China Tibet ???? Jokhang Monastery Murals Go Digital

[icy]

Good news.  Murals of the most holy temple in the Land of Snow are well preserved with modern technology.  Restoration works are ongoing. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSF1RdIzY2Y

China Tibet ? Jokhang Monastery murals go digital CCTV News CNTV English.Thangka scrolls are also a major feature at Lhasa's Jokhang Monastery. Built more than a thousand years ago, the temple is the holiest site in Tibetan Buddhism, drawing hoards of worshippers and tourists every day.

Being the earliest wooden architecture in Tibet, it was among the first National Relic Sites announced in 1961. Now, a new project is moving the temple's intricate murals into the digital world.

It's said if that you don't go to Jokhang Monastery, you haven't really been to Lhasa. And the temple's weathered murals are an important reminder of its 1,350 years of history. Now, the local government is protecting the murals by photographing them in sections, repairing them, and piecing them back together in a computer.

Chen Jiajia, myral repair engineer, said, "All the pictures have a magnification ratio of 1:1, so the width of each picture is only 30 to 40 centimeters."

Bu Qiong, director of Admin. office of Jokhang temple, said, "We use eight cameras to shoot one part of the mural, so there are tens of thousands of photos being shot."

Zhen Jiajia, an animation major, has been working with the monks at the temple to repair and assemble the mural photos for several months. She says the light used while shooting the pictures is designed to reproduce the original color of the paintings.

Chen said, "We have to replicate, and we are not allowed to make any changes to the colors and the pictures."

The themes of the murals include Sakyamuni, the creators of Tibetan Buddhism, the ancient rulers of the region, and how Lhasa was built. These elaborate paintings have long drawn visitors from home and abroad. And while the murals have undergone repairs before, this is the first time for them to go digital.

Bu said, "It's estimated that two more months are needed to finish piecing together the murals. Then people can look at them on computers in a museum."

In this way, the murals of Jokhang temple can be kept intact, and the database for the murals will also be a cherished source for researchers and artists. More importantly, they will enable more people to appreciate Buddhist art, without doing harm to the real thing.

[bambi]

Wonderful! At least something is being done to restore the precious murals that can be seen by the future generations. Something that we can bring forward and remind our future generations that all these exist thousand of years ago. Especially when degeneration becomes worse.

[RedLantern]

This is fantastic news! Jokhang Temple houses a large number of murals, being the earliest wooden architecture in Tibet. A new project is moving to the temple's intricate mural into the digital world.
Jokhang Monastery weathered murals are sacred and important,a reminder of it's 1,350 years of history.
By restoring and piecing them back together, the murals can be kept intact .

[grandmapele]

So nice to hear that the murals are going digital. It will be around for a very long time then. Plus, the bonus where you need not go to Jokhang to view the murals. Not everyone can tolerate the altitude and the journey there. Now the blessing can reach a wider audience.

[Galen]

This is a brilliant idea!! All the great artworks will be preserved so that future generations can enjoy the beauty of the holy paintings. No doubt this project will take a lot of tedious work, time and money but the result will be all worth it. More people will benefit, more imprints will be planted and more beings will be blessed. Rejoice.

[maricisun]

Wonderful news. It's not everyday that anyone be able to visit Lhasa Jokhang Monastery to see the beautiful murals.
To be able to preserve it and go digital and be able to see it in a museum will be as close to seeing the real thing.
Lots of time and effort it will take but think of the benefit it can bring to the people. More people will be blessed as well.

[Freyr Aesiragnorak]

The wonders of modern technology in the preservation of these murals from this extremely holy site! It is fantastic to see this is happening. I hopeful these pictures once completed are made available online for people to view, and perhaps even print out. I doubt I will have the chance to visit the Jokhang in this life or other holy sites in Tibet or even in India for that matter. But having one of these murals printed out in good quality and in my shrine room would be something else!

[brian]

That is beautiful. Great to have beautiful Murals in temples. Really nice and inspiring. I hope there will be more such murals to come and be effected on all monastery walls. Make it a legacy for arts in Buddhism, i think it will have a long lasting benefit too.