国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

On our way back, from Alchi to Saspola, I visited the site of a ruined castle called
Alchi-mktar-gog, which once guarded the Alchi bridge. I found a number of sherds of
pottery with dark red designs. The pottery was not wheel-made, but rudely shaped with
the hand. As will be remembered, entire specimens of pottery with dark red designs
were found in the ancient graves at Leh. On the boulders round about the ruined castle
are found many inscriptions of officers who once resided here. As I have shown in my
article "Archæology in Western Tibet," most of these epigraphs may be attributed to
the times of King Nyi-ma-mgon, in the 10th century, and his immediate successors. We
took a photo of one of them.

On the 24th September, the principal caravan under Pindi Lal, marched to sNyurla,
by the ordinary road. I myself went to sGyera on the left bank of the Indus, accompan-
ied by Puntsog, my assistant, and Labpa, the Khansaman. From sGyera, I went up
the valley, to visit the famous monastery of Mang-rgyu. Just below it, we passed a very
rudely-executed rock sculpture which represents Mañjuśri. The inscription below it
mentions King Phun-tshogs-rnam-rgyal of the 18th century. It is the latest rock
sculpture in West Tibet which I have seen.

The Mang-rgyu monastery consists of four temples standing in a row, with their
doors towards the East like so many others of the same period.

(1) Byams-chen (or Lôkeśvara).—This temple contains a huge stucco image; but
the present lamas are uncertain whether it represents Maitreya or Avalokiteśvara. I
should think that it represents the former. The door is furnished with ancient wood
carvings of Indian type.

(2) 'aDu-khang (or Thugs-rje-chen-po).—The door of this temple is ornamented with
ancient wood carvings of artistic workmanship, which represent the five Dhyâni-buddhas
with Vairôchana (rNam-par-snang-mdzad) in the centre. We found an ancient and
much effaced inscription in this hall near the door. I ordered it to be copied. Neither
a personal nor a local name has been preserved in it, and it contains hardly a
single coherent sentence. But the preserved fragments afford several instances of
intervening y between m and i, and for this reason I feel inclined to attribute it to the
11th or 12th century. Local tradition connects the Mang-rgyu monastery with Lama
Rin-chen-bzang-po. In another part of the same hall, we found a short fragmentary
inscription giving the name of a forgotten prince, possibly a younger son of one of the
kings of the first dynasty of Ladakh. It reads Jo-no-chung-Khri-stod-'adi, "the youn-
ger prince Khri-stod."

(3) rNam-par-snang-mdzad.—This temple contains a number of stucco images, some
of which reminded me of the thirty-two at Tabo. On the wall outside, there is a long in-
scription recording the renovation of the monastery under King Tise-dbang-rnam-rgyal
II (?). If the present ugly pictures in this and most of the other temples are the result
of that renewal, it was absolute barbarism. The principal hall has lost its ancient door.

(4) 'aJams-chung (or Mañjuśri).—This temple also contains a huge stucco statue,
concerning the identity of which the present lamas do not seem to be agreed. They do
not know whether it represents Mañjuśri or Maitreya. The frescoes of the hall have