The temple ruin of Basgo
This structure preserves the plugholes and halo remains of the
deities of a Vajradhatumandala distributed on the back and the
side walls. As in the Tabo main temple (Klimburg-Salter 1997) the
central Vairocana with the four accompanying goddesses must have
occupied a throne in the centre of the room. On the back wall,
two Jinas are each accompanied
by four attendant Bodhisattvas, and four offering goddesses have
been placed between them, the different deities clearly differentiated
by the respective size of the halos. On the sidewalls, the central
Jina, seated on a more elaborate throne base, is flanked by four
attendant Bodhisattvas with a further two goddesses above and two
gatekeepers below.
Further, the full modelling of the circular halos and their relationship
to the pegs that once held the figures compares best to the mid-11th
century sculptures of the Tabo Assembly Hall. The upper peg holding
the image is places in the centre of the halo, and the lower peg
just at its bottom edge. Below that, two separate pegs once held
the the lotuses of the secondary images. In the case of the Jinas,
six pegs in two parallel rows of three held a more elaborate throne
that included their vehicles. These factors alone, and their comparison
to the constructions found at other western Himalayan sites such
as Tabo, Nako, Lalung and the Alchi group of monuments, make it
possible to attribute this temple ruin to the middle or second
half of the 11th century.
Text: Christian Luczanits
Fotos: Holger Neuwirth / Carmen Auer