The Citadel of Tsaparang, Guge | Photos of Tibet

A photograph of the ancient citadel of Tsaparang with mountain top palace, Guge, Western Tibet.

Our destination in 2014 as we crossed Western Tibet was the mysterious ancient citadel of Tsaparang. The photo shows the view as we arrived: the ruins of a vertical city built on a ridge and mountaintop - once the capital of Guge and the centre of the second spreading of Buddhism in Tibet that began in the 12th Century.

There are three temples on the lower slopes and the ruins of the King's Palace on the summit. To reach these you climb through vertical tunnels in the mountain itself.

After a seige following a family dispute with the king of Ladakh in the 17th Century, the Royal family of Tsaparang were killed and Tsaparang was deserted. Lama Govinda who came here in 1949 declared the artworks to be as fine as anything in Tibet even after centuries of neglect. You can read his account in the Way of the White Clouds - and my account in Beyond Kailash: Through Western Tibet to Tsaparang.

Between Lama Govinda's visit and ours all of the Buddha statues and much of the art was destroyed in China's Cultural Revolution.

Landscape format.

A guide to approx sizes
A3: image size 40x28cm
A2: image size 59x40cm

50x70cm: image size 50x70cm

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