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JAMPA,
THUBCHEN, AND LURI GOMPAS
JAMPA
AND THUBCHEN GOMPAS OF LO MONTHANG
Jampa and Thubchen are both exemplars of the Sakya-pa tradition
of monastic architecture of the fifteenth century. Yet these two
gompas, barely a hundred yards apart, conceived and commissioned
by the same group of persons, their designs implemented and executed
by the same (or similar) craftsmen and artists, do not replicate
each other. Rather, they complement each other in concept, design,
and function. While Jampa represents the mystical side of Buddhism,
Thubchen expresses its philosophical aspect; Jampa, entirely painted
with mandalas, embodies a mystical experience and esoteric, tantric
teachings; Thubchen, its vast central prayer hall decorated with
serene, elegant images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, offers a mainstream
vision of Mahayana Buddhism.
In
word as well as image, the innermost purpose of these great gompas
is made clear--not, primarily, to glorify the gods, but to serve
living beings. The gods cannot bestow the gift of enlightenment,
but only show the way, through the teaching offered and embodied
in the gompas. Their message is wisdom and compassion: the true
means to relieve suffering, the true way to happiness. The inscriptions
written on the walls of both gompas (see Appendix B: Inscriptions)
proclaim that they were made in order to bring liberation and peace
to all who come within, and even to those who cannot reach the gompas
but can at least contemplate them and what they signify.
The spacious du-khang (assembly or prayer hall) of Thubchen permits
the prototypical arrangement of rows of monks who sit facing each
other for worship and recitation, at right angles to a wall along
which are arranged holy statues and an altar bearing ritual objects
used in worship. The design of Jampa is quite different, its main
hall being a lha-khang (chapel) rather than a du-khang. Its interior
space is interrupted by a massive statue of Jampa (Maitreya, the
Buddha of the future), set within a huge well and projecting upward
from a lower level. The remaining floor space is not sufficient
to permit the traditional formal worship seating of the monastic
community. This, and the mystical, tantric nature of its wall paintings,
set Jampa apart as a sanctum for meditation.
Materials
The walls of both gompas are of sun-dried mud brick, rendered with
earthen plasters; their interior walls and ceilings are plastered
and the walls painted with an extensive program of decorative and
iconographic paintings. Their floors are made of a material locally
known as aka, a mixture of crushed stone and mud.
Their wall paintings were applied on dry walls rather than on wet
plaster, and thus are technically not frescoes. The walls were prepared
with a mixture of very fine sand mixed with several kinds of soil,
as well as mud and crushed grass, and then coated with gum made
from boiled skins to strengthen and compact the underlying coat.
To this was added fine particles of crushed saligrams, ammonite
fossils found in this region, which are held to be the footprints
of Shiva--thus adding a mystical ingredient. Over this, another
coat of powdered limestone and gum was applied. The pigments are
based on mineral colors mixed with boiled yak skins and water, gum,
and finely crushed stone. This mixture was allowed to dry in the
sun, so that sedimentation occurred. From this colloidal solution,
the water was then extracted. The large particles of stone were
then removed, and the finer particles were crushed again to still
finer powder. This process was repeated three times. Gold paint
was used for many decorative details, such as the deities' ornaments.
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