The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide

Abstract

Tibet, the mysterious mountainous plateauland that separates India and China, remained inaccessible to the outside world until the 1980s. At first only a few highly priced tour groups were allowed into Lhasa but in 1984 the Chinese, who have controlled Tibet since 1959, began to encourage all forms of tourism in an effort to earn foreign exchange. In recent months the riots in Lhasa have disrupted this traffic and in Spring 1989 halted it completely. The situation is still fluid and any intending visitor should check with tour agents before departure. The Tibet Guide offers detailed descriptions of the most important and accessible religious sites in Central and Western Tibet. The second edition, due to be published by 1990, adds a scholarly account of the monasteries in Eastern Tibet and an update of travel possibilities within the country. The book is lavishly illustrated throughout with excellent modern colour photographs and several black and white images of old Tibet. History and religion are well covered and the iconographical section will prove very useful for visitors to the recently reconstructed temples and monasteries. Religious life is at the centre of Tibetan culture but by concentrating only on this topic the Tibet Guide ignores several fascinating aspects of the country. Mount Everest for example barely gets a mention and the book will be of little use to mountaineers. Tibetan flora and fauna are likewise ignored despite the interest generated by the work of Kingdom Ward and other naturalists earlier this century. However, the most serious lapse in this guidebook is the lack of information about the lifestyles of the Tibetans, an integral part of this unique culture now threatened by increased Chinese immigration and its first real contact with the outside world. Despite these reservations, The Tibet Guide does cover its chosen subject in commendable detail and is presented in a format that will attract the casual visitor and the armchair traveller, as well as those more intimately concerned with the country. As its title implies The Pilgrim's Guide is not a standard tourist guidebook, it is a description of the history, location and significance of religious sites in Central Tibet. The book is based on a translation of a work by a nineteenth century Tibetan monk whose observations have been edited and updated by Keith Dowman, a Tibetan scholar who has lived in the East for many years. As well as covering every valley in Central Tibet in considerable detail, the author also includes descriptions of the major sites along the Lhasa to Katmandu road, now easily within the reach of the modern visitor. Many of the side valleys described by the author are little known to Western academics and the excellent maps include all roads and major footpaths. Only a short description of each site is given and as a result some visitors to major monasteries may find the coverage scanty. However for those with time to visit the more remote temples and caves The Pilgrim's Guide is indispensible. It is written in a style that is accessible to the interested layman as well as the Buddhist scholar. Together The Pilgrim's Guide and The Tibet Guide offer a well researched and informed look at Tibetan religious culture and have helped to pierce the veil that has hidden this remarkable land from the outside world for so long. A. B. ROWE