Top Choice Buddhist Site in Tsaparang
Lhakhang Marpo
This large building was constructed around 1470. The beautiful murals were repainted around 1630, shortly before the fall of the Guge kingdom. The original chapel door, with its concentric frames and carvings of bod…
Top Choice Buddhist Site in Tsaparang
Lhakhang Karpo
The large Lhakhang Karpo holds the oldest paintings at Tsaparang and is probably the most important chapel in all of Ngari. The murals date back to the 15th or 16th century but their influences extend back to 10th-c…
Top Choice Buddhist Site in Tsaparang
Chapel of the Prefect
This small building was a private shrine for Tsaparang’s prefect or regent. The caretaker has named it the ‘Drölma Lhakhang’ after his own sculpture of Drölma (Tara) displayed here. The exuberant wall murals date fr…
Mountain in Darchen & Mt Kailash
Mt Kailash
Sacred Mt Kailash dominates the landscape of western Tibet through both its unique geographical allure and its sacred, metaphysical role as the religious focus of a billion people. Pilgrims show their devotion by wa…
Buddhist Monastery in Lake Manasarovar
Gossul Monastery
South of Chiu Monastery on the shore of Manasarovar, this charming 16th-century monastery has long been part of the Manasarovar kora but can now be reached by road. The three resident monks will show you the tiny me…
Ruins in Guge Kingdom
Tsaparang
The citadel of Tsaparang, 18km west of Zanda, is one of Western Tibet's great hidden gems. Dozens of ruined residences and chapels dot a naturally defended hillside, topped by an underground palace. The Kashmir-infl…
Buddhist Monastery in Zanda & Thöling Monastery
Thöling Monastery
Founded by Rinchen Zangpo in the 10th century, Thöling Monastery was once Ngari’s most important monastic complex. Atisha stayed here for three years during the second diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet. It was still fu…
Buddhist Monastery in Lake Manasarovar
Seralung Monastery
Seralung was built in 1728 to atone for a war against Ladakh. The most revered image is the central Jowo Katasapani; to the right is a statue of Kunchog Thinley Zangpo, the Drigung master who ordered the constructio…
Historic Site in Guge Kingdom
Piyang
The village of Piyang (4180m) lies at the foot of a large ridge honeycombed with thousands of caves and topped with a ruined monastery and two caves with fine murals. It's an fabulously atmospheric place to explore.…
Ruins in Guge Kingdom
Shangshung
Down the Sutlej Valley, 3km past Khyunglung (曲龙, Qūlóng) village, is the extensive ruined cave city that is thought to have been Shangshung, western Tibet's most important early kingdom. The troglodyte caves and bui…