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

When we were at Tabo, we met a native painter, who was prepared to renovate
everything. The monks of the monastery had been told that Government would under-
take to pay for necessary repairs in their temples and had asked the Assistant Commis-
sioner to let them have the services of an artist. Accordingly, Mr. Howell, I.C.S., had
ordered a painter to go to Tabo and apply his art to its ancient walls. Fortunately, he
had not yet started work in the principal hall, but in all the other halls, there remained
little which had not been destroyed either by him or by previous artists. I told the man
that he was on no account to touch the walls of the central hall, and when I met Mr.
Howell about a week later in Spiti, he promised to give strict orders that no further
attempt should be made to "improve" this precious relic of the past.
The gSer-gyi-lha-khang is another picture hall to the left of the preceding one
All the pictures in it are modern, and it has an inscription Oṁ maṇi padmê hûṁ in
Laṭhsa characters running round the four walls.
The dKyil-khang is a picture hall behind the preceding. As the roof is not water-
tight, the pictures have suffered much through leakage. The principal picture shows
rNam-par-snang-mdzad, but I could discover no inscriptions in it.
In Lha-khang-dkar-byung, a picture hall behind the preceding, the central picture
shows Buddha with two disciples ; to the left of this group we see Tsong-kha-pa. The
other pictures in this hall can no more be explained. There were no inscriptions.
The picture hall Brom-ston was evidently named after the famous pupil of Atîśa,
called by that name, the founder of the bKa-gdams-pa sect. It is situated on the right
hand side of the Central Hall. It was probably erected in Brom-ston's time, but nothing
remains of ancient relics, besides the interesting door of thang-shing (Deodar wood)
which is decorated with well executed carvings of Buddhist saints. The style of carving
is very different from the present Tibetan style, and is a distinguishing characteristic of
the half Indian Buddhism of the 11th century. This hall is without inscriptions and the
principal picture in it represents Buddha with his two disciples.
The seventh hall called Byams-pa-chen-moï-lha-khang contains a huge stucco statue
of Maitrêya seated on a chair. The top of his head may be 18 to 20 feet above the
ground. This hall contains pictures of Tibetan architecture, perhaps four to five centuries
ago, such as the monastery of Tashilumpo (bKra-shis-lhun-po) and the Potala palace of
Lhasa. But most of the other pictures in this hall are modern restorations or inventions.
Here I noticed a Wartu inscription, probably an Oṁ maṇi padme hûṁ formula. This
hall has also a door carved with Buddhist figures in Indian, not Tibetan style. The
central figure on the lintel, however, is Ganêśa.
Besides these seven principal halls, I must also mention the entrance hall to the prin-
cipal temple, Lha-khang-chen-moï-sgo-khang. It is furnished with paintings, for
instance Tsong-kha-pa with two disciples, one of whom was called mKhas-grub.
The thick darkness of most of the Tibetan temples is a great hindrance to archaeolo-
gical research. My work had to be done in a different way from that done at Pompei or
in the Turkestan deserts. At Pompei and in Turkestan every article which comes to
light, is valuable and has to be taken up, labelled, and put aside. In an inhabited place