Lay officials taking part in the Monlam Torgya procession

Lay officials taking part in the Monlam Torgya procession

1999.23.2.35 (Print black & white)

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Key Information

Photographer

H. Staunton ?

Collection

Harry Staunton

Date of Photo

1940 - 1941 [March]

Region

Lhasa > Barkhor

Accession number

1999.23.2.35

Image Dimensions

67 x 112 mm

Lay officials processing on foot along the Barkhor to the Jokhang or 'Cathedral' in Lhasa. This procession takes place on the twenty-fourth day of the first Tibetan month during the ceremony of the Casting Out the Votive Offering, Monlam Torgya, at the end of the Great Prayer festival, Monlam Chenmo. Crowds of monks line the street and there are spectators in the windows and on the roofs of some of the houses. In the centre in the background there is an extremely tall prayer flag pole.

Further Information

Photographic Process

Print gelatin silver

Date Acquired

Donated 1999

Donated by

Diana Hughes

Expedition

H. Staunton

Photo also owned by

Diana Hughes

Other Information

Notes on print/mount - "Velox" in black ink and the number 611 in red are stamped on the back of this image. [KC 28/10/2005]

Other Information - Related images: 1999.23.2.34, 1999.23.2.13, 1999.23.2.14, 1999.23.2.17, 1999.23.2.18, 1999.23.2.43. These all document the procession on the 24th of the 1st Tibetan month. [KC 28/10/2005] Also, 1999.23.1.43.2 is a photograph of the same street taken at a different time. [KC 29/11/2005]

Other Information - Dates


Other Information - Dates: Staunton was certainly in Lhasa for the Tibetan New Year in 1940 and possibly in 1941. This image is part of a group of 17 photographs taken over a two-day period (the 23rd and 24th of the first Tibetan month) which have the number 611 stamped in red on the back. [KC 31/10/2005]

Other Information - Setting


Other Information - Setting: According to T. the squat 3-storey house on the right is Pomdatsang (The old Tsarong house). The house opposite it is the Surkhang house and the house in the foreground, on the left, with people on the roof is Lhabrang Nyingba. The photograph was probably taken from the roof of Samdru Phodrang (also known as Phodangshar and Yabshi Sampho) the house of the 7th Dalai Lama's (Kelsang Gyatso) family. [KC 14/11/2005]

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "Lay officials taking part in the Monlam Torgya procession" 05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1999.23.2.35.html>.

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