Kalachakra Ceremony - a rite of initiation and
rejuvenation. A prayer for peace in this troubled world.
A thousand years ago, Tabo served as meeting place
between two cultures. Scholars from the plains of India
came here to learn Tibetan. Indian and Tibetan scholars
undertook the laborious process of translating important
scriptures from Sanskrit to Tibetan, as well as the
conducting of religious studies. In the process there
took place at Tabo an amalgamation of two cultures. which
led to the evolving of a ritual code of activity. usually
described as Indo-Tibetan. It also created a pattern of
art, that used Indian forms in conjunction with Tibetan
wall text. The style and iconography of the paintings
and sculptures brilliantly express the cultural synthesis
between India and Tibet, that took place here, sometime
during the 11th century.
The Mandala was built, the prayers were said, the monks
danced and the Dalai Lama preached. For a brief period,
Tabo of the Spiti valley became the most sacred place in
time for the believers of Tibetan Buddhism. Thousands
came from Spiti, from Kitinaur from Lahual, and from
every corner of the earth to pray and to take part in
this ceremony. For fifteen days the small village of
Tabo became a collage. A collage depicting the friendship
and fraternity of universal brotherhood. The main temple
at Tabo, or the Gtsug-lag-khang is a treasure trove of
artistic splendour. It preserves an extraordinary wealth
of documentation for the history and culture of that
period. The main temple is today made up of an entrance
hall, an assembly Hall, the cella and the ambulatory.
Inside the entrance hall, which dates from a later
period, is a small passage guarded by protectors on
either side. This used to be the actual entry in to the
old temple. Surrounding the protectors can still be seen
the faded remains of painting done by human hands a
thousand years ago. Not much survive, but under the rain
washed facade can still dimly be seen the fantastic sense
of art that the artisans of that era possessed.
According to official estimates, 27000 people visited
Tabo during the period while 10000 of them lived in the
tents put up the government as well as private parties.
The Himachal Pradesh government and the State Transport
Corporation made arrangements to ferry whole villages
from different parts of the state to Tabo. About 3000
security personnel were deputed to maintain law and
order. They were given strict instructions to be firm yet
polite and were warned that any complaint of impolite
behavious would be dealt with, harshly. No incident of
any kind were reported during the celebrations, possibly
a mile-stone in its own right.
Inside the assembly Hall are 33 clay sculptures of the
Mandala, images suspended from the wall, dating to 1042
AD when a major restoration took place at Tabo. The walls
itself are decorated from floor to ceiling with vibrant
paintings depicting Bodhisatvas, images of the Buddha,
protectors and inscriptions, so varied in sub-stance that
it has taken years for the researchers to unravel only a
portion of the hidden mysteries of the old temple. Behind
the main chamber is the cella and the ambulatory. The
five sculptures referred in as the cella group, although
in the same technique as the Mandala sculpture, are in a
totally different style. The rather less harmonious and
more provincial style of these figures are distinct from
the gracious Kashmiri style of the Mandala figures. In
the ambulatory going around and behind the cella, there
are extensive areas of mural painting which date to the
founding of the Monastery in 996 AD, as well as later
renovations that took place down the ages. Till the ASI
created a skylight recently for most of its thousand
years the ambulatory and the cella was shrouded in a
cloak of darkness.
By July 3, the celebration had come to an end. The
thousands who had converged in this small village had all
gone drifting back to their normal lives. The monks had
returned to their meditation. The villagers had returned
to their daily chores. The prayer flags on house tops
swayed in the gentle breeze. the clay figures inside the
Gtsug-lag-khang held their positions, as they had always
done. Through the rear view of our car it seemed that the
ancient Monastery of Tabo if waiting. Waiting in time,
secure in its knowledge of complete solitude. Waiting
probably for the completion of another cycle of a
thousand years.
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