Shigatse to Lhartze
Shalu monastery is not a Bodong monastery. Nevertheless, recordings were collected at this ancient site in the Nyangro region near Shigatse.
In the early 14th century Shalu was the most important centre of learning in Tibet. There, the Buri Rinpoche (1290 - 1364), one of Tibet's greatest scholars, brought together a huge library. From all over the Buddhist world he collected the one hundred and eight fundamental texts of Buddhism (the Kanjur), and the two hundred volumers of treaties and commentaries that make up the Tenjur.
After 1305, Shalu was decorated by Tibetan and Nepalese artists who had been trained in the Mongol imperial workshops under the famous Newari master, Arniko (1245 - 1306). It remains an exceptional repository of Tibetan religious art.
At Bodong-E monastery situated to the South just before Lhartze, we found the monks in mourning for the death of a colleague. Two days of prayers and a sky burial took place before they could perform a ritual for us. In the meantime, Tashi danced for us in a nearby village and endless songs and barley beer took us late into the night.
