Gyantse

Gyantse stands in the fertile Nyang valley of Tsang, beneath a fortress that rises above the town. Its great monastic complex of Pelkhor Chöde is famed for the Kumbum, a many-storied chorten filled with chapels, paintings and images. Built under the patronage of Gyantse's rulers, the monument gathers the Buddhist cosmos into a structure that pilgrims ascend level by level.

In the fifteenth century the prince Rabten Kunzang Phak sponsored the main temple of Pelkhor Chöde, built between about 1418 and 1428. The Kumbum followed, its construction spanning roughly 1427 to 1442. Its numerous chapels contain a rich array of painted deities and religious scenes, while monasteries of different Tibetan traditions shared the wider walled precinct. Gyantse's fortress and temples bear witness to the ambitions of a local ruling house whose patronage made the town a major centre of religious art.