National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

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the people said was of the same date as the castle, but which appeared to me much older from the style of building, also two or three " step mchod-rten," but no ladder in the

middle of sides (like those of the Alchi-rakhar-gog carvings). One old mchod-rien of the ordinary type, now fast falling to pieces, had a small door at either end, some three feet high, and the interior was very finely decorated with paintings of Buddha's temptation, his subduing demons, etc. The decorations of the ceiling were in relievo. It is by far the finest piece of mchod-rten decoration I have seen yet. The only rock carving I could find was a migmang (kind of chessboard) on a boulder, but no inscriptions on rocks at all."

As we see, Dr. Shawe himself did not feel satisfied with the people's statement that the town of Nyoma was built by bDe-skyong-rnam-rgyal. He found distinct signs of an earlier origin. The old types of mchod-rten especially, and the fact that one of them was beautifully decorated inside, point to an age of at least 900 to 1,000 years. I went to examine the temple which occupies the highest position in the now deserted town on the rock and belongs to the 'aBrug-pa order of monks. Since Dr. Shawe had been told that the temple was built in the 18th century, the monks had altered their opinion, and I was told that it dated from the days of King Seng-ge-rnam-rgyal (c. 1600). I was, however, not satisfied with an assertion which possibly had no real foundation and asked the monks to show me proof of this assertion. Then they brought me a book which had been dedicated to the monastery by Seng-ge-rnam-rgyal and actually contained a dedication sheet on which the names of the king and his illustrious queen bSkal-bzang could be distinctly read. Of course, a document like that goes to prove only that Senga ge-rnam-rgyal took a certain interest in the settlement, and possibly renovated the temple. It is difficult to believe that there was nothing before Seng-ge-rnam-rgyal's days in a pleasant valley like Nyoma, and ancient mchod-rten distinctly point to a time, earlier than this king. One of the many painted flags (thang-ka) in this temple, particularly interested me, for it not only contained an idealised portrait of Seng-ge-rnamrgyal's friend, the great lama sTag-thsang-ras-pa, but also scenes of the royal household 300 years ago. I wanted by all means to have it photographed, and as Pindi Lal was not well enough to climb up to this temple above the present town, 1 asked permission to take the picture down to the bungalow. This request was not granted, until I had interviewed a high lama of Henis who was touring in the district.

On this picture we see a number of whitewashed houses, ont or two stories high. They look exactly like the present Ladakhi houses and also have a red or black band

round the roof, just as the present monasteries have. Then we see the inside of the

royal kitchen with five or six people busy at work, and the male and female members of the royal family in separate rooms. Below the houses are painted two processions which

approach the buildings from right and left. The men on the right hand side are riding

on mules or rkyangs, and those on the left are walking, carrying presents, perhaps tribute. The chief value of the picture lies in the fact that the costumes of those times are painted

so well. Seng-ge-rnam-rgyal is the king who is credited by popular tradition with the introduction of the Ladakhi type of dress, as it remained unchanged down to the time