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2001.59.15.49.2 (Print)
2001.59.15.49.2 (Print)
Hugh E. Richardson
Hugh Richardson
1949
Yarlung Valley Region > Tradrug
2001.59.15.49.2
60 x 60 mm
Print silver
Donated August 2001
The executors of the estate of Hugh E. Richardson
Richardson's 1949 tour of the Yarlung and Chyongye valleys
Notes on print/mount - 'Thra Drug bell' (in pencil) is written on the reverse of print in Richardson's hand and 'Velox' in an oval is stamped in black. [KC 12/6/2006]
Manual Catalogues - Notes in negative index - Folio 49. 'BELL AT KHRA 'BRUG'. [KC 15/5/2006]
Manual Catalogues - Richardson's Handlist, Negative book '9' 'Drikhung, Chongye etc.' [nos] 47-9, 'Khra-'brug lha-khang a very early foundation, ascribed to Srong.brtsan sgam-po (d. 650) Mkyen brtrse p.124 n.237' [KC 17/5/2006]
Other Information - Location: Richardson mentions this temple in High Peaks, Pure Earth , London, Serindia Publications, 1998, p. 318. "Further south [of Rtse tshogs pa] is what is probably the oldest religious building in Yarlung, the much revered Khra-'brug (1949) temple. It is attributed to Srong-brtsan Sgam-po and is mentioned in an edict by Khri Srong-lde-brtsan but may well have undergone enlargement or restoration at different times. It is an echo of what the Lhasa Jo-khang may have originally looked like. The temple stands in a courtyard surrounded by a high, solidly built, red-topped white wall and a large gate-house in which is a small chapel. ... Over the temple doorway hangs a heavy bronze bell which suffered some damage. It is inscibed with a prayer by the dowager queen Byang-chub for the benefit of king Lde-srong-brtsan, who perhaps sponsored some repairs to the temple. ...".
Other Information - Historical background: Tradrug temple is mentioned in Mk'yen Brtse's Guide to the Holy Places of Cental Tibet, Alfonsa Ferrari (Luciano Petech), Roma, Insituto Italiano Per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1958, pp. 49-50 and also p.124, note. 237.
Other Information - Background: Richardson describes the bell and provides a translation of the inscription in A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions, James G. Forlong Series, no. XXIX, 1985, London, Royal Asiatic Society, p. 82-3. "From the roof of the outer gateway [of the temple of Khra-'brug] opening on to a courtyard in front of the main temple hangs a bronze bell. It is larger than that at Bsam-yas but less grateful and part of it has been broken off ... . An inscription in two lines runs round the upper part but the top of the bell is close under the roof of the portico so copying has to be done by eye, from a ladder. Both my Sikkimese assistant and I made copies and I returned to Khra-'brug the following day to check doubtful readings. ... The inscription shows that the bell which, unlike that at Bsam-yas is described as a dril not a cong, was dedicated by Queen Byang-chub for Khri Lde-srong-brtsan who was her step-son. ..."
For Citation use:
The Tibet Album.
"Tradrug temple in the Yarlung valley"
05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum.
<http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_2001.59.15.49.2.html>.
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