A Study on the Murals of the Mangdza Grottoes in Dzada County of Ngari Prefecture in Tibet,China
The Mangdza Grottoes,jointly discovered by Han-Chinese and Tibetan archaeologists in 1994,are the first grottoes of worship with a clear date found in Ngari Prefecture of Tibet.There are relatively well-preserved murals and inscriptions on the construction of the grottoes,and the information reflected in them is an important benchmark for the mural paintings in western Tibet.Due to the limited conditions,in the early days of the discov-ery of the grottoes,the archaeological team only made a simple translation of the inscriptions of the construction of the grottoes,instead of carrying out an in-depth study of the murals and the content of the inscriptions.After having identified and analyzed every mural images in the Mangdza Grottoes,translated and interpreted the con-tent of the inscriptions,the article concludes that the grottoes should have been built in the Year of the Fire Pig(i.e.,1467)during the period of Gugu King Tri·Nangkha Wangpo Puntsok,and the murals'painting style was Ne-pali painting style which did not dominate in Ngari area at that time,and the images of a master and his disci-ples on the east walls belongs to the branch lineage of Gang Yeshe Gyetsen of the Shije Sect.This discovery not only can be used as a reference for dating the mural paintings in western Tibet,but also strongly proves the his-torical fact that the Shije Sect's development in Ngari area in the middle and late 15th century,providing impor-tant evidence for the history of the integration of the religions and art culture of western Tibet.
Mangdza Grottoes in NgariTri·Nangkha Wangpo Puntsokthe Shije SectSeven Buddhas of Medicine
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