Tibetan Pilgrimage Guides to the Sacred Places of the Kathmandu Valley: Some Recent Discoveries

04.06.2004 15:00 - 17:00

Hubert Decleer | Universität Wien / School of International Training Brattleboro & Kathmandu

 

The work by the Fourth Khamtrul incarnation, Tendzin Chokyi Nyima (1730-1780), under the title "Nectar for Snow-Covered Ears", was at the time the most complete guide to the sacred spots of the Kathmandu Valley. Its author took his clues about various dubious explanations of these sacred sites (as found in earlier Guides), and about their most likely corrections, from his teacher and friend, the Eighth Situ incarnation, Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne (1700-1774), meanwhile available in the latter's voluminous "Autobiography and Diaries". Recent discoveries related to the Tibetan pilgrimage literature for the Kathmandu Valley, however, have mostly been made on the basis of related textual sources that have become available since 1973, as well as on a limited amount of fieldwork. Four or five recent discoveries will be presented in some detail.

Organiser:
ISTB