Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is one of the world-famous hottest tourist places. During the trip in Tibet, photographers might get dizzy with so many scenes, among which are the Tibetan Buddhist stupas and statues with diverse shapes. However, what is the diverse information behind all these precious historical cultural relics might be rarely known to people.

Based on the latest research from Jegyel Pasang Norbu, expert of the Tibet Museum and Shaka Wangdu, deputy researcher of the Tibet Research Institute of Cultural Relics Preservation, we hereby offer our readers the basic knowledge of Tibetan stupas and Buddha statues, which are popular in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. We hope that this information will be helpful for tourists to better understand the unique Tibetan culture.

"Eight Chintamani Pogodas": closely related to the Shakyamuni

Stupas in Tibetan regions are not only precious cultural relics but also masterpieces of Tibetan arts. Shaka Wangdu explained that the stupas' shapes and characteristics during the 10th and 15th century take after those introduced to Tibet after the establishment of the Tubo Kingdom with both Indian and Nepalese characteristics. The steps often have two or three layers with square or polygonal horizontal profile and an inverted-bowl-like body.

The 11th century saw diversity in the Tibetan Buddhist stupas. As far as we know, there are eight major styles, each closely related to the life stories of Shakyamuni.

Following are some basic introductions of those eight stupas:

Enlightenment Stupa: It symbolizes the birth of Shakyamuni, and features in the four circular-lotus-shape levels.

Bodhi Stupa: It symbolizes Shakyamuni’s enlightenment in the Rajagriha. The stupa usually has a regular tetrahedron base and a four-layer step, representing the four avatars of Shakya Buddha respectively.

Dharmachakra Stupa: It shows the scene where Shakyamuni turning the dharma wheel in Varanasi.It is in the form of a wheel with many spokes, representing the Shakyamuni is teaching the spiritual laws of the universe.

Miraculous Transformation Stupa: It shows that Shakyamuni is showing his supernatural power in Shravasti. Its step is either shaped in a four-regular-octahedron or a four-regular-tetrahedron.

Descent Stupa: It symbolizes Shakyamuni’s descent to the man’s world after thirty-three days. It is featured with four levels of regular octahedron. Each has one step representing the heavenly ladder that leads Shakyamuni back to life.

Harmonious Stupa: It symbolizes the peaceful reconciliation of Devadatta’s splitting monastic sects. It also has four levels of octahedrons with the edge angle of the groove surface over 90 degrees.

Vijaya Victorious Stupa: It symbolizes Shakyamuni empowered himself to extend three more months of longevity in the man’s world. The stupa of three circular levels was built to honor his success in beating Monster Death.

Nirvana Stupa: This stupa has no base but a bell-shape body to symbolize Shakyamuni’s nirvana.

Localized statues: taking after beautiful boys and girls

In terms of statue, Jegyel Palsang Norbu pointed out that Tibetan Buddhist statues can be categorized into two major schools, i.e. exotic statues and local Tibetan statues. Yet, both can be further divided into more specific genres.

"With the spreading of Buddhist culture since the 7th century, many schools of Buddhist statues emerged in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In other words, Tibet has witnessed almost all kinds of statues," said Jegyel Palsang Norbu.

He pointed out that people could see various statue styles dated to all ages when visiting some time-honored monasteries like the Sakya Monastery, Samye Monastery and Potala Palace, the architectural icon of Tibet.

Based on investigation of current statues, Jegyel Palsang Norbu pointed out that the statues style mainly included East Indian statues, Kashmir statues, Nepalese statues, and Yong Xuan statues (statues prevalent at the royal court in the age of Emperor Yongle and Xuande in the Ming Dynasty, some 1403 -1435 AD).

"Ever since Buddhism was introduced to the Tubo Kingdom in the 7th century, the Buddha statues have been localized consciously or unconsciously to cater to the traditional Tibetan appreciation of beauty."

The 7th century – 9th century saw the introduction, development and prosperity of Buddhism in Tubo Kingdom. Songtsan Gambo, Trisong Detsan and Tri Ralpachen, who contributed to the promotion of Buddhism in their respective age, are honored as "three religious kings".

Songtsan Gambo greeted two life-sized of Shakyamuni in age of 8 and 12 respectively from Nepla and the Tang Dynasty. He later constructed twelve temples and monasteries where he built plenty statues to receive worship from the Buddhist believers.

Trisong Detsan constructed the first Buddhist monastery in Tibetan history that has Buddha, dharma, and monks, which is the Samye Monastery. He also invited Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava to localize the image of deities so as to let the common people take to heart easily. Guru Rinpoche then chose some beautiful Tibetan boys and girls as models to adjust the appearance of Buddha statues, such as Arya Avalokiteshvara, Hayagriva, and Tara. Their costumes took after the Tubo locals'.

Statues in the age of Tri Ralpachen, carried forward the previous artistic characteristics.