Shey palace was built in 1645 by Deldon Namgyal as a summer
residence for the kings of Ladakh. It is the oldest
palace in Ladakh and above the palace is an even older
ruined fortress. From the palace one can get the views
of the ranges in the south to the Thiksey gompa and
in the west to the Zanskar moutain ranges. Hundreds
of chortens of all shapes and sizes stand below the
palace and gompa. These chortens demonstrate the interest
taken by the Ladakhi kings and queens who succeeded
Shey's builder. In 1655, in memory of his father,
this same king built the two-storey Shey gompa adjacent
to the palace. In this gompa he installed a two-storey
high image of the seated Buddha. Presently, there
are only two caretaker lamas in residence. After entering
the central courtyard located on the second storey
of the gompa, a large seated Buddha is found in the
room to one's right. The seated Buddha is 12 meters
high and worked of copper sheets gilded with gold.
This Buddha is the biggest metal statue in the region
and was the largest Buddha statue of any type in Ladakh
until Thiksey gompa installed a 15 meter tall Buddha
made of clay in 1970.
Shey's
Buddha statue was made in 1655 by a Nepalese sculptor
who was assisted by three Ladakhi craftsmen. The
castings of the statue were made in Leh while copper
was collected in Zanskar and hammered into plates
on big rocks. More than five kilos of gold were
then used to plate the copper. The statue was built
in parts in the Zanstil Palace (Zans means copper
and til means "to hammer") in Leh and
then transported to Shey where it was assembled
and installed. Sacrificial offerings such as grain,
jewels, holy signs and mantras are contained inside
the figure.
The most important moment in the construction of
the Buddha figure is when the eyes are painted on,
for this is the moment when the statue can "see".
For this reason, the artist or monk will paint in
a Buddha's pupils over his shoulder, with his back
to the idol, for none would dare to look the Buddha
in the eye. The upper storey contains munerous murals
on the walls. When facing the Buddha, the wall on
the left is painted black and decorated with skulls.
The wallson both sides depict the 16 Arhats (Worthy
Ones who have achieved Nirvana), 8 on each side.
The wall behind the Buddha has images of his two
chief disciples, Sariputra and Maudgalyayana of
Padme Sambhava, an 8th century Indian translator
of Buddhist texts into Tibetan and Tsong-kha-pa,
founder of the yellow-hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism.
To the right of the Buddha are statues of Padme
Sambhava in the center, Dogzang Guru Limbune on
either side and two chortens. Directly in front
of the Buddha, to the right, is a statue of a blue
horseman, Paldon Lamo and to the left is a statue
of the red horseman of Chakmen, representing the
king of Ladakh. Also in front of the Buddha is a
large bowl of wax with a central flame that burns
for one year before being replaced. This flame represents
divinity and purity and is present in front of all
Buddha statues in the Ladakh region. The lower storey
of the gompa has a large library of old books. The
walls are painted with murals of Buddha figures
with the various hand gestures - that of preaching,
teaching, blessing and "earth witness".
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