Part 31

From this vantage ground the incarnated Bodhi-sattva looks down on the crowds of pilgrims approaching to worship him, or kneeling at the foot of the hill. The buildings grouped in the vicinity are said to contain 10,000 rooms, for the accommodation of as many monks. Countless are the statues of Buddha, with other idols and images of saints, not to mention obelisks and pyramidal monuments, which meet the eye everywhere. All sacred objects are manufactured out of gold, silver, or copper, according to the wealth of those who have brought them as offerings. Two ascending avenues lead up from Lhāssa to Potala, which are constantly thronged with foreign pilgrims, troops of Lāmas in official vestments, higher Lāmas and courtiers in full uniform. Yet we are told that a solemn religious silence prevails, for the thoughts of all are fixed in meditation.

I have already given an abstract of Mr. Sarat Chandra Dās’ narrative of his visit to Potala, and his presentation to the Dalai Lāma on June 10, 1882 (see p. 331 of these Lectures). I now add an account of Mr. Thomas Manning’s interview with the Dalai Lāma on December 17, 1811. No European, except Mr. Manning[232], has ever set eyes on a Dalai Lāma, and no other Englishman has ever seen Lhāssa (for M. Huc was misinformed; Moorcroft was never there):—

We rode to the foot of the mountain on which the palace is built, or out of which, rather, it seems to grow; but having ascended a few paces to a platform, were obliged to dismount. From here to the hall where the Grand Lāma receives visitors is a long and tedious ascent. It consists of about four hundred steps, partly stone steps in the rocky mountain, and the rest mere ladders from story to story in the palace. Besides this, from interval to interval along the mountain, wherever the ascent is easy, there are stretches interspersed, where the path continues for several paces together without steps. At length we arrived at the large platform on which is built the hall of reception. There we rested awhile, arranged the presents, and conferred with the Lāma’s Chinese interpreter.

The Tí-mu-fu was in the hall with the Grand Lāma. I was not informed of this until I entered, which occasioned me some confusion. I did not know how much ceremony to go through with one, before I began with the other. I made the due obeisance, touching the ground three times with my head to the Grand Lāma, and once to the Tí-mu-fu. I presented my gifts, delivering the coin and the handsome silk scarf with my own hands into the hands of the Grand Lāma. I then took off my hat, and humbly gave him my clean-shaven head to lay his hands upon. The ceremony of presentation being over, the Munshī and I sat down on two cushions not far from the Lāma’s throne, and had tea brought to us. It was most excellent, and I meant to have emptied the cup, but it was whipped away suddenly, before I was aware of it. The Lāma’s beautiful and interesting face and manner engrossed almost all my attention. He was at that time about seven years old; and had the simple and unaffected manners of a well-educated princely child. His face was, I thought, poetically and affectingly beautiful. He was of a gay and cheerful disposition; his beautiful mouth perpetually unbending into a graceful smile, which illuminated his whole countenance. Sometimes, particularly when he had looked at me, his smile approached to a gentle laugh. No doubt my grim beard and spectacles somewhat excited his risibility. He inquired whether I had not met with molestation and difficulties on the road; to which I promptly returned the proper answer. A present of dried fruit was brought and set before me, and then we withdrew. (Mr. Clements Markham’s Tibet, p. 264, abridged.)

As to the monasteries grouped around this Vatican of Lāmistic Buddhism, we may make special mention of four, noting a few particulars.

To begin with the oldest monastery, that of _Lā brang_, said to mean ‘abode of Lāmas[233],’ which was built by King Srong Tsan Gampo (see p. 271 of this volume), and founded in the seventh century. This ancient institution is in the very centre of Lhāssa, and is regarded as the centre of the whole country. All the main roads of Tibet converge towards it. Doubtless the area of the monastery has been enlarged by occasional additions in the course of one thousand years, but not since it was partly rebuilt and restored in the seventeenth century. Its magnificent temple (Cho Khang) is the St. Peter’s of Lāmism (see p. 459).

The immense number of monks inhabiting this monastery is proved by the fact that a huge cauldron is shown which holds more than 1200 gallons of tea for the Lāmas who perform the daily services.

The other three monasteries near Potala and Lā brang, according to Koeppen, are devoted to the study of magic and the art of exorcising. We may take them in the following order:—

First, at a short distance north of Lā brang, stands the monastery _Ramoćhe_, ‘the great enclosure,’ which was the other ancient monastery built by Srong Tsan Gampo, or by one of his wives (see p. 271). It is now a great school of exorcism, and has a celebrated temple (see pp. 462, 463), containing the celebrated image of the Buddha, and also one of Nanda, Gautama’s step-brother and disciple. Those who study here may gain the decree of ‘Doctor of Magic.’

Next comes the monastery of _Moru_ (or Muru or Meru), close to the city. It is noted for its order and cleanliness, and for its printing-press. Like the last, it contains a school for instruction in magic.

Then, at a short distance east of Lā brang (according to Koeppen), is the monastery of _Gar Ma Khian_—the mother monastery of soothsayers, fortune-tellers, and exorcisers (Ćhos-kyong, see p. 266).

Let us next turn to the three ancient ‘mother-monasteries’ of the Yellow sect—Galdan, Sera, and Dapung.

_Galdan_ (_or Gahdan_), the ‘heaven of contented beings’ (Sanskṛit Tushita, see pp. 207, 213)—the oldest monastery of the Yellow sect—is situated on the hill of the same name, about thirty miles[234] east of Lhāssa. As already stated (pp. 278, 294), it was founded by Tsong Khapa A.D. 1409. It is three-quarters of a mile in circumference, and has 3300 monks.

_Sera_, ‘the golden,’ founded by Tsong Khapa (p. 278), or by one of his disciples immediately after his death, lies about three miles north of Lhāssa, on a declivity of a hill, over which passes the road leading to Mongolia. It has 5500 monks, and numerous temples, towers, and houses curving round like an amphitheatre. On the hills above the town are rows of cells of contemplative monks and recluses.

Sera has three great temples several stories high, the halls of which are richly gilded. In one temple the staff of Gautama Buddha is preserved.

_Dapung_ (variously Dapuṅ, Depung, Debung, Debang, Brepung, Brebung, Prebung), ‘rice-heap,’ so called from the shape of the hill, was also founded by Tsong Khapa three years before Sera, and is situated four miles west of the city of Lhāssa. It has 7700 monks. The great temple in the middle is surrounded by four small ones. One of these four belongs to the exorcisers and professors of magical arts, of whom there are nearly three hundred. In the centre of the monastery is a residence for the Dalai Lāma, when he pays his annual visit. Numbers of foreigners study here, especially Mongolians. In front of the monastery stands a Stūpa, which contains the bones of the fourth Dalai Lāma, Jon Tan Yam Thso, who was of a Mongolian family.

Mr. Edgar (Report, p. 41) mentions four other monasteries of the Yellow sect around Lhāssa, _Chemiling_, _Tengiling_, _Chechuling_, and _Kenduling_[235]. The last is said to be the residence of the Regent (p. 286 of these Lectures). Sarat Chandra Dās gives a long list of monasteries, some containing 5000 monks (e.g. Rnam rgyal grvatsang, Gongdkar rDorjegdan, etc.) and some 7000.

We have next to describe the great monastery of the second Grand Lāma of Tibetan Buddhism—I mean that at _Tashi Lunpo_, also belonging to the Yellow sect.

_Tashi Lunpo_, near _Shigatse_, is the seat of government of the Tashi Lāma or Panchen Lāma (see p. 284 of these Lectures), and the second metropolis of Lāmistic Buddhism. Our knowledge of this celebrated place is derived from the record of the journeys of Mr. Bogle and Captain Turner, as well as from the narratives of Indian explorers.

According to some of these authorities, Tashi Lunpo is situated about 140 English miles in a nearly westerly direction from Lhāssa. It is built on a level plain enclosed on all sides by rocky hills, through which a small river (the Painam) rushes into the great Tsanpo (Brahma-putra). The monastery is said to have been built by the first Dalai Lāma, Gedun grub pa, in 1445 (see p. 291 of these Lectures), though the final seat of the Dalai Lāmas was at Lhāssa.

According to Koeppen four roads meet at Tashi Lunpo; one leading to Lhāssa, one to Ladāk, one to Nepāl, and one to Bhutān.

Near at hand, on the north-east side of the Tashi Lunpo monastery, on a rocky eminence protecting it from the cold winds, stands the fort of Shigatse (also written Shigatze), which, with its surrounding houses, forms the capital of the province of Tsang, just as Lhāssa constitutes that of the province of U.

Our fellow countryman, Mr. Bogle, commissioned by Warren Hastings to open communications between Bengal and Tibet, arrived at Tashi Lunpo in 1774. His description of it is to the following effect. I give it abbreviated (from Mr. Clements Markham’s Tibet):—

We passed by the foot of Tashi Lunpo, which is built on the lower declivity of a steep hill. The roof of the palace is all of copper-gilt. The building is of dark-coloured brick. The houses of the town rise one above another. Four churches with gilt ornaments are mixed with them. Altogether the town presents a princely appearance. Many of the courts are spacious, flagged with stone, and have galleries running round them. The alleys, which are likewise paved, are narrow. The palace is appropriated to the Lāma and his officers, to temples, granaries, warehouses, etc. The rest of the town is entirely inhabited by priests, who are in number about four thousand.

The following is the substance of Mr. Bogle’s account of his interview with the Tashi Lāma on November 8, 1774 (abbreviated from Markham’s Tibet):—

In the afternoon I had my first audience of the Tashi Lāma. He is about forty years of age, of low stature, and inclining to be fat. His complexion is fairer than that of most Tibetans, and his arms are as white as those of a European; his hair, which is jet black, is cut very short; his eyes are small and black. The expression of his countenance is smiling and good-humoured. He was upon his throne, formed of wood carved and gilt, with some cushions above it, upon which he sat with his legs folded under him. He was dressed in a mitre-shaped cap of yellow broadcloth, with long bars lined with red satin, a yellow cloth jacket without sleeves, and a satin mantle of the same colour thrown over his shoulders. On one side of him stood his physician, with a bundle of perfumed sandal-wood rods burning in his hand; on the other stood his cup-bearer. I laid the Governor’s presents before him, delivering the letter and the pearl necklace into his own hands, together with a white handkerchief on my own part, according to the custom of the country. He received me in the most engaging manner. I was seated on a high stool covered with a carpet. Plates of boiled mutton, boiled rice, dried fruits, sweetmeats, sugar, bundles of tea, dried sheep’s carcases, etc., were set before me and my companion, Mr. Hamilton. The Lāma drank two or three dishes of tea with us, but without saying any grace, asked us once or twice to eat, and on our retiring threw white handkerchiefs over our necks. After two or three visits, he used to receive me without any ceremony, his head uncovered, and dressed only in the large red petticoat worn by all full monks, red boots, a yellow cloth vest, with his arms bare, and a piece of coarse yellow cloth thrown across his shoulders. He sat sometimes in a chair, sometimes on a bench covered with tiger-skins, and nobody but the cup-bearer present. Sometimes he would walk with me about the room, explain the pictures, or make some remarks upon the colour of my eyes, etc. For, although venerated as God’s vicegerent through all the eastern countries of Asia, and endowed with a portion of omniscience and with many other divine attributes, he throws aside in conversation all the awful part of his character, accommodates himself to the weakness of mortals, endeavours to make himself loved rather than feared, and behaves with the greatest affability to everybody, particularly to strangers.

In 1783, when Tashi Lunpo was visited by Captain Turner, the monastery consisted of 400 houses, many of which were built of stone and marble, and at least two stories high. They contained about 3700 monks (now 3800). Around the houses were gilded temples, pinnacles, pyramidal monuments (Stūpas), and above all the palace of the Tashi Lāma, forming a striking spectacle.

Captain Turner had a remarkable interview with the Grand Lāma at the neighbouring monastery of Terpaling, on December 4, 1783. He found the princely child, then aged eighteen months, seated on a throne, with his father and mother standing on the left hand. Having been informed that, although unable to speak, he could understand, Captain Turner intimated to him ‘that the Governor-General, on receiving news of his decease, had been overwhelmed with sorrow, and continued to lament his absence from the world until the cloud was dispelled by his re-appearance. The Governor hoped that he might long continue to illumine the world by his presence.’

The infant looked steadfastly at the British envoy, and appeared to be listening to his words with deep attention, while he repeatedly nodded his head, as if he understood every syllable. He was silent and sedate, and conducted himself with astonishing dignity. Captain Turner thought him one of the handsomest children he had ever seen. It seems that he grew up to be an able and devout ruler, gratifying the Tibetans by his presence for many years, and living to a good old age.

Tashi Lunpo was not visited by the French missionaries, but M. Huc informs us (ii. 157) that in 1846 the then Panchen Lāma was 60 years of age, and still vigorous. M. Huc was told that he was of Indian origin, and that he had declared of himself that his first incarnation had taken place in India some thousands of years before.

Mr. Sarat Chandra Dās, from whose notes of a journey in Tibet so many extracts have been already given, writes thus of his arrival at Tashi Lunpo on the 9th of December, 1881 (the extract is not given literally, and is abbreviated):—

In the afternoon we arrived at Tashi Lunpo. In front of the western entrance I noticed two Chortens (that is, ‘Ćaityas or Stūpas,’ see p. 504 of these Lectures), one very large, with a gilt spire, and the other small. On entering the grand monastery, I mustered all my knowledge of Buddhist ceremonies and monkish etiquette, that I might not be criticised by the passing monks as one unacquainted with the duties of the wearers of the sacred costume. I walked slowly and with gravity, but secretly observing everything around me. There were a few yaks under the charge of three or four herdsmen, waiting probably for the return of some of their number from within the monastery. Some monks, riding on mules, passed us from north to south. A few parties with heavy grain packages on their backs were entering the monastery along with us. The rays of the sun, now slanting on the gilded spires of houses and tombs in the monastery, presented a very magnificent view to the eye.

While residing in the monastery I saw people busily engaged in out-door work, such as collecting fuel and tending cattle. In fact, this was the busiest part of the year, when the Tibetans remain on the move for the purpose of buying and selling, at a time when the intensely cold winds wither up the vegetation, freeze the streams, harden the soil, and dry up the skin. The monks, like the lay-people, are remarkable for their habit of early rising. No monk within the walls of the monastery rose later than five in the morning, and the usual time for getting up was four a. m. Those who slept later, without any special cause, were subject to correction. At three in the morning the great trumpet summons all the monks to the religious service in the congregation hall. Whoever fails to attend is punished next morning. No register is kept, yet the officer who superintends the discipline can tell what monk out of two thousand has absented himself on any particular day. I was the only man who slept up to six in the morning. The monks used often to remark that, were I a regular monk of the monastery, the superintendent’s birch would have stript my body of its flesh.

About six miles from Tashi Lunpo, and on the road leading from it in a south-westerly direction towards the monastery of Sakya (see below), is the monastery of _Narthang_, whence issued one of the three copies of the Kanjur (p. 272) brought to Europe by Brian Hodgson.

We have now to notice the two most important monasteries of the Red sect.

First, _Sam ye_ (Sam yas) is on the great river Tsanpo, about forty miles from Lhāssa, in a south-easterly direction. It was the first monastery founded in the eighth century by Padma-sambhava, after King Khri Srong De Tsan’s restoration of Buddhism (pp. 271, 272). It is the metropolitan monastery of the Red-capped monks and Urgyanpa sect. Sam ye was visited by the Indian explorer Nain Singh in 1874, on his final journey to Lhāssa[236], and by Sarat Chandra Dās in 1882. Many of its images are of gold, and it possesses an extensive library. Padma-sambhava was a master of Indian Yoga and magic. He is fabled to have worked many miracles—such as filling empty jars with divine water—at Sam ye. He undertook to expel all evil demons from Tibet, but was opposed by the Bon priests.

The other chief monastery of the Red sect is that of _Sakya_ (Saskya), situated about fifty-five miles from Tashi Lunpo, on the road leading in a south-westerly direction towards Nepāl. It has four great sanctuaries and a celebrated library, and is surrounded by a large town, with temples and houses mostly painted red (p. 273).

It should be noted that in all the large monasteries of Northern Buddhist countries, varied assortments of vestments, robes, costumes, and masks are kept for use in the religious dances, masquerades, and dramatic performances which are a characteristic of Northern Buddhism. Indeed, some of the richer monasteries possess extensive wardrobes of great value, and the monks in their masquerading dances change their costumes very frequently and with great rapidity (see pp. 347-350).

Note, too, that the libraries of such monasteries generally contain large and valuable collections of books. The 108 volumes of the northern canon called Kanjur, with the commentaries called Tanjur (see p. 272), constitute a library in themselves. In addition to these, there are vast numbers of other treatises written to elucidate the mysteries of Northern Buddhism, most of which are still a terra incognita to European scholars. It is well known that in mediæval times some Buddhist monasteries became seats of learning, which might have vied with the most learned Universities established at that period in Europe.

_Temples._

Although temples have been already adverted to as forming an important feature in all monasteries, and often an actual part of the edifice constituting the monastery; it will be worth while to devote a short space of time to their separate consideration.

In the earliest days of Buddhism neither temples nor halls nor rooms for meeting together (saṅgha-gṛiha) were much needed. The monk recited the Law in the open air or in the houses of the laity. It was only when collections of monks crystallized into regularly organized communities, and a kind of congregational recitation of the Law became a part of every day’s duty, that the monks required places of assembly like churches for the performance of religious services.

Such places of meeting were often, like the cells for the monks, excavated out of rocks. And, since relic-shrines called Ćaityas (as well as Stūpas, see p. 504) were erected at the further extremity of the excavated hall, the hall itself was generally called a Ćaitya.

The two principal rock-excavated Ćaitya-halls visited by me were at Elorā (also spelt Ellora and Elurā) and at Kārle (Kārlī). I was also much interested in a smaller one at the Nāsik caves. In their interior structure they are all strikingly like ancient Christian churches.

The _Elorā_ Ćaitya forms one of the series of caves already mentioned (p. 169). It is probably as old as the sixth century of our era, and is of an elongated horse-shoe shape, with a massive ribbed roof arched like that of a cathedral, supported on twenty-eight octagonal columns, over which runs a curious frieze, having on it a carved representation of a buffalo-hunt and boar-chase. There is a nave with side-aisles about 86 feet long by 43 broad. Moreover, over the entrance, supported by two square columns, is a gallery which may have served for a choir or for a band of musicians. A lofty solid Dāgaba, in shape like a massive dome resting on a cylindrical base, stands at the further end of the nave, the aisles being continued round it, so that worshippers may circumambulate the apse. The front of this immense relic-receptacle is hollowed out to receive a colossal sedent figure of the Buddha, about 17 feet high[237], with the Bodhi-tree carved in an arch above his head. Two images of attendants are in an erect attitude, one on each side, but are not so prominent as to draw off the eye from the immense central figure.

The Brāhmans have now appropriated this cave, and dedicated it to Viṡva-karma, the supposed patron deity of builders and carpenters. I was told that carpenters come from all parts of the country to worship the image in its Brāhmanical character. As a token of honour, they smear it with red paint.

I noticed a remarkable sculpture carved out of the rock near this cave-temple. It represented worshippers praying to Padma-pāni to be delivered from fire, from sword, from captivity, from wild beasts, from snakes, and from the skeleton Death who is seen approaching.

The Ćaitya cave at _Kārle_, near Poona, which I visited in 1876, is in all its dimensions and arrangements similar to the Viṡva-karma cave at Elorā, but is still larger, finer, and more imposing. It has a nave and side aisles, terminating in an apse, round which the aisle is carried. The whole is about 124 feet long by 45½ feet broad and 46 feet in height. There are fifteen pillars on each side, separating the nave from the aisles, and under the dome of the apse is the Dāgaba (or Ćaitya)—a two-storied cylindrical drum, surmounted by a Tee ornament (p. 456), on which is a wooden umbrella. There is a cavity in the Dāgaba for relics, though none are now to be found there.

This wonderful excavation at Kārle is one of the most magnificent monuments of ancient Buddhism, and one of the most interesting examples of early Buddhistic art to be seen anywhere in India. And, more than this, it is probably one of the most striking places of congregational worship to be seen anywhere in the world.