Terma of Dolpo: The Secret Library of Pijor

By Amy Heller

The Pijor Library Project team (From left: Mario Mignucci, Maya Roncoroni, Chino Roncoroni, Lama Tenzin, Aldo Mignucci, Amy Heller and three Sherpa attendants (Photography by Fiorenze Mignucci)

In the realm of Tibetan spirituality, the discovery of terma (religious treasure) is a very important event. Terma can be visions of saints who reveal their teachings to a later spiritual descendant known as the `treasure discover' (ter-ton), or texts which were hidden long ago by great religious heroes like Padmasambhava, for revelation to karmically appropriate persons at a later auspicious time. Terma was indeed `rediscovered' when the Pijor manuscripts were brought to light by the Pritzker-Roncoroni expeditions to Dolpo, a Tibetan region in northwestern Nepal. These illuminated manuscripts, which date from the fourteenth or fifteenth century, are in almost perfect condition, and are informative about the pantheon of Buddhism in Dolpo during this period. Together with supporting texts which corroborate their contents, these manuscripts will help us better understand the political and social context of Dolpo in relation to Tibet and its neighbours. Expedition leaders Tom Pritzker and Chino Roncoroni are businessmen who have a long-standing fascination with Tibet and the Himalayas. Extensive travel in the region has endowed them with a unique understanding of Tibetan civilization and a keen appreciation for its way of life and its art. Pritzker first visited Dolpo in 1978, as he recalls:

It opened my eyes to the notion that the Himalayas still held the potential for new discovery. This was both amazing and thrilling. Although I did not have the appropriate academic background, I realized that I could be a vehicle for the dissemination of information about the hidden treasures of some very, very interesting civilizations. This has motivated my work in Spiti and west Tibet, and got me over 17,000-foot passes. Frankly, our discovery of the Pijor library was an accident - an `accidental' find which has taken 25 years of learning and dreaming, and 25 days of high-altitude trekking.

In the summer of 1999, Pritzker and Roncoroni, together with eleven members of their respective families, began a trek towards upper Dolpo. This is a remote area, little known and rarely visited because of the high altitude, basic living conditions, and the steep daily fee for tourists imposed by the government. The landscapes are breathtaking: lakes of turquoise waters framed by fragrant juniper bushes, craggy mountains and vast expanses of pasture spread out like carpet. There are few towns, no local inns, and only villagers who farm or shepherds moving their flock from one high pasture to the next. For one month, the expedition caravan, which comprised seventy people, eight horses and fifteen yaks carrying tents and provisions, wound its way through various villages and hamlets. At each settlement, the team would ask the residents to show them their illuminated manuscripts, some of which they photographed. In exchange, donations were given to local temples and monasteries. By word-of-mouth, news of the caravan's arrival spread quickly, even to the distant valleys. By the time they reached Pijor three weeks later, there were already seven or eight ancient books stacked outside the local temple awaiting the expedition's arrival. Their wooden covers, calligraphy and illuminations appeared to be from about the fourteenth century. Pijor was reputed to possess an ancient collection of Buddhist manuscripts. From 1960, Corneille Jest and David Snellgrove lived in Dolpo for eighteen months, respectively investigating the traditional Tibetan lifestyle and the region's religious and cultural history. It was Jest who first wrote about Pijor's position as a repository of Tibetan Buddhist manuscripts. He mentioned that `a king of Jumla had given works from the Buddhist canon to sixteen brothers living in Pijor' (Jest, p. 54). As soon as the Nesar monastery in Pijor came into sight, expedition members were reminded of traditional Tibetan architecture by its trapezoid form, the sun-baked brick, and stone and pebble mortar. Inside the monastery, there appeared to be one main room, and a section of an ambulatory - a layout which followed the Indian tradition of temple construction, similar to Ramoche, one of the oldest temples in Lhasa. The differing height of the wooden pillars and capitals which defined the ambulatory section suggested that the core structure might be quite ancient. However, the building had undergone transformation over time, and the centre of the temple was now completely hidden behind a solid wall of stone and mud blocks. According to Lama Tenzin, who also acts as the village headman, the monastery had only five residents. The library was walled up several years ago after the theft of some books by two men from Jumla. The lama reckoned that there were perhaps 450 books in the sealed chamber. When he became aware of Pritzker and Roncoroni's interest in and respect for all things Tibetan, Lama Tenzin decided to accompany them on their trek through the Pijor district. A close friendship was forged during this period and there were discussions about the future of Pijor. Permitting the expedition to examine and photograph the manuscripts would mean breaking down the protective wall. However, the proposed donation and resulting restoration work would perhaps fulfil Lama Tenzin's dreams of making the monastery as beautiful as it deserved to be. He also expressed a desire to help his community through education, and felt that a revival of the monastery would stimulate the villagers' interest in reading and scholarship. In practical terms, this would mean reconstructing the library, purchasing prayer wheels, rebuilding the roof and installing it with the traditional Buddhist ornaments (umbrellas for the corners and statues of two deer surrounding the Wheel of the Law - a reminder of the Buddha's first teaching in the deer park in Benares). However, the lama explained that the decision to open the wall was not his alone: the villagers had to agree as well. The Pritzker and Roncoroni families were supportive and agreed to embark on restoration if the necessary consensus was reached. Within days of the lama's return to the village, a decision was made. In December 1999, Lama Tenzin arrived in Kathmandu, bearing a document impressed with each villager's thumbprint of approval. In May 2000, the Pijor Library Project team arrived in the village. It consisted of Maya Roncoroni and Aldo Mignucci, the two principal photographers, three assistants, carpenters, porters and Sherpa camp attendants. I was the resident Tibetologist and art historian responsible for recording the contents of the library. Our aims were to restore the rooftop and the interior of the monastery, and to catalogue and photograph manuscripts in the sealed chamber. Once camp had been set up, demolition of the wall began. As dust settled after the first blocks were broken, we looked through the hole in the wall to discover shelves full of books. We entered the core chamber, examined the central Maitreya image and began counting the volumes. The total number no less than 650 - far surpassed Lama Tenzin's initial estimate. Many volumes appeared to be quite old. Only ten days had been set aside for examination, measurement, cataloguing and photography of the appropriate volumes. It was therefore a race against time to complete our tasks. As the carpenters were taking measurements, two Sherpas moved the books from the shelves and attempted to organize them in some fashion. These activities were carried out under the watchful eye of Lama Tenzin. He would often come to the table where cataloguing was being carried out. Although he was busy supervising the restoration work, he assisted me for several days, writing some of the entries. We soon realized that some of the books had not been opened for years. We had to cover our mouths to avoid excessive inhalation of dust. Cotton gloves were worn both to protect the books and our hands from the arsenic coating of the paper which acts as an insecticide. It had been decided that an inventory of the library's contents should be taken and all the books with illuminations photographed. The books were correspondingly numbered on the shelves and in two separate registers, one in Tibetan to be kept in the village and another, in romanized script, for our analysis and eventual publication. All efforts will also be made to publicize the material. The installation of new shelves and a security system will protect the library and lessen the likelihood of theft. Above all, the restored monastery will once again become the religious and educational centre of the village, encouraging villagers to participate in ceremonies and learn to read the books for themselves. Library catalogues and inventories were made over the centuries in the great monasteries near cities, but rarely beyond the urban setting. The Pijor inventory thus presents a golden opportunity for studying the contents of a village monastic library as a collection of books accumulated from donations by successive generations of inhabitants. The collection is also valuable as it has suffered few significant losses over the centuries. Efforts like this are vital for the field of Tibetan studies, since they are no longer conceivable in Tibet after the massive destruction of the Cultural Revolution. In addition, the Pijor documents may help to clarify issues in the complex history of Dolpo, such as the patronage of Tibetan Buddhism, or when the region was independent or subject to the control and political influence of neighbouring kingdoms such as the Tibetan Gung thang in the twelfth century, the Yatse from Jumla during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and the Mustang sovereigns in the fifteenth century (for the Yatse patronage of `Brigung and Sakya, see Vitali, p. 457). Lama Tenzin had set aside a group of liturgical texts, medical treatises, and a few documents recounting the administration and history of Nesar for his own use at home. Even the lama, who has lived in the village for many years, has not read through all the books in the monastery. As the Samling nearby is one of Nepal's most important Bonpo monasteries, the lama's personal library also included some Bonpo historical texts. We found that several volumes of religious literature had a dedicatory inscription in the front mentioning the patron who commissioned the manuscript and where he lived, with quotes from religious texts. Words are considered sacred in Tibetan Buddhism since they are the means by which the historical Buddha Shakyamuni transmitted his teaching and his beliefs. As the written word represents Shakyamuni's personal expression, the copying of a religious text is regarded as an act of merit. The accumulation of merit ultimately leads to the accumulation of good karma for ensuring positive rebirth. However, it is believed that a more immediate result is the generation of good fortune for an entire community as well as the individuals directly responsible as donors and scribes. Consequently, the inscriptions on several volumes were also written when the manuscript was copied to explain the circumstances of its creation. These often began with a quotation from classical Tibetan literature or cosmological scripture. After examining several texts, it soon became clear that there was a formulaic refrain of sorts. Several phrases appeared constantly, like `High peaks, pure earth, Tibet the land of Pugyal'. This is an expression already found in the earliest historical texts, like the Royal Chronicles of the Tibetan Dynasty (c. 800), and known from manuscripts recovered from the Dunhuang caves in China. (In Western literature, the `Tibetan Dynasty' is often referred to as the Yarlung, named after the river-valley of their principal necropolis. In Tibetan sources, writers refer to the dynasty as the Pugyal, after Oday Pugyal, the founder-forefather who was designated as first sovereign, a distant ancestor of Srong tsan gam po, the first historic Tibetan king of the seventh century.) Other phrases indicate knowledge of traditional Buddhist cosmology. There are about twenty inscriptions which connect Pijor with the greater Dolpo region, then the holy site of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarowar and finally, Jambudvipa, the continent where humanity lives, and Mount Meru. These places are linked in a hierarchical manner such that there is a direct relation from the earthly to the sacred realms. The reference to Yatse is important as it provides a chronological framework. The Yatse is the Tibetan name for the dynasty which Nepalese refer to as the Khasa Malla, who were based in Jumla (modern Semja) (see Ian Alsop, `The Metal Sculpture of the Khasa Malla Kingdom', in Orientations, June 1994, pp. 61-68). From the early thirteenth century until the fifteenth century, when they were superseded by the Mustang in northwestern Nepal, individual rulers of the Yatse dynasty were often supportive of Tibetan monastic orders. It appears that some of the earliest manuscripts from Pijor may be attributed to the reign of Sonam De (Punyamalla) who reigned as king of Yatse from about 1329 to 1339. He had already ascended to the throne of Purang as a young man. Although Sonam De patronized the `Brigung and made donations to the principal temple at Lhasa, he was also a staunch supporter of the Sakya and a patron of Buton, the famous abbot of Shalu. Soon after Buton (1289-1364) had completed his edition of the Tibetan Buddhist canon in 1335, Sonam De had a copy of it made. This was probably delivered to him when he was already in Yatse (Vitali, pp. 348-453). According to several historical documents preserved in Pijor, Sonam De supported a new phase of reconstruction at Nesar monastery, in collaboration with the local lama, a follower of the Sakya school. To mark the completion of this reconstruction, a copy of the Tibetan canon was installed at the monastery library. A dedication scene from a leaf of a Prajnaparamita manuscript (N.327) depicts a monk wearing red robes and a Sakya hat, making offerings as he consecrates a book on a stool at the behest of the royal family. This may be Sonam De and his entourage, circa 1336. It is possible that some of the Pijor manuscripts with references to Sonam De may originally have been part of the ruler's copy of the 1335 canon. A document entitled History of Kenpo Jamyang is about the abbot who collaborated closely with Sonam De on the reconstruction of Nesar in the early fourteenth century. Kenpo Jamyang's document was conserved and later recopied by local lamas, followers of the Sakya order which had become very influential in Dolpo and Mustang. It is among the historical records which have been kept for generations in the family of Lama Tenzin. The History traces the monastery from the founding of its first temple by a lama named Tsugna Rinchen, which local tradition traces to the eleventh century. For the present, no documents from this early period have been recovered. However, the radiocarbon dating of wood fragments from the early capitals confirm a date between the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In the early thirteenth century, the Shey monastery near Pijor, came under the influence of Grubthob Senge Yeshe, a hermit lama who had meditated near Kailash around 1215. He then settled in Dolpo, bringing with him the `Brigung teachings, which took root in Dolpo and the nearby Limi region (Mathes, 1999). The Yatse kings were patrons of the `Brigung even though their later support of the Sakya had the effect of balancing royal patronage in Tibet; consequently the Sakya and `Brigung were embroiled in an increasingly bitter struggle for dominance until the end of the thirteenth century. Sonam De's successor is also mentioned in some manuscript dedications:

In Jambudvipa the southern continent, where Buddha's prophecy of the spread of Buddhism is flourishing in the land of snows, the [land] mNga ris skor gsum, south of the Kailash mountain glacier, domain of the dharma-protecting king Pirti Dmal, in the virtuous `Dzum [for Dzumla], this gentle expanse of spread of the Buddhist doctrine and abundance of bliss, from the family Ya Rabs who practise the holy teachings, the donor bSod rin btsan bin and his helpers, the donors Blo ldan `mgon po and his wife, and those who now have the responsibility of the land...

The inscription clearly refers to Prithivimalla, one of Sonam De's sons, who reigned from 1354 to 1358. He was not the patron who commissioned the copying, but the reigning king who controlled Pijor during this period. The inscriptions inform us that these manuscripts were local commissions by the residents of Pijor or its nearby towns. They do not appear to have reached Pijor after being completed elsewhere as they reflect local production: the scribes and the donors were often from the same village. There is also a manuscript from Lang gompa nearby, which was copied during the mid-fifteenth century and is now at Pijor. Klaus-Dieter Mathes has identified the sovereign referred to in the dedicatory inscription as Tashi gon, ruler of Mustang (d. 1489). The accuracy of this identification has been corroborated by several Pijor dedications which also name his predecessor Agon Zangpo (r. c. 1450s), and his brothers. Pijor is referred to as `lonsa', the minister's district. It was administered by one of Tashi gon's brothers as part of the Mustang kingdom (Jackson, pp. 120-21). Jest had reported that traditionally, administrative taxes were paid to Jumla and religious taxes to Mustang (Jest, pp. 53-54). When the Mustang dynasty came to power during the first half of the fifteenth century, it came under the particular influence of Ngor chen, the famous Sakya lama, who visited and served as chaplain to Ama pal, the dynastic founder. The Pijor illuminations are fascinating, especially the rendering of body proportions and the distinctive costumes. The colours are often vibrant; the dry climate and lack of exposure to light have ensured their preservation. Although the subject-matter is typical for this type of religious literature, there are scenes of dedication ceremonies depicting the attendance of rulers and local aristocracy who commissioned the manuscripts. Prithivimalla and his entourage appear to be represented on the dedication scene of another Prajnaparamita manuscript (N. 192). The clothing, with tie-dye and block print designs, offers a unique perspective on textiles and fashions of the period. Even though the illuminations are Tibetan Buddhist, Hindu deities are sometimes included, and in iconography which is more typical of Newari Buddhism; for example, Indra with a thousand eyes, shown standing beside Shakyamuni (see the cover of this issue). The earliest series of manuscripts at Pijor appears to date from the period of the monastery's reconstruction (c. 1330-50), during the reigns of Sonam De and Prithivimalla. A second and third series were similarly commissioned in Pijor during the reigns of Agon Zangpo, and Tashi gon and his nephew in the second half of the fifteenth century. It appears from a preliminary examination that in some instances, the painting style is very close to that of the Kathmandu valley, while other examples are less ornate. In summer this year, another caravan reached Pijor. This time the Roncoroni family brought some 450 kilogrammes of cloth in different colours for wrapping the volumes in the Nesar library. One square metre of cloth and ties were used to wrap each individual volume. Fresh discoveries by the lama since the expedition last year and items from other monasteries were also photographed. However, it remains a mystery why and how the tradition of manuscript commissions and illuminations developed here. Future research will reveal more about the network of relations leading to the creation of this cache of manuscripts. The dedicatory inscriptions are valuable primary sources for studying the geography and history, both political and religious, as well as the `ideology of merit' within the local community. As newly recovered historical documents, the manuscripts will provide a more precise account of influence and interaction between Pijor and the kingdom of Mustang. More work will have to be carried out to determine the subject-matter and the differentiation of period and style of the illuminations. It is hoped that all the material can be made available to scholars and the general public. Publication of the expedition findings and the catalogue is now anticipated for 2004/2005. The Pijor manuscripts are an exceptional resource for studying various aspects of Dolpo's political and religious history. These Buddhist texts are a unique testimony to the faith and endurance of the adherents who commissioned them and the pious scribes who copied them some six centuries ago.