Mangyu, Ladakh

Temples and Chörten

Mangyu (མང་རྒྱུ་) lies at an altitude of 3450 metres in a side valley leading south from the Indus. From the main road connecting Leh with Srinagar the village is reached via the hamlet of Gyera (སྒེ་ར་). Despite being among the most picturesque villages in Ladakh, Mangyu sees few visitors, as the valley leads off the main routes.

The monastery complex at Mangyu rivals Alchi (ཨ་ལྕི་) in age and artistic quality, but is much less well preserved. While Alchi was founded by representatives of the Dro (འབྲོ་) clan, Mangyu was financed by the Mer (སྨེར་) clan. A sense of rivalry between the two groups can be recognised not only in the level of artistic ambition but also in the specific interpretations of Buddhism represented at each site.

The upper part of the village preserves the remains of an early monastery. The complex consists of two small assembly halls (dukhang, འདུ་ཁང་) — the Vairocana Temple and the Śākyamuni Temple — flanked on either side by tall chapels each containing a monumental image of the Bodhisattva Maitreya (བྱམས་པ་). To the left of the main cluster stands a double chörten of the Alchi type. Higher up the slope, concealed behind village houses, is the Four Sculpture Chörten with images in all four niches. All structures of the complex face south-east.

Taken together, the Mangyu monuments span the latter half of the 12th century to the early 13th century, documenting a development in artistic expression broadly parallel to that at Alchi. In sculptural and painting style, the two sites correspond only to a limited extent: different groups of artists, drawing on a common Kashmiri tradition, worked at each place. In iconographic terms, Mangyu is particularly independent, with several configurations documented nowhere else among roughly contemporaneous monuments.

My visits to Mangyu in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2000 yielded some documentation on the paintings and sculptures, but incomplete access has prevented a full evaluation of the complex. The documentation assembled in the galleries now also presents my documentation of the murals. Some of the murals have since been cleaned and consolidated.

Photo taken in 1983 by Jaroslav Poncar.

Vairocana Temple

The right-hand assembly hall is the oldest building of the complex and is dedicated to Vairocana (རྣམ་པར་སྣང་མཛད་). The main room measures 5.1 x 3.6 metres and is at least 3 metres high; a large maṇḍala covers each of the side walls. The niche at the rear, offset slightly to the right of the central axis, measures approximately 2.5 metres wide and 2 metres deep.

The sculptural configuration of the niche centres on a four-headed Vairocana flanked by four family goddesses, with the other four Tathāgatas placed on the side walls. This is iconographically identical to the configuration in the assembly hall at Alchi, but the construction is far more solid, indicating that the sculptural workshops of the two sites do not share the same artistic background. Unlike the secondary Buddhas at Alchi, those at Mangyu are dressed in monks’ robes and jewellery. The throne frame above the central Vairocana includes an unusual lobate arch with a garuḍa at the apex. All sculptures have been entirely repainted, the present painting contributing little to an understanding of the originals.

When documented, the walls were almost entirely blackened with soot, and their upper parts were covered by scroll paintings, but the sections of the main wall flanking the niche and the right-hand side wall preserved much of their original painting. To the sides of the niche are five mandalas, among them a unique mandala dedicated to the Thirty-five Buddhas of Confession on the left and mandala of the Eight Great Naga to the right. The right side wall has a Trilokavijaya mandala of exceptional quality in its shading and detail. The niche has been sealed off behind glass in recent decades, considerably altering the temple's original experience.

The Vairocana Temple must be assessed alongside the Śākyamuni Temple immediately adjacent to it, with which it forms a complementary iconographic pair. Comparing the style of the surviving murals — in particular the deity Varuṇa in the Trilokyavijaya mandala — with paintings at both the Alchi Dukhang and Sumtsek, the Vairocana Temple falls chronologically between the two Alchi monuments.

Śākyamuni Temple

The left-hand assembly hall was originally centred on a unique full-wall representation of Śākyamuni (ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ་) with his disciples — today hidden behind shelves of scriptures and a much later image of the eleven-headed Avalokiteśvara (སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་) that gives the building its present local name. The side walls carry large maṇḍalas, and near the entrance there is a fragmentary narrative Life of the Buddha to the left and a donor depiction to the right. Unlike the other structures in the complex, the Śākyamuni Temple does not contain clay sculptures.

In its iconographic programme, the Śākyamuni Temple complements the Vairocana Temple. On the left wall are two beautiful depictions of different forms of the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī and a Sarvavid Vairocana mandala, while on the right wall is a Vajradhātu mandala. The entry wall features a fragmentary life of the Buddha, a Nāmasaṃgīti Vajradhātu mandala, and a donor depiction. The Śākyamuni Temple appears slightly younger than the Vairocana Temple and dates to a period closer to, but before, the Alchi Sumtsek (c. 1220). The two assembly halls have not only been decorated by different groups of artists but also use different colour palettes.

Four-armed Maitreya Chapel

The smaller of the two Maitreya chapels stands to the right of the Vairocana Temple. Its interior measures only 1.8 x 1.8 metres and is entered through a small door in the left-hand wall. A painted valance at the level of the Bodhisattva’s crown suggests the chapel originally had a gabled roof that covered the image’s head, comparable to the Bodhisattva niches in the Alchi Sumtsek. The walls carry images of Nāmasaṃgīti Mañjuśrī and Ṣaḍakṣara Lokeśvara in the central panels, with Mañjuśrī given the more prominent position on the left wall. The remaining wall surface is covered with Buddhas in the gestures and colours of the five esoteric Buddhas, all seated on elephant thrones.

The four-armed Maitreya is approximately four metres tall, stands in a slight tribhaṅga pose on a low lotus platform, and is the best preserved of the Mangyu clay sculptures. The original body paint may be largely intact, except for the recently gilded face. The Bodhisattva is associated with the family of Vairocana, whose image occupies the central point of the five-Buddha crown. No attribute survives in any of the four hands. Particularly fine is the long dhoti decorated with a wide array of scenes arranged within rhomboid spaces formed by the interlocked bodies of composite animals (see Linrothe 2011 for an interpretation).

Although comparable in iconographic configuration, construction technique, and jewellery to the Alchi Sumtsek, the chapel at Mangyu is probably somewhat earlier. The image is more voluminous and the jewellery more compact than at Alchi.

Two-armed Maitreya Chapel

The larger Maitreya chapel stands at the southern end of the complex, to the right of the Śākyamuni Temple. Its interior measures 4.1 by 3 metres. The main image, again more than four metres tall, stands on a lotus platform about one metre high.

The two-armed Maitreya has been considerably restored: the face and right arm are replacements, and the image has been repainted silver. The large kamaṇḍalu (water vessel) in the pendant left hand identifies it as the two-armed form of Maitreya. Much of the original jewellery — the short necklace, bracelets, and belt — is of exceptional fineness, with each piece featuring a kīrtimukha flanked by makara heads as the central motif.

Good-quality murals are preserved on all four walls. On the main wall, arrays of five main deities are depicted on either side of the image, with their identification provided in the image gallery. The left side wall carries a mandala of Dharmadhātuvāgīśvaramañjuśrī, comparable to the corresponding mandala in the Alchi Sumtsek; the right wall has a Vajradhātumaṇḍala whose main figure has not survived, and on the entrance wall, Mahākāla is flanked by two further mandalas in fragmentary condition. The (◊ Chapel of two-armed Maitreya) gallery documents the surviving sculpture and murals.

Stylistically, the image and murals are comparable to those of the Alchi Mañjuśrī Temple and the monumental Bodhisattvas at Sumda. The chapel thus dates to around 1225.

Four Sculpture Chörten

The most distinctive monument of the Mangyu complex stands on the slope of the hill behind the village, concealed among the houses above the main temples. Its exterior gives no indication that the interior is a richly painted cubic chamber measuring approximately 165 cm on each side, with a sculpted niche in each of the four walls.

The three original images are the Protectors of the Three Families (rigsum gonpo, རིགས་གསུམ་མགོན་པོ་): Vajrapāṇi in the south-west niche, Mañjuśrī in the north-east, and a four-armed Ṣaḍakṣara Lokeśvara above the entrance on the south-east wall. The main niche opposite the entrance is today occupied by a later figure of Tsongkhapa Lozang Drakpa (ཙོང་ཁ་པ་བློ་བཟང་གྲགས་པ་; 1357–1419). This niche may once have held either a Buddha or the Bodhisattva Maitreya, both of which would be consistent with the surviving programme. All three preserved Bodhisattvas stand approximately 120 cm tall.

The painted programme is organised along two axes. Along the main axis, male and female deities face each other: Avalokiteśvara and Mañjuśrī on one side correspond to Tārā and Prajñāpāramitā on the other. The side walls feature the five esoteric Buddhas centred on the four-faced Vajradhātu Vairocana. These are complemented by a teaching Śākyamuni in monastic dress, as well as by six-headed Yamāntaka (གཤིན་རྗེ་གཤེད་) and Hayagrīva (རྟ་མགྲིན་). The paintings are stylistically and iconographically closest to those of the two-armed Maitreya chapel.

The sculptures of the chörten are cruder in workmanship than those of the other Mangyu monuments, though their original style and decorative details are clearly related to the later temples of the Alchi group, particularly the two-armed Maitreya.

Below, I quote the concluding sentence of Linrothe 2011: