Street in Lhasa during Palden Lhamo ceremony

Street in Lhasa during Palden Lhamo ceremony

1998.131.576 (Print black & white)

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Key Information

Photographer

Frederick Spencer Chapman

Collection

Frederick Spencer Chapman

Date of Photo

November 28th 1936

Region

Lhasa > Barkhor (from Surkhang House)

Accession number

1998.131.576

Image Dimensions

173 x 126

Side street in Lhasa taken from Surkhang Se's house on the occasion of the Palden Lhamo procession. In the foreground a pile of mustard straw surrounding a torma offering of butter and barley flour can be seen in the middle of the street, ready to be burnt.

Further Information

Photographic Process

Print gelatin silver

Date Acquired

Donated 1994

Donated by

Mrs Faith Spencer Chapman

Expedition

British Diplomatic Mission to Lhasa 1936-37

Photo also owned by

Frederick Spencer Chapman

Previous Catologue Number

C.17.5 In publication
'Lhasa Mission 1936, Diary of Events', P. Neame, H. Richardson, F. S. Chapman, Government of India Political Department [Note: photographs for October 18th - November 4th 1936 are not included as their relationship to text is not detailed; see Mission Diary text for details of images] [see photos in publication]

Previous Pitt Rivers Museum Number

SC.T.2.576

This Image also appears in another collection

BMR.86.1.19.3

Published

'Lhasa Mission 1936, Diary of Events', P. Neame, H. Richardson, F. S. Chapman, Government of India Political Department [Note: photographs for October 18th - November 4th 1936 are not included as their relationship to text is not detailed; see Mission Diary text for details of images] [view list of illustrations]

Other Information

Notes on print/mount - The back of the print is covered in crop marks and reproduction instructions. The reference 'C-17-5' has been written on the back of the print in pencil. A sticker with 'P.103 224 [in circle] 145%' written in black ink has been put on the top right corner of the front of the print [MS 03/04/2006]

Manual Catalogues -


Manual Catalogues - Caption in Chapman's hand-written list of negatives made whilst on the Mission to Lhasa, 1936-7 [See PRM Manuscripts Collection]: 'Looking up side street. Pile of straw ready'; PRM Manuscripts Collection: ‘List of Tibetan Prints and Negatives’ - Book 1, From Gangtok to the Natu La August 1936: ‘38/1 - Lhasa side street waiting for procession to pass. Notice pile of mustard straw ready as fire and white incense burner on left foreground. View from roof of Surkang Se house [MS 03/04/2006]

Research publication - Clare Harris and Tsering Shakya (eds.), 'Seeing Lhasa: British Depictions of the Tibetan Capital 1936-1947', Chicago: Serindia Publications, 2003, p. 18.

Exhibition - This image appeared in the 2003 Temporary Exhibition at the Pitt Rivers "Seeing Lhasa: British Depictions of the Tibetan Capital 1936-1947"

Other Information - Related Images


Other Information - Related Images: Images prefixed with 'C.20' comprise a group of negatives containing images of Palden Lhamo procession down street, Kalon lama and Pendong and Regent’s house and monastery. This group of images had been given the heading “‘Queen Vic’ Procession” by Chapman in his handlist. Queen Victoria was reputed to have been an incarnation of Palden Lhamo [see notes for C.17.7 in handlist] [MS 03/04/2006]

Other Information - Description: Entry in Mission Diary for November 28th 1936: "There was a great procession in the city today. An enormous image of the goddess Palden Lhamo was taken from the Cathedral and carried through the streets. This is the goddess of whom Queen Victoria was supposed to be an incarnation. Lamas, many of them grotesquely masked, first cleared a way through the densely crowded streets. When the goddess appeared long trumpets were blown, drums were beaten, and a great pyramid of straw was burnt in the street, while lamas danced and chanted. This goddess, when the world was young, was about to destroy all creation; but in the nick of time a husband was found for her and he, apparently, appeased her wrath. On the day that she is taken round Lhasa her husband, who is kept in a monastery on the other side of the Kyi Chu, is also taken out and they are allowed to behold each other annually, at a distance of several miles" ['Lhasa Mission, 1936: Diary of Events', Part X p. 1, written by Chapman] [MS 03/04/2006]

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "Street in Lhasa during Palden Lhamo ceremony" 05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.131.576.html>.

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