Key Information

Photographer

Hugh E. Richardson

Collection

Hugh Richardson

Date of Photo

1949

Region

Yarlung Valley Region > Tradrug

Accession number

BMR.6.8.72

Image Dimensions

60 x 90 mm

The Tradrug (khra 'brug) temple in the Yarlung valley with trees in the background. There are dry stone wall enclosures in the foreground.

Further Information

Photographic Process

Transparency Colour

Expedition

Richardson's 1949 tour of the Yarlung and Chyongye valleys

Other Information

Technical Information - The camera used to take this collection of colour slides (Dufay colour) were a Zeiss Super Ikonta and a Reflex Korelle. [KC 09/10/2006]

Manual Catalogues -

Manual Catalogues - Typewritten handlist entitled 'Hugh Richardson Collection, The British Museum. Photographs taken between 1936-50. Cameras: Zeiss Super Ikonta, Reflex Korelle. 300 colour slides (Dufay colour); copies made Jan. 1995.
[no.] 72. Trandruk Temple (Khra 'brug:falcon and dragon), in the Yarlung Valley. Attributed to Songtsen Gampo (7th century). [KC 10/10/2006]

Other Information - Location: Richardson mentions this temple in High Peaks, Pure Earth , London, Serindia Publications, 1998, p. 318. "Further south [of Rtse tshogs pa] is what is probably the oldest religious building in Yarlung, the much revered Khra-'brug (1949) temple. It is attributed to Srong-brtsan Sgam-po and is mentioned in an edict by Khri Srong-lde-brtsan but may well have undergone enlargement or restoration at different times. It is an echo of what the Lhasa Jo-khang may have originally looked like. The temple stands in a courtyard surrounded by a high, solidly built, red-topped white wall and a large gate-house in which is a small chapel. ...". [KC 20/5/2006]

Other Information - Historical background: Tradrug temple is mentioned in Mk'yen Brtse's Guide to the Holy Places of Cental Tibet, Alfonsa Ferrari (Luciano Petech), Roma, Insituto Italiano Per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1958, pp. 49-50 and also p.124, note. 237. [KC 17/10/2006]

See Richardson's A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions, James G. Forlong Series, no. XXIX, 1985, London, Royal Asiatic Society, p. 82-3 for a description of the temple and a discussion of the relevance and meaning of the bell found in the temple and a translation of the inscription on the bell. [KC 20/5/2006]

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "Tradrug temple in the Yarlung Valley" 05 Dec. 2006. The British Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_BMR.6.8.72.html>.

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Tradrug temple in the Yarlung Valley