Over one thousand years old, the monastery complex of Tabo and its exquisitely preserved works of art provide a wealth of marvellous pictures. The richly illustrated volume reproduces the beauty of these works of art, while the accompanying text presents the most recent research findings. The monastery of Tabo is located in the north-Indian region of the Himalayas. Founded in 996 AD, it is the oldest temple complex in the Tibetan cultural area to have been preserved in its original state. Tabo s main temple, the Temple of the Enlightened Gods, is a unique gesamtkunstwerk. Sculptures and paintings dating back one thousand years that were executed in an incomparably delicate style, probably by Indian artists, together form a sort of horizontal walkable mandala. Special permission was granted to Peter van Ham so that he could take photographs of the temple s halls, which are not accessible to the public. The volume presents these breath-taking photographs and describes in detail the entire gamut of Tibetan artistic styles. Tabo Monastery, located in the North-Indian Himalayan region of Spiti (Himachal Pradesh) and founded in 996 CE, is the most ancient temple-site of the entire Tibetan cultural realm, which has been preserved unaltered in its original state. Simple adobe buildings erected on level ground were designated as a university and served as a meeting place of saints and scholars during the so-called Second Diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet, initiated by the kings of Western Tibet, the Great Translator Rinchen Sangpo and the Indian master Atisha. From that Golden Period, Tabo s main temple, the Temple of Enlightened Gods, in its interior conserves an exceptional comprehensive artwork, a masterpiece of Indo-Tibetan art: An arrangement of a thousand year-old sculptures and paintings, produced presumably by Indian artists in incomparably fine and beautiful style, forms a unique horizontal mandala, which till today serves as a means for the achievement of highest enlightenment. Furthermore, Tabo offers the rare opportunity to experience and study the entire array of Tibetan art forms and styles, as in its other temples, beautiful and unique masterpieces, especially from the Second Period of West Tibetan art (15th/16th century), but also of later periods, have been preserved, which are also described in detail in this volume. For this book, the Archaeological Survey of India has granted an only rarely given permission to the author and photographer Peter van Ham to document the otherwise forbidden place. The result is a stunning visual review of outstanding beauty combined with a concise text, which comprises the latest in research on the sanctuary of Tabo, that will appeal to a wide range of readers, be they art historians, tibetologists or travellers."

A fresh look at a unique masterpiece of Indo-Tibetan art. Over one thousand years old, the Buddhist monastery complex of Tabo and its exquisitely preserved works of art rank among the most fascinating cultural and historical treasures of mankind. The new edition of this richly illustrated volume shows the beauty of these legendary sanctuaries for the first time in the highest digital resolution and describes in detail the entire gamut of Western Tibetan artistic styles. The monastery of Tabo, located in the northern Indian Himalayan region and founded in 996 AD, is the oldest temple complex in the Tibetan cultural area that has been preserved in its original state. Tabo's main temple, the Temple of the Enlightened Gods, is a unique work of art: one-thousand-year-old sculptures and paintings, created in an incomparably fine style by Indian and Western Tibetan artists, together form a walk-in, horizontal mandala. With special permission, Peter van Ham was able to spend decades photographing the temple halls, which are otherwise off-limits to cameras. Most recently, he was able to capture them in the world's highest digital resolution. With four hundred images--150 of them new to this edition--the book provides detailed background information and the latest research findings on the spectacular yet endangered sanctuary.

The world-famous Buddhist monastery of Alchi in Ladakh, India, is the best-preserved temple complex in the Himalayas. Proposed for inclusion in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list in 1998, the monastery's artworks reveal influences from India and Tibet across Central Asia and Iran, even as far back as Ancient Greece. Housing thousands of rare paintings and sculptures from the area dating back to the eleventh century, it provides fascinating insight into the spiritual and secular life of medieval Kashmir and Western Tibet. The Dalai Lama has authorized the publication of images of these Buddhist masterpieces for the first and only time. Beautifully photographed by Peter van Ham, the images in this volume capture the miniaturesque delicacy and broad range of color of these precious works. With essays by renowned Tibetologist Amy Heller, and a foreward by His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself, this once-in-a-lifetime volume offers fascinating new insights--including a large panorama double gate fold--into one of the most beautiful monasteries in the Himalayas.

This Book Is A Comprehensive Study Of The Rise And Development Of Buddhism In A Broader Spatio-Temporal Context Of The Western Trans-Himalayan Rergion Since Its Nascent Days In India.

"The monastery of Tabo lies in northern India in the secluded Spiti valley, which was at one time part of the ancient kingdom of Western Tibet. The oldest continuously operating Buddhist enclave in India and the Himalayas, Tabo's historical role as an intermediary between India and Tibet and the extraordinary beauty of its frescoes make it a place of unique importance. The main temple of Tabo is one of the masterpieces of Indian and Tibetan art. Built in 996 and renovated in 1042, the temple is remarkable not only for the exceptional quality of its sculpture and the decorative paintings that cover every surface, but also for the numerous portraits of royal patrons, members of the local nobility, and ecclesiastical figures, all identified by name. Tabo played a pivotal role in the history of Buddhism in the tenth and eleventh centuries, when Tibetan monks and Indian pandits studied together and translated scripture from Sanskrit into Tibetan. This meeting of trans-Himalayan cultures, and the devotions of their faithful, are vividly preserved in the magnificent paintings and sculptures that adorn the original temple and the monastery that surrounds it."--Amazon.