Gyantse sits in a wide valley about 250 kilometres southwest of Lhasa, on the road to Shigatse. Its monastery, Pelkor Chode, was founded in 1418 and is unusual because it was built as a home for several different schools of Tibetan Buddhism - Sakya, Kadam and Gelug - rather than one, and the different sects had their own colleges within the same walls. That pluralism is why the site is significant, and it shows in the variety of the painting and the statuary.
The Kumbum
The centrepiece is the Kumbum, a large stupa completed in 1427. It is about thirty metres high and arranged in nine levels, with more than a hundred chapels opening off the galleries as you climb, each with murals, statues and sometimes its own guardian figures. The name means ten thousand images, and the count of painted and sculpted figures inside is estimated in that range. You walk up through the levels on internal stairs and terraces, and the walls at each turn are covered floor to ceiling in painting of real quality. Give it an hour - it is one of the finest ensembles of fifteenth-century Tibetan art anywhere.
The monastery and the fort
Pelkor Chode's own assembly halls and courtyards are worth an hour after the Kumbum, with a large main hall, murals and an impressive collection of religious objects. Above the town stands the old Gyantse fort, known as the Gyantse Dzong, on a rock outcrop with walls and a chapel; the climb takes thirty to forty minutes and gives a clear view over the valley and the monastery roofs.
Practical information
Pelkor Chode is open daily with an admission fee covering the monastery and the Kumbum, and photography inside the chapels is generally not permitted. Gyantse is a comfortable overnight stop between Lhasa and Shigatse, with several hotels, and the drive from Lhasa over the Gampa La pass past Yamdrok Lake takes about five hours. Foreign visitors need the standard Tibet Travel Permit and the additional permit for travel outside Lhasa, arranged in advance by a licensed agency.
Why go out of your way
Lhasa's monasteries are grander, but Gyantse's Kumbum concentrates more painting and sculpture per square metre than anywhere else in the region, and it is usually far less crowded. For anyone interested in Tibetan art rather than Tibetan politics, it is often the highlight of the whole trip.
