PHYANG
Phyang
gompa is also known in Ladakhi as the Gouon gompa, meaning "blue peak"
for it is beautifully situated on a hilltop above the small village of
Chhiwang, about 22 km west of Leh. The monastery was built by King
Lkra-Shis-Namgyal, founder of the Namgyal dynasty in 1500 after defeating
the last of the Lha-Chen kings. Lkra-Shis-Namgyal ruled from 1500 to 1532
and during his reign, filled the monastery with beautiful statues, thankas
and copies of the Kandshur (the translated word of the Buddha) and the
Thandshur (the 225 volume commentary on the Kandshur compiled by the
religious teacher Du-ston, 1290 to 1364 AD). These extremely valuable texts
are still at Phyang gompa.
Phyang is a monastery of the red-hat
sect of Buddhism with over 100 lamas. The head lama studied Buddhist
philosophy at a university near Lhasa for eight years and had much of the
gompa renovated in 1975. After ascending several small flights of stairs,
one reaches the rather small main courtyard with its tall flag pole in the
center. The Dukhang or main assembly hall is off this courtyard up another
small flight of steps. The verandah in front of the Dukhang has been
recently painted with beautiful murals of the Guardians of the Four
Directions.
Entering the Dukhang one immediately notices the
glassed-in sanctuary opposite the entrance. The central statue is Amitabha
(the Boundless Light Buddha or Buddha of the West) and to the left are
statues of a large Avalokitesvara with 1,000 arms, which symbolize his
enormous strength, and various lamas of the red-hat sect. To the right of
the central statue are images of Tilopa (a founder of the red-hat sect) and
Maitreya. In the background the statues portray (from the left) Sakyamuni
(the Historical Buddha), Vairocana (the Teaching Buddha) and Maitreya. The
walls of the Dukhang are decorated with murals of Vajradhara (a Buddha
manifestation), the Five Buddhas (Vairocana and the Supreme Buddhas of the
Four Directions) and small paintings of the Thousand Buddhas in the
background. Hanging on the columns on the right side of the Dukhang is an
enormous rolled-up thanka. This thanka, embroidered with depictions of all
the guardian divinities, is unfurled during the Phyang festival, usually in
August, and is four stories high when completely unrolled.
After
exiting the Dukhang turn to the left and walk along the pathway until you
reach the next left turn, to the Gonkhang. This temple is dedicated to
Mahakala the "Great and Black One", the fiercest guardian divinity
in the Buddhist pantheon of gods. The statues at the front of the temple are
of Mahakala flanked by four statues of his various manifestations. The faces
of these statues are covered with cloth and only displayed to the public
once a year during the Phyang festival. The pillars in this temple are
partially covered with tiger hides that were presented by an official of
Kind Jamying Namgyal to Phyang gompa in 1595. Also hanging from the pillars
in this temple are ancient Mongolian armaments, including armour, shields
and helmets. These objects were taken from Mongolian soldiers who were
killed in a battle on the site the gompa now occupies. For no discernible
reason, on the right side of the temple is a poorly stuffed Siberian crane,
taken near the Chinese border and over the entry door are two stuffed ibex
heads. The wall murals in the Gokhang depict Mahakala's various and numerous
manifestations. Behind the Mahakala statues are wall murals of Mila Ras-pa,
Sakyamuni, Tilopa, Marpa and Naropa. With the exception of Sakyamuni , these
are all historical personages associated with the founding of the red-hat
sect. The "New" Dukhang was built by Dam-chos Gyur-med, the 31st
and previous incarnation of the present head lama. The verandah to this
Dukhang also has wall murals of the Guardians of the Four Directions. Inside
the Dukhang and directly opposite the entrance is a throne sea reserved for
the head lama. To the right of the throne are stucco images of
Avalokitesvara with four arms and various lamas of the red-hat sect. To the
left of the throne are images of three lamas, the middle one being Kun-dga
Grags-pa, founding lama of Phyang gompa. There is also a small group of
Kashmiri Buddhist bronze statues flanking the throne. These date from the
14th century at the latest. The side walls of the Dukhang contain murals of
Sakyamuni flanked by his two chief disciples and images of various Buddhas
with the eight different hand gestures: that of blessing, teaching, etc. The
entrance walls are decorated with murals of the various guardian divinities.
On the right side of the Dukhang are also two chortens decorated with semi
precious stones. The larger one contains the relics of Dam-chos Gyur-med,
the previous Rimpoche of Phyang and the builder of this temple.
Along the top of the Dukhang is a narrow walkway with mural paintings on three
sides. The two side walls depict guardian divinities. The wall opposite the
entrance shows Jig-sten Gon-po, a holy teacher associated with the red-hat sect
of Tibetan Buddhism, in the center. He is flanked by various other lamas of
the red-hat sect.
Nandadevi 
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