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| The pre-Buddhist archaeological sites around Mount Kailash (Ti-se).
A major center of civilization in ancient upper Tibet
John Vincent Bellezza
An introduction to the pre-Buddhist archaeological sites of Mount Kailash Mount Kailash has been the focus of religious pilgrimage for many centuries. It is mentioned in the Puranas and in Jain literature, confirming the long standing importance of this mountain to practitioners of various Indic religious traditions. Most Sanskrit accounts of Mount Kailash explain its significance in religious terms, as a place associated with the divinities and great sages of yore. Sanskrit literature also extols the divine beauty of the mountain. Tibetan Bon and Buddhist literature has more or less followed in this same vein, exalting Mount Kailash as a place of wonder and holiness. The ancient attraction of Mount Kailash can be also understood from an archaeological perspective, providing a new context in which to assess the literary sources pertaining to it. Still not well known is that this sacred mountain was a major center of early settlement in the region. Lofty Mount Kailash hosted a string of high altitude temples and retreats built in the period before the modern day Bon and Buddhist religions (collectively known as Lamaism) came to dominate Tibet. In fact, the sum total of permanent settlement at Mount Kailash in the period before 1000 CE was considerably greater than in more recent times. The early historic period (650-1000 CE) and protohistoric period (100 BCE, 650 CE) settlements of Mount Kailash were virtually unknown until the 2000's, when in a series of annual expeditions the present author comprehensively documented them. Archaic or pre-Buddhist residency patterns at Mount Kailash contrast with those that developed in later times. As anyone who has gone around this scared mountain should know, there are four Buddhist monasteries on the circumambulatory trail and two more in what is commonly called the inner circuit (nang-skor). Additionally, there were a few rudimentary houses belonging to herders at Darchen (located on the southside of the mountain) and a small handful of retreat caves used by ascetics. That was the extent of the residential footprint at Mount Kailash until well into the 1980s. On the other hand, the archaic era (before 1000 CE) temples and residences are situated high above the circumambulatory trail in very isolated locations. After 1000 CE, these sites appear to have been used only sporadically by Buddhist anchorites looking for places in which to meditate. As in most other areas of the vast Tibetan upland, after circa 1000 CE, the patterns of permanent residency at Mount Kailash radically shrank. In the archaic era, temples and castles were
Ref. Up Coming Volume XXI
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The pre-Buddhist archaeological sites around Mount Kailash
