Key Information

Photographer

Rabden Lepcha?

Collection

Sir Charles Bell

Date of Photo

May 20th - 21st 1921

Region

Lhasa Area > Kungtang > Monastery

Accession number

1998.285.189

Image Dimensions

120 x 163 mm

Banner suspended from the roof of Kungtang monastery. People in foreground and on roof.

Further Information

Photographic Process

Negative glass plate gelatin , Negative Half Plate

Date Acquired

Donated 1983

Donated by

St Antony's College, Oxford.

Expedition

Sir Charles Bell's Mission to Lhasa 1920-21

Photo also owned by

Royal Central Asiatic Society

Revised Photographer

Rabden Lepcha?

Previous Catologue Number

H.166

Previous Pitt Rivers Museum Number

BL.H.166

Manual Catalogues -

Manual Catalogues - Bell's List of Illustrations entry: "[No. of chapter] XXX. [Subject of Chapter] Arts and Crafts. [Subject of Illustration] H.166 (o) Large silk embroidery picture of Buddha at Kung-tang monastery several hundred years old. Made when the monastery was founded."

Other Information - Setting

Other Information - Setting: On May 20th according to Bell's Diary, he travelled to Kungtang, 5 miles from Lhasa up the Kyi Chu Valley, to witness the religious ceremonies that commemorated the birth of Gotama Buddha, the enlightenment of Gotama Buddha and the Buddha's entry into Nirvana. Bell describes the ceremonies in some detail in his Diary for May 21st 1921. [MS 15/9/2004]

For Citation use:
The Tibet Album. "Embroidered banner of Buddha on Kungtang monastery" 05 Dec. 2006. The Pitt Rivers Museum. <http://tibet.prm.ox.ac.uk/photo_1998.285.189.html>.

For more information about photographic usage or to order prints, please visit the The Pitt Rivers Museum.