Alchi at the Threshold of a New Era in Tibetan Buddhist Art

Christian Luczanits
Towering, golden-faced Bodhisattva with four arms; wears dhoti sumptuously painted with portraits and patterns

Manjushri with Mahasiddhas, right niche of the Sumtsek Temple; Alchi, Ladakh, India; ca. 1220; mineral pigments on clay; height approx. 13 ft. 1 in. (40 m); photograph by Jaroslav Poncar

Monumental Manjushri with Mahasiddha-Adorned Robe

Alchi Sumtsek, Ladakh, India ca. 1220

Manjushri with Mahasiddhas, right niche of the Sumtsek Temple; Alchi, Ladakh, India; ca. 1220; mineral pigments on clay; height approx. 13 ft. 1 in. (40 m); photograph by Jaroslav Poncar

Summary

Alchi monastery is one of the jewels of world art, constructed at a time of religious and social change in the Himalayas. Alchi was originally a family monastery for the ancient Dro clan, which controlled the trade routes from western Tibet to Kashmir. Art historian Christian Luczanits introduces its sculpture and murals, discussing the paintings on the robes of this large sculpture which reflect complex developments in tantric Buddhist practices at Alchi.

Key Terms

bodhisattva

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a being who has made a vow to become a buddha or awakened. In the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, many bodhisattvas are understood as deities with enormous powers who delay their final enlightenment, remaining in the phenomenal world to help suffering beings. Among such great bodhisattvas are Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, Vajrapani, and Maitreya.

dhoti

A dhoti is a traditional Indian lower-body garment for men, made of a cloth wrapped around the waist and tucked through the legs from the back.

mahasiddha

In tantric Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism, a “siddha” is one who has mastered “siddhis,” or the magical powers that come with yogic practice. The “Great Siddhas” (mahasiddhas) were a semi-mythical group of tantric masters, men and women, who lived in medieval India. They were known for their extraordinary meditative powers, religious poetry, and their transgressive lifestyles, including dwelling in charnel grounds, drinking alcohol, fighting, and having sex. Many Himalayan Vajrayana traditions trace their initiation lineages back to the Mahasiddhas. Depictions of sets of eight, eighty-one, or eighty-four Mahasiddhas are a popular subject in Himalayan art.

Manjushri

Manjushri is one of the most important bodhisattvas in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Considered the embodiment of wisdom, Manjushri is often recognized by his attributes: a sword which cuts through ignorance and a book, the Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) Sutra. Emanations of Manjushri can also be recognized by these same attributes. Another important Chinese iconographic tradition depicts a youthful Manjushri riding on a lion. This form is associated with Manjushri’s abode on earth, Mount Wutai in China, one of the few Buddhist sites in China visited by Tibetan and Mongol pilgrims among others from all over Asia. Manjushri was seen as the protector deity of China, and the Manchu emperors of the Qing Dynasty who claimed to be emanations of Manjushri emphasized/promoted this association.

monastery

A monastery is a place where monks live, study, and perform ritual. It includes temples and other structures. Monasteries are central to Buddhism, and are also important in Bon, Hinduism, and Daoism. In Himalayan, Tibetan, and Inner Asian areas, some monasteries are enormous, wealthy, and powerful institutions, with branches of satellite monasteries forming networks across regions, often with thousands of monks, many decorated chapels, and huge holdings of land. Other monasteries, called hermitages, can be extremely simple, little more than a cave where hermits meditate. Generally, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery will have an assembly hall, several temples (Tib. lhakhang) for worship of specific deities, a protector chapel, as well as monks’ accommodations. A related institution in Newar Buddhism are the baha and bahi.

The Alchi Choskhor monastic complex in Ladakh, northwestern India, is one of the jewels of world art (fig. 2). Within this complex housing five painted monuments dating from the late twelfth to the first quarter of the thirteenth century, the three-story Sumtsek Temple stands out in terms of conception, preservation, and quality. Built in the memory of Jikten Gonpo Rinchen Pel (1143–1217), the Sumtsek can also be dated to about 1220. Although some scholars continue to date the monument earlier, internal evidence leaves no doubt about its historical context. Moreover, the Alchi monuments provide ample signs that they were constructed at the threshold of developments that make Tibetan Buddhist art distinctive.

Fig. 2.

View of Alchi Choskhor, with the three-storied Sumtsek in the center; Ladakh, India; photograph by C. Luczanits, 1994

Manjushri with Mahasiddhas

One of the depictions that demonstrate this development is the monumental clay sculpture of with eighty-five Mahasiddhas —adepts of esoteric Buddhist teachings—on his , that is, the painted cloth covering the hip and legs of the image (fig. 1). This representation of the Bodhisattva of Wisdom is orange and four-armed, and he is surrounded by the sculptures of the four outer offering goddesses, which personify the offerings of incense (dhupa), flower blossoms (pushpa), light (dipa), and fragrance (gandha).

The same , surrounded by tiny offering goddesses, is also shown in the main panels flanking this niche, and these depictions clarify the attributes that are now missing from the sculpture (fig. 3). As in the painting, the upper hands once held an arrow and a bow, while the lower hands held a sword and a book on top of a flower blossom, commonly a blue lily (utpala), as still preserved above the sculpture’s left shoulder. This form of Manjushri is alluded to by a verse of the Litany of Names of Manjushri (Manjushrinamasamgiti), where Manjushri figures as the ultimate expression of the wisdom: 

Dressed in the mail of loving kindness, equipped with the armor of compassion, with a volume of insight scripture, a sword, a bow and an arrow, he is victorious in the battle against defilements and unknowing.

Yellow-skinned deity seated at center of mandala decorated with deity portraits, animals, and apsaras (flying divinities)
Fig. 3.

Panel with Namasamgiti Manjushri; Alchi Sumtsek, right side wall; ca. 1220; mineral pigments on clay; photograph by Jaroslav Poncar

The Litany of Names of Manjushri derives from an esoteric Buddhist context and has inspired a rich literature commenting on it from both a Yogatantra and Highest Yogatantra perspective. The mahasiddhas on the dhoti stand for the transmission of the highest esoteric teachings and thus the latter perspective. Their depiction can be linked to the Legends of the Eighty-Four Mahasiddhas as narrated by the Indian scholar Abhayadatta to his Tibetan disciple in the early twelfth century. 

The dark-skinned figure at the bottom center of the dhoti (fig. 4) can be identified as Padampa Sanggye, an Indian adept active in Tibet until his passing in 1117. Although not part of Abhayadatta’s group of mahasiddhas, he specifically signifies the transmission of the highest esoteric teachings to Tibet.

Holy man seated cross-legged and nude with white robe around shoulders and white strap across knees
Fig. 4. Padampa Sanggye, detail of Manjushri with Mahasiddhas, in the bottom center of Manjushri’s dhoti, standing for the transmission of the highest esoteric teachings to Tibet; Sumtsek Temple; Alchi, Ladakh, India; photograph by Jaroslav Poncar

Three Stories, Three Sculptures

The Sumtsek is a three-story building with central niches in the back and the side walls (fig. 5). The three niches house such tall clay sculptures that their heads look into the middle story. As encountered by the circumambulating visitors, these sculptures are the bodhisattvas , , and Manjushri, and their clothing is covered with paintings of the holy places of Kashmir, the life of a buddha, and the mahasiddhas.

Three-dimensional, grayscale rendering of three-story temple with cross-section revealing interior structural and devotional elements
Fig. 5. Model of the three-story Sumtsek Temple as seen from the side of the figure of Manjushri; model by Holger Neuwirth and Carmen Auer

As stated by inscriptions within the Sumtsek and a slightly later monument, the Pelden Drepung Chorten (previously referred to as Great ), the temple was founded by the master (lobpon) Tsultrim Wo of the Dro family. In the top story of the Sumtsek, this master pays homage to a lineage of teachers ending with Drigungpa (fig. 6), that is, Jikten Gonpo Rinchen Pel (1143–1217), the founder of a branch of the tradition named after the he founded, . A close study of the inscription written by Tsultrim Wo for the Pelden Drepung Chorten further reveals that it is dedicated to Drigungpa as well, and that Tsultrim Wo, besides the Sumtsek, built a shrine for his . This may well be a reference to the chorten (: stupa) originally placed in the center of the Sumtsek, the shape of the current chorten indicating that it is a more recent replacement. 

Nine seated figures arranged in three registers against blue backgrounds above bottom row of three stupas
Fig. 6. The Drigung lineage in the top story of the Sumtsek, entry wall, left side; ca. 1220; mineral pigments on clay; photograph by Jaroslav Poncar

Family Monastery

Combining the information from these two monuments with that of the earlier Main Temple founded by the master Kelden Sherab, it is clear that the Alchi Choskhor was a family monastery inherited from uncle to nephew. Such arrangements were common for Tibetan monasteries at the time. 

The Dro clan was already prominent during the (seventh to ninth century), and during the later spread of in Tibet (tenth to eleventh century) it established itself in western Tibet. As the recently identified foundation inscription of the Sumtsek establishes, the branch of the family that founded Alchi was based in Sumda, a village in the valley parallel to and south of Alchi. The family likely controlled trade moving between the western Tibetan Plateau and the Kashmir Valley, giving them the means to establish their own monastery and sustain it for several generations.

The artists who painted the earlier monuments of the complex­—the Main Temple, the Sumtsek, the Pelden Drepung Chorten, the Tashi Gomang Chorten (previously called Small Stupa), and the Jampel Lhakhang (or Manjushri Temple)—are thought to have come from Kashmir, while the structures established subsequently were likely decorated by local artists. The shift in workmanship, accompanied by changes in the material quality and the religious content of the monuments within and around the Alchi Choskhor, directly reflects changes in economic circumstances and the religious environment in which they were established. The moves from depictions of the Yogatantra to those of Highest Yogatantra themes—most notably, deities in sexual embrace—and from an independent western Tibetan tradition to one closely aligned with central Tibet are most remarkable. Representative of the latter is the so-called Lhakhang Soma, the New Temple, with images of the highest Yogatantra deities covering its main wall (fig. 7). 

Mural depicting dozens of figures arranged in irregular grid pattern illuminated in half-light behind chorten
Fig. 7. View of the Lhakhang Soma showing the highest esoteric deities flanking the central Buddha depiction; Alchi, Ladakh, India; second quarter of the 14th century; photograph by Jaroslav Poncar

Religious Politics

Traditionally, the temples of Alchi—and many other monuments throughout the region predating the fifteenth century—are credited to the great translator (lotsawa) Rinchen Zangpo (958–1055). Within the Alchi Choskhor such credit is expressed by the Lotsawa Lhakhang (“Translator’s Temple”), whose name directly refers to him. This naively painted temple dates between the early monuments and the Lhakhang Soma and features the portrait of a teacher to the left of Shakyamuni on the main wall (fig. 8). However, the same teacher is already portrayed in the two early chortens, where he can be identified as Drigungpa based on the contexts of these depictions (fig. 9).

Seated Buddha statue and mural depicting three main deities illuminated from below in dark, columned hall
Fig. 8 View of the Lotsawa Lhakhang showing Drigungpa to the left of the central painted Buddha; Alchi, Ladakh, India; third quarter of the 13th century; photograph by C. Luczanits, 2000
Mural depicting holy man surrounded by dozens of figures arranged in registers against blue and red background
Fig. 9 Drigungpa in a central Tibetan thangka composition in the Tashi Gomang Chorten; Alchi Ladakh, India; ca. 1225; mineral pigments on clay; photograph by C. Luczanits, 2010

Today, the Alchi Choskhor is run by Likir Monastery, which is of the tradition founded by Tsongkhapa (1357–1419). An originally conservative tradition, it directly associated itself with the teachings of Atisha Dipamkarashrijnana (ca. 982–1054), who met Rinchen Zangpo in western Tibet before traveling to central Tibet. It is therefore not surprising that when the Geluk tradition established itself in the western Himalayas through pupils of Tsong­khapa in the fifteenth century, it directly linked back to Rinchen Zangpo. This is obvious in the Red Temple, or Dzamlinggyen, in Toling, where a triad focused on Rinchen Zangpo to the left of the niche is balanced by a triad with Tsongkhapa in its center. Thus, it must have been during the spread of the Geluk tradition in the western Himalayas from the fifteenth century on that earlier monuments in the region were credited to Rinchen Zangpo, sidelining the traditions, such as the Drigungpa, that flourished in between. 

For the monuments of the Alchi Choskhor this meant that portraits of Drigungpa became identified as Rinchen Zangpo. even today maintains the attribution, despite the fact that it contradicts the content of the monuments. The depiction of the eighty-four mahasiddhas on Manjushri’s dhoti, for example, is based on a source that certainly dates after Rinchen Zangpo’s time. Dating to about 1220, it remains the earliest image of this topic preserved anywhere in the Himalayas. Further, portraying the Tibetan teacher as an awakened being, as apparent in the paintings of Drigungpa in the two early chortens at Alchi (fig. 9), did not become prevalent until the early thirteenth century, once again positioning the Alchi depictions at the threshold of a new development. 

The more recent and modern understanding of the site is an expression of a sectarianism foreign to the time when Alchi was founded. Being a family monument, attributing the foundation of the Alchi Choskhor to any tradition is misguided. Instead, the Alchi Choskhor needs to be interpreted on the basis of the information it contains, and then it offers a uniquely detailed glimpse into a past for which we have very few reliable records. In this regard, too, the value of Alchi cannot be overestimated.

Footnotes
1

The Sumtsek has been published in Roger Goepper and Jaroslav Poncar, Alchi: Ladakh’s Hidden Buddhist Sanctuary. The Sumtsek (London: Serindia, 1996), which is now part of Christian Luczanits and Jaroslav Poncar, eds., Alchi: The Choskhor (Chicago: Serindia, 2023), covering all the ancient monuments of Alchi Choskhor.

2

Ronald M. Davidson, “The Litany of Names of Mañjuśrī,” in Religions of India in Practice, ed. Donald S. Lopez (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1995), 104–25, stanza 150.

3

On this collection of stories, see Keith Dowman, Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eighty-Four Buddhist Siddhas (Albany: SUNY Press, 1985); on its relation to the Alchi depictions, see Rob Linrothe, “Group Portrait: Mahāsiddhas in the Alchi Sumtsek,” in Embodying Wisdom. Art, Text and Interpretation in the History of Esoteric Buddhism, ed. Rob Linrothe and Henrik H. Sørensen (Copenhagen: Seminar for Buddhist Studies, 2001), 185–208.. The Tibetan title is grub thob brgyad bcu tsa bzhi’i lo rgyus

4

On this siddha, see Dan Martin, “Padampa Sangye: A History of Representation of a South Indian Siddha in Tibet,” in Holy Madness: Portraits of Tantric Siddas. Linrothe, ed. Rob Linrothe (New York: Rubin Museum of Art, 2006), 108–23. 

5

See Christian Forthcoming Luczanits, “The Pearl Garland Composition. The Main Inscription of the Palden Drepung Chörten at Alchi,” in Buddhist Heritage in the Western Himalayas: Essays on the Art, Architecture and History of Ladakh, ed. Christian Luczanits and Heinrich Poell, Forthcoming.

6

For a translation of this inscription, see Nils Martin, “The Foundation Inscription of the Sumtsek,” in Alchi: The Choskhor, ed. Christian Luczanits and Jaroslav Poncar (Chicago: Serindia, 2023), 781–89; a more detailed study by the same author is forthcoming.

7

For detailed studies of these depictions, see Christian Luczanits, “Alchi and the Drigungpa School of Tibetan Buddhism: The Teacher Depiction in the Small Chörten at Alchi,” in Mei shou wan nian–Long Life Without End: Festschrift in Honor of Roger Goepper, ed. Jeong-hee Lee-Kalisch, Antje Papist-Matsuo, and Willibald Veit (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2006), 181–96 and Christian Luczanits, “Beneficial to See: Early Drigung Painting,” in Painting Traditions of the Drigung Kagyu School, ed. David P. Jackson, Masterworks of Tibetan Painting Series 5 (New York: Rubin Museum of Art, 2015), 214–59.

8

See also the accompanying inscription in Roberto Vitali, A Short History of Mustang (10th–15th Century) (Dharamsala: Amnye Machen Tibetan Institute for Advanced Studies, 2012), 131–33, which makes this continuation explicit.

Further Reading

Linrothe, Robert N. 2006. Holy Madness: Portraits of Tantric Siddhas. New York: Rubin Museum of Art.

Luczanits, Christian, and Jaroslav Poncar, eds. 2023. Alchi: The Choskhor. Chicago: Serindia.

Luczanits, Christian. “Alchi, Ladakh,” including picture galleries.  http://www.luczanits.net/sites/Alchi.html. 

Citation

Christian Luczanits, “Monumental Manjushri with Mahasiddha-Adorned Robe: Alchi at the Threshold of a New Era in Tibetan Buddhist Art,” Project Himalayan Art, Rubin Museum of Art, 2023, http://rubinmuseum.org/projecthimalayanart/essays/monumental-manjushri-with-mahasiddha-adorned-robe.

bodhisattva

Language:
Sanskrit

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a being who has made a vow to become a buddha or awakened. In the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, many bodhisattvas are understood as deities with enormous powers who delay their final enlightenment, remaining in the phenomenal world to help suffering beings. Among such great bodhisattvas are Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, Vajrapani, and Maitreya.

dhoti

Language:
Sanskrit,Hindi

A dhoti is a traditional Indian lower-body garment for men, made of a cloth wrapped around the waist and tucked through the legs from the back.

mahasiddha

Language:
Sanskrit
Alternate terms:
siddha

In tantric Hinduism and Vajrayana Buddhism, a “siddha” is one who has mastered “siddhis,” or the magical powers that come with yogic practice. The “Great Siddhas” (mahasiddhas) were a semi-mythical group of tantric masters, men and women, who lived in medieval India. They were known for their extraordinary meditative powers, religious poetry, and their transgressive lifestyles, including dwelling in charnel grounds, drinking alcohol, fighting, and having sex. Many Himalayan Vajrayana traditions trace their initiation lineages back to the Mahasiddhas. Depictions of sets of eight, eighty-one, or eighty-four Mahasiddhas are a popular subject in Himalayan art.

Manjushri

Language:
Sanskrit

Manjushri is one of the most important bodhisattvas in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Considered the embodiment of wisdom, Manjushri is often recognized by his attributes: a sword which cuts through ignorance and a book, the Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) Sutra. Emanations of Manjushri can also be recognized by these same attributes. Another important Chinese iconographic tradition depicts a youthful Manjushri riding on a lion. This form is associated with Manjushri’s abode on earth, Mount Wutai in China, one of the few Buddhist sites in China visited by Tibetan and Mongol pilgrims among others from all over Asia. Manjushri was seen as the protector deity of China, and the Manchu emperors of the Qing Dynasty who claimed to be emanations of Manjushri emphasized/promoted this association.

monastery

Alternate terms:
vihara, bahi, baha

A monastery is a place where monks live, study, and perform ritual. It includes temples and other structures. Monasteries are central to Buddhism, and are also important in Bon, Hinduism, and Daoism. In Himalayan, Tibetan, and Inner Asian areas, some monasteries are enormous, wealthy, and powerful institutions, with branches of satellite monasteries forming networks across regions, often with thousands of monks, many decorated chapels, and huge holdings of land. Other monasteries, called hermitages, can be extremely simple, little more than a cave where hermits meditate. Generally, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery will have an assembly hall, several temples (Tib. lhakhang) for worship of specific deities, a protector chapel, as well as monks’ accommodations. A related institution in Newar Buddhism are the baha and bahi.