- Gyantse
Gyantse (rGyal rtse) also spelled Gyangtse, Gyangdzê; (Chinese: 江孜镇; Wylie: "rgyal rtse"; Tibetan: རྒྱལ་རྩེ་) is a town located in
Gyangzê County , Shigatse Prefecture. It is the fourth largest city in Tibet (afterLhasa ,Shigatse andChamdo ). It is 3,977 metres (13,050 ft) above sea level, and is located in the fertile plain of the Nyang Chu valley and on the Friendship Highway, which connectsKathmandu ,Nepal toLhasa ,Tibet .The town is strategically located in the
Nyang-chu Valley on the ancient trade routes from theChumbi Valley,Yatung andSikkim , which met here. From Gyantse, routes led to Shigatse downstream and also over the Karo La (Pass) to Central Tibet. [Dowman, Keith. 1988. "The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide". Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and New York. ISBN 0-7102-1370-0, p. 269]The fortress guarded the southern approaches to the
Tsangpo Valley and Lhasa. [Allen, Charles. (2004). "Duel in the Snows: The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa", p. 30. John Murray (publishers), London. ISBN 0-7195-5427 6.]Gyantse was the third largest city in Tibet before being overtaken by
Chamdo . It is often referred to as the "Hero City" because during the British Younghusband expedition of 1904, the 500 soldiers of the Gyantse fort held the fort for several days before they were overcome by the British forces.Gyantse is notable for its magnificent tiered
Kumbum (literally, '100,000 images') of thePalcho Monastery , the largestchörten in Tibet. The Kumbum was commissioned by a Gyantse prince in 1427 and was an important centre of theSakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. This religious structure contains 77 chapels in its six floors, and is illustrated with over 10,000 murals, many showing a strongNepal i influence which have survived pretty well intact. They are the last of this type in Tibet. Many of the restored clay statues are of less artistry than the destroyed originals - but they are still spectacular. [Dowman, Keith. 1988. "The Power-places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide". Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and New York. ISBN 0-7102-1370-0, p. 27o] [Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005). "Tibet", p. 167. Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 1-74059-523-8.]The town was nearly destroyed in 1954 and was largely emptied of people by the Chinese in 1959. During the
Cultural Revolution the monastery and Kumbum were ransacked or destroyed. ["Tibet: a travel survival kit". (1986) Michael Buckley and Robert Strauss, p. 158. Lonely Planet Publications, South Yarra, Australia. ISBN 0-0908086-88-1.]The
BBC Four documentary "A Year in Tibet" focused on the lives of ordinary Tibetans living in this city.Footnotes
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