Built in AD 996, the Zhada Toding Monastery is in the remote Ngari prefecture of Western Tibet, very close to the Indian border. The famous Indian buddhist scholar, Atisa was invited here in AD 1042 to translate large volume of scriptures. He died here in AD 1054.
This monastery was completely destroyed during the Chinese cultural revolution in AD 1966. Remains of Kashmiri influenced murals can still be seen on the walls.
In the future I will write more about the destruction in this monastery, but for this post, what really caught my attention was the Yak skulls scattered all around the place.
Click first photo below to view entire series in slide show.
Comments(2)
Dhiraj says:
September 21, 2012 at 7:20 AMVery fascinating. How old are the Yak skulls?
Amardeep Singh says:
September 21, 2012 at 7:25 AMDon;t know Dhiraj but they are generally scattered all around monasteries in Tibet. The locals consider domesticated yaks as members of their family and therefore on their death place their skulls. Some have engravings on them.