Buddhist Architecture in the Western Himalaya

The area of the Western Himalaya covers today parts of Pakistan, India, Tibet and Nepal. Since the beginning of the 10th century  with the rise of the kingdom of Guge this region played an important role regarding the spread of Buddhism from India to Tibet. The monasteries acted as centres of the doctrine, the translation of texts of Mahayanabuddhism from Sanskrit into Tibetan  and the development of Buddhist art - the foundation for of the Tibetan Buddhism was layed. A number of monasteries and temples of this period has been preserved until today, partly in their original shape, partly strongly modified or nearly destroyed.
Despite the big efforts due to the inconvenience of the field work an exactness of the documentations has been received due to the use of contemporary technical proceedings (photogrammetrie, tacheometry) which allow a fundamental scientific analysis of the buildings and their condition.
Within the analysis and interpretation a close cooperation of diverse disciplines is necessary. The aim is to comprehend the monuments in their complex aspects - like their typology, architectural configuration, building technique, wall-paintings, sculptures, iconography and inscriptions - from diverse perspectives.