Densatil Monastery, Tibet

[Jessie Fong]

The Densatil Monastery was founded in the 12th century and situated high in the mountainous central Tibet. It was famed for its art, particularly for its stupas that stood in the worship hall.  Densatil was cruelly demolished during the Chinese campaign of destruction.

It was assumed that none of its art survived.  But some survived, hidden away or taken by military personnel.




Densatil. vue sur la vallée depuis le monastère. Photo. M. Koch 2002

Asia Society has done a rough-sketch version of exactly that, assembling some 50 sculptures from American and European collections in an enthralling show called “Golden Visions of Densatil: A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery.”

“Golden Visions of Densatil: A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery” is on view through May 18 at Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, at 70th Street; 212-288-6400, asiasociety.org.

[cookie]

In the early 20th century, Tibet had thousands of active monasteries; when the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, it had fewer than 10. The politics of blame are always tricky; some scholars argue that Tibetans themselves, for complicated reasons, contributed to the purge. But one reality is plain: By the time the mass demolition wound down, centuries’ worth of religious art was gone.

Among the major losses was the Densatil Monastery. High in the mountains in central Tibet, it was founded in the 12th century and famed throughout Tibet for its art, particularly for a set of eight sculpture-encrusted and gilded stupas, or reliquary monuments, each over 10 feet tall, that stood in its worship hall. In the campaigns of destruction, Densatil was cruelly hit. It wasn’t just dismantled; it was pulverized. The assumption was that none of its art survived.

But some did survive, hidden away by devotees, or taken by Chinese military personnel. Beginning in the 1980s, astonishing examples of these metal sculptures — three-dimensional figures, relief plaques, architectural ornaments — that had covered the stupas began to appear with growing frequency on the Western market. Fortunately for this and also through the passion of those wanting to restore Densatil is being slowly reconstructed. In 2010, for example, under the auspices of the Tibet Autonomous Region ministry of culture and the Drikung Kagyu monastic order, a new version of the hall where the stupas once stood was built on the original site.

It was almost as if the monastery were trying to reconstitute itself, piece by piece. And now Asia Society has done a rough-sketch version of exactly that, assembling some 50 sculptures from American and European collections in an enthralling show called “Golden Visions of Densatil: A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery.”

[RedLantern]

Explore the history,iconography and extraordinary artistic production with the first exhibition associated with the central Tibetan Buddhist Monastery called Densatil that was destroyed during China's Cultural Revolution.
Here is the link   https://buddhistartnews.wordpress.com/category/exhibitions/

[bambi]

It's always breathtaking to see pictures of monasteries in Tibet.  I always feel that there is something mystical about them. It is very sad that many of them were destroyed during the war. Even though many are restored, it's just not the same. Just look at beautiful Ganden monastery, just awesome!

[Kim Hyun Jae]

The exhibition reunites a selection of reliefs and sculptures salvaged from the Monastery’s towering thirteenth- to fifteenth-century inlaid gilt copper memorial stupas (tashi gomang). Works on view are from public and private collections in the United States and Europe.

Golden Visions of Densatil: A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery illuminates the artistry of the tashi gomang stupas—special memorial stupas masterfully designed and cast in relief by artists, including craftsmen from Nepal—and the spiritual journey toward enlightenment laid out in their imagery.

https://i0.wp.com/artdaily.com/imagenes/2014/02/19/asiany-2.jpg

[Tenzin K]

Densatil, it is said, came by divine inspiration. Jigten Gonpo (1143–1217) was the founder of one of the six main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. One day in meditation, he saw in a vision the location where a monastery was to be built, 13,000 feet high in the Pure Crystal Mountains on the border with India.

The Tantric deity Chakrasamvara appeared in his vision, escorted by 2,800 deities in tiers beneath him. The towering shape formed by the group inspired the tashi gomang structure, the first of which was erected in Drigung Monastery in central Tibet.

A grand council decided in 1198 that Densatil was to be built, and the project began, with each student responsible for a part of the building. Densatil’s first tashi gomang was built in the 1270s.

In 1290, war broke out between the Drigung Kagyu school and the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. The original tashi gomang at Drigung was lost in a fire.

It must be understood that “throughout the history of Buddhist Tibet, various schools/orders vied for religious and political power,” wrote co-curator Adriana Proser in an email. “This resulted in all kinds of political intrigue and even bloody battles at times. There was no separation of church and state.”

Guest curator Olaf Czaja has written extensively on the subject in his book “Medieval Rule in Tibet.”

Luckily, the building of tashi gomang at Densatil continued through the 1300s, with the eighth and last built in the 1430s.

However, Densatil was destroyed during China’s Cultural Revolution, which did irreparable damage to the culture of Tibet. By the end of the revolution, only a handful of monasteries and temples survived out of the thousands believed to have existed.

Monasteries, besides being the repositories for some of Tibetan culture’s greatest works of art, also served as administrative, scientific, medical, and educational centers.