Guge Kingdom attractions

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

Fans of inner Asian art should visit Dungkhar (4250m) for its 800-year-old Kashmiri-Central Asian style wall paintings. There are three main caves in a side valley before the main village, of which the best preserve…

Once the main building in the Thöling complex, Yeshe Ö’s Mandala Chapel was also known as the Golden Chapel. All the images have been destroyed but the four chörtens remain along with a few remaining torsos, disembo…

The entry to this side chapel is marked by a finely carved deodar (cedar) door frame that originated in India. Inside are vibrant 15th- and 16th-century murals, somewhat affected by water damage though mostly restor…