Local tradition attributes the Kanji temple to the great translator
Rinchen Zangpo (Rin-chen-bzang-po; 958 - 1055). In fact, the temple
of the Tsuglagkhang (gTsug-lag-khang) in Kanji is approximately
700 years old and more or less contemporary with the Three-storeyed
Temple in Wanla. The Kanji Temple presumably dates from the period
when Kanji was part of a local kingdom ruled from Wanla. The Kanji
Tsuglagkhang lies at the foot of the cliff on which the historic
core of the village stands. It was reported that the temple had
once had an upper roof, removed some 40 years before, when the
roof timbers were reused in the building of the new village gompa.
This upper roof was
a solely protective device, only 3-4ft/1m high, with a south
entrance and a short central pillar.
The temple is owned by Skyapa House (more recently known as Kagarpa),
one of the three principal houses in the historic core of the
village. Kunchok Tinlas, the youngest of three brothers, and
a former monk,
is now responsible for the maintenance of the building.
Although the temple must have been cared for over the centuries
for it to have survived at all,
during the last century it was
neglected when the caretaker family fell on hard times.
The temple is still in use and maintained regularly. However,
the outward drift of the east wall and the weight pressure on
the roof
have caused damages affecting the wall paintings inside the building.
The instability of the walls caused cracks, and water seeping
through the roof soiled and partly destroyed the paintings. In
1999 the
Achi Association chose the Kanji Tsug-lag-kang as its first monument
conservation project because of the temple’s fragile state
of preservation and the quality of its interior decoration.
Text: www.achiassociation.org/Kanji
Fotos: Christian Luczanits /
John Harrison