Guru Ghantal’s Unusual Mandalas and Hairy Mystery

Sept. 15, 2013     Lahauli adventure continues…

Today was Guru Ghantal. Magnificent! Also known as Gandhola, it is the oldest of the existing monasteries in Lahaul with archeological evidence dating to 1^st century C.E. What a place of tremendous significance for its location, history of great masters and activities, and having an ancient charnel ground considered one of the eight sacred ones in the Buddhist world. It is said that the unparalleled 2^nd century C.E. Buddhist scholar and meditation master Nagarjuna, founder of Madhyamaka (“Middle Way”) school of thought and considered one of the most important philosophers second only to the historical Buddha himself, spent time in retreat here.

Driver D dropped me off, and after ensuring that the nearby Thupcholing Monastery monk who is associated with Guru Ghantal was going to take the hike up with me, he waited at the bottom rather than accompany us. It’s a pretty steep climb up overgrown paths and sandy trails. The young monk, of course, not only being young but not challenged by high altitude like I was, darted up and would wait patiently for me to catch up, meanwhile chatting about Sino-Indian relations and asking enthusiastically about Western thought. I thought to myself, a veritable 21^st century monk right here before me!

Guru Ghantal’s namesake comes from another celebrated master named Drilbupa Guru Ghantapa. He hailed from Nalanda originally as a Brahmin prince who later became a Buddhist scholar monk, and then a yogi. He is revered for introducing a highest yoga tantra, Chakrasamvara, and for attaining full enlightenment by meditating on Drilbu Ri. This mountain also gained its name from him and has since been considered the sacred abode of the deity. Indeed there is little in Lahaul that does not owe its spiritual allegiance to Guru Ghantapa since the area is believed to be charged with the profoundness of his enlightenment and Chakrasamvara’s energy.

As for the monastery’s sacred location, it is not only situated on the slopes of Drilbu Ri, for centuries a pilgrimage site as important as Mount Kailash, it also overlooks the confluence of the mighty Bhaga and Chandra Rivers. Hindus and Buddhists alike consider this an auspicious, powerful junction physically and symbolically, a holy place to cremate the deceased and spread their ashes.

Today, Guru Ghantal is largely empty and needs preservation. In its heyday over the past millennium, the complex of hermitage, meditation caves, and stupas garnered the presence of great Indian and Tibetan masters such as the ones mentioned, as well as Gyalwa Gotsangpa (whose imprints in stone I’ve written about here) and the Siddha Orgyenpa. When Indian Buddhism declined in about the 13^th century, Tibetan Buddhism of the Drukpa lineage continued to flourish here, with Gandhola as the central monastery in Lahaul.

In the latter half of the 19^th century, Drukpa spiritual leaders of Bhutan sent Lama Tashi Temphel to Gandhola to guide and teach Lahaulis. He was not only an accomplished lama but he was an artist and physician as well. This brought about a revitalization, because at his leadership, monasteries were restored, rituals improved, and temples beautified with paintings he himself did or trained others to do.

According to the book Garsha (see this post for further info), all the sacred deities, mandalas, and Drukpa lineage holders at Guru Ghantal were painted by Lama Tashi Temphel circa 1870.  He also painted images at Tayul around this time during its expansion. He built Thupcholing for novices, who would spend three years there before moving on to practice at Guru Ghantal or other monastery. All ancient statues that were originally at Gandhola now reside there.

Upon reviewing recently with a geshe the photographs I took of the ceiling, he remarked that the mandalas were unusual. The center one, which is rather damaged, is very likely a Chakrasamvara mandala. He believes all smaller ones, though their designs are unconventional, are dakini mandalas.

The ceiling designs all appear to have been painted on paper and then installed. Although there are signs of water damage and disintegration, the overall state is quite intact and still vibrant. The detailed scrollwork is particularly fine and delightfully detailed.

On the beams appear lineage masters.

On the walls of the third floor are paintings of deities on canvas.

As it turned out, my driver should have come up to see Gandhola. I saw a special thing in the gonkhang (chapel usually dedicated to guardian deities) off the main hall of the temple which D was interested in and had never seen.  It was dreadlocks of human hair that is supposed to be endowed with spiritual power.

According to legend, hundreds of years ago, a lama was sitting in retreat meditating in this prayer room when he was accosted by a spirit.  He managed to grab the spirit by the hair, and hence, this is the miraculous proof of it. D said that encounters with the hair can impart energies, positive or negative, depending on whether your heart is good or not. Gee, does it make a difference that I thought it was yak hair at first? But indeed on closer examination, it looked like human hair, which effects a weird feeling to see such a fetish of unknown origin and purpose.

I heard an alternative suggestion. In the 12^th century, revered scholar Sakya Pandita was famous for defeating masters of other religions in debates. In those days, religious debates were taken very seriously. The loser had to adopt the victor’s religion, and in the case of the loser adopting Buddhism, s/he must cut their hair. The loser’s hair therefore symbolized victory for Buddhist philosophy and debate. Perhaps it’s possible that the hair at Guru Ghantal is related to such a debate outcome.

The gonkang also contained a standing chest that had two protector deity masks hidden inside. These are typically used in Tibetan Buddhist cham dances. Lama Temphel is credited with improving the cham dances of Shashur Monastery. These ritual are usually created through visionary means. Danced by monks, they are said to be able to transmit profound Buddhist states to the beholder because they are meditative performances.

So today, with all the photography done at the monasteries I intended to visit in Lahaul–Shashur, Tayul, Kardang, and Guru Ghantal–I arranged to do the Drilbu Ri kora with a guide. Yes, I’m going to do it! The Thupcholing monk told me that climbing Drilbu Ri is no steeper than climbing up to Gandhola, just that it’s much longer, of course. What he said, together with the fact that I’ve now down mini-treks all around Keylong getting to monasteries and the one from Kardang back to town, emboldened me to go for it!

After all, in Garsha there is more to be found in the space and landscape than there is in paintings, so I was told correctly, and now I know. Even though the monastic sites here date at least to the 10th century if not before, there are no Indo-Tibetan murals to be seen here as there were in Spiti. I was advised along the way that Lahaul is to be experienced physically as a sacred location. All right, then, so what better way than to do the pilgrimage circumambulation of Drilbu Ri mountain, right?

All photos © 2013, Eva Lee.