IDNO

P.97051.WIL

Description

On Cech’s list describing prints:
“(58-135 where taken in Lhasa.)
115. “Dre-pung Monastery 7.9.33”
115k. “Temple building 7.9.33”. Roof decorations (see GTH: roof decorations) include banners of victory (rgyal-mtshan), and the wheel of law (‘khor-lo) flanked by two deer symbolic of the deer park where the Buddha preached his first sermon.
MPOW: 121.” [printed text]
For more information see Cech’s list.

A temple in the Drepung monastery. There is a large pillared entrance, with steps leading up to it, and a cloth awning hanging from the top. A row of plants in pots are arranged along the top step. On the roof of the building two large beaten copper Victory banners can be seen, and in the center there is a wheel of law (‘khor-lo) flanked by two deer symbolic of the deer park at Sarnath where the Buddha preached his first sermon.

Place

C Asia; Tibet; Drepung

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

Williamson, Frederick

Collector / Expedition

Date

7 September 1933

Collection Name

Williamson Collection

Source

Williamson, Margaret

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Transcription: The transcription of this album by Mark Turin and Sara Shneiderman was carried out with reference to Krystina Cech’s catalogue list alone. Alex Nadin has since revised their cataloguing by systematically matching their records to the images. Margaret Williamson’s handwritten captions for photographs have now been transcribed into the Inscription field, and Cech’s descriptions appear in the Description field. Correct entries for Place, Named Person and Other Nos. have also been entered by Alex Nadin. [Sudeshna Guha 29/10/2002]

Place: Drepung (‘Bras-spungs) monastery is situated about 8km west of Lhasa. Drepung literally means ‘rice mound’, the Tibetan translation of ‘Dhanyakataka’, the Sanskrit of the magnificent stupas in south India where the Buddha is said to have taught the Kalachakra tantra. It was founded in 1416 [by Jamyang Choje Tashi Palden (1397-1449)] and soon grew into the largest of all Gelugpa monasteries having more than 7000 monks. [Source: Cech’s list, CJ 1/9/2008]

Place: “F Spencer Chapman writes about Drepung monastery in Lhasa: The Holy City, 1938, London:Chatto and Windus, p. 195, “Drepung is supposed to house 7700 monks, but sometimes as many as 10,000 live there. The name Dre-pung literally means 'the pile of rice', which is what the monastery resembles as its tiers of whitewashed buildings lie one behind the other on a sloping site at the head of a wedge-shaped valley. Looked at from a distance Drepung resembles a large fortified city rather than a single monastery, and it is only when one climbs the steep mountain slopes behind it and looks down on to its innumerable ramifications that one gets a true idea of its immense size. Looked at from below it is foreshortened and many of the buildings are dwarfed or hidden." [Source: http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1999.23.1.17.1.html, CJ 1/9/2008]

Context: The Banner of Victory (rgyal-mtshan) is a cylindrical layered banner and is a Buddhist object symbolizing victory over ignorance and death. The Victory Banner was traditionally carried in battle on the back of chariots, with great warriors would often having their own emblems.
“In early Buddhism, the banner represented Buddha's victorious enlightenment with his overcoming the armies of Mara (hindrances and defilements). Legend says the banner was placed on the summit of Mt Meru, symbolizing Buddha's victory over the entire universe. In Tibetan Buddhism, the banner represents eleven methods of overcoming Mara: the development of knowledge, wisdom, compassion, meditation, and ethical vows; taking refuge in the Buddha; abandoning false views; generating spiritual aspiration, skillful means, and selflessness; and the unity of the three sam¨¢dhis of emptiness, formlessness, and desirelessness.” [Source: Tibet Geographic Magazine, http://en.tibettour.com.cn/geography/200412005122090042.htm, JD 19/8/2008]

Context: The Wheel of Law (‘Khor-lo) “... is an ancient Indian symbol of creation, sovereignty, protection, and the sun. The six-spoke wheel was associated with Vishnu and was known as the Sudarshana Chakra. The wheel represents motion, continuity, and change, forever moving onwards like the circular wheel of the heavens. Buddhism adopted the wheel as a symbol of the Buddha's teachings and his first discourse at the Deer Park in Sarnath is known as "the first turning of the wheel of dharma." In Tibetan Buddhism, it is understood as "the wheel of transformation" or spiritual change. The hub of the wheel symbolizes moral discipline, and the eight spokes represent analytical insight via rim-meditative concentration. The eight spokes point to the eight directions and symbolize the Buddha's Noble Eightfold Path: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, mindfulness, and concentration. [Source: Tibet Geographic Magazine,
http://en.tibettour.com.cn/geography/200412005122090042.htm, CJ 2/9/2008]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Caspian James 1/9/2008]