Milarepa's Cave
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Milarepa's Cave is a cave where the great Tibetan Buddhist philosopher and Vajrayana Mahasiddha Milarepa spent many years of his life in the eleventh century, 10km north of Nyalam in the roadside near a tiny village called Zhonggang in Tibet.
A path leads down from the roadside through the village and down a hillside where a small monastery (gompa) named Pelgye Ling[1] has been built. (The name of the gompa is sometimes spelt Phelgye Ling[2]; it has also been referred to by some travelers as Pyenzhangling; the provenance of this version of the name is unknown). Milarepa's cave is entered from the gompa's vestibule. Pilgrim's offerings of decorated stones along the path and sweet-smelling herbs and wild flowers growing all around make this a place of great peace and beauty. The cave itself is kept as a shrine by two monks, guarding a statue of Milarepa enclosed in a glass case.
Restoration work within the cave and the monastery was undertaken by artists and craftsmen from Nepal[3] and was financed by the Chinese government in the 1970's.
[edit] In art
The cave and the Pelgye Ling temple hae been the subject of Richard Gere's artisic photo work, Milarepa's Cave, Nyelam Pelgye Ling Temple, Tibet (1993).[4]
[edit] External links
- ^ Tibet: Highlights in Brief
- ^ Karl-Heinz Everding, "Tibet: lamaistische Klosterkulturen, nomadische Lebensformen und bäuerlicher Alltag ...", p. 260. ISBN 3770148037
- ^ Dowman, Keith. 1988. The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London & New York. ISBN 0-7102-1370-0, p. 282.
- ^ MARGARETT LOKE, "Art In Review" Column New York Times, November 28, 1997
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