The world-famous Buddhist monastery of Alchi in Ladakh, India, is the best-preserved temple complex in the Himalayas. Proposed for inclusion in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list in 1998, the monastery's artworks reveal influences from India and Tibet across Central Asia and Iran, even as far back as Ancient Greece. Housing thousands of rare paintings and sculptures from the area dating back to the eleventh century, it provides fascinating insight into the spiritual and secular life of medieval Kashmir and Western Tibet.
The Dalai Lama has authorized the publication of images of these Buddhist masterpieces for the first and only time. Beautifully photographed by Peter van Ham, the images in this volume capture the miniaturesque delicacy and broad range of color of these precious works. With essays by renowned Tibetologist Amy Heller, and a foreward by His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself, this once-in-a-lifetime volume offers fascinating new insights--including a large panorama double gate fold--into one of the most beautiful monasteries in the Himalayas.
Alchi: Treasure of the Himalayas, Peter van Ham, Amy Heller, Hirmer, Hardcover (11.5"x12.5"), 422 pp., $72.00.
Peter van Ham is a Frankfurt-based author and photographer who has been researching Himalayan culture for nearly thirty years, documenting it in a dozen books to date.
Amy Heller is a Tibetologist and art historian.
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7
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FOREWORD BY HIS HOLINESS, THE DALAI LAMA
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10
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INTRODUCING THE SANCTUARIES -- SPECIALTIES, SINGULARITIES, PECULIARITIES
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16
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SURROUNDING THE SANCTUARIES -- MOUNTAINS, DESERTS, VALLEYS
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22
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FOUNDING THE SANCTUARIES -- BACKGROUNDS, REASONS, CONSEQUENCES
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32
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DATING THE SANCTUARIES -- EVIDENCE, OPPOSITIONS, PROOF
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54
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STRUCTURING THE SANCTUARIES -- PROGRAMS, STORIES, ICONS
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62
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DRESSING THE SANCTUARIES -- STYLES, MOTIFS, TRAITS
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78
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THE CONGREGATION HALL -- VAIROCHANA TEMPLE / DUKHANG
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146
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THE THREE-TIER TEMPLE -- SUMTSEK
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146
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The First Floor
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258
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The Second Floor
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328
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The Ceiling
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344 |
The Third Floor |
| 358 |
THE TEMPLE OF WISDOM -- MANJUSHRI TEMPLE / JAMPAL LHAKHANG |
| 366 | THE STUPAS -- CHORTEN |
| 386 |
THE OTHER TEMPLES |
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386 |
Other Temples of the Dukhang Complex |
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392 |
The Translator's Temple -- Lotsava Lhakhang |
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394 |
The New Temple -- Lhakhang Soma |
| 396 |
INSCRIBING THE SANCTUARIES -- DEDICATIONS, ENIGMAS, REVELATIONS |
| 406 |
WORKING ON THE SANCTUARIES -- THANKS, NOTES, SCRIPTURES |
| 420 |
FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT / COLOPHON |
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