5.2 Dakpo Trumpa
5.3 Chongye Bumthang
5.4 Khimey
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THE OLD CITY OF LHASA
REPORT FROM A CONSERVATION PROJECT (98-99)
| 5. T H F D O C U M E N T A T I O N W O R K |
| 5.1 Kussung
Magar - the Dalai Lama's Bodyguard Regiment 5.2 Dakpo Trumpa 5.3 Chongye Bumthang 5.4 Khimey |
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5.1 Kussung Magar
Soldiers exercising at Kussung Magar complex, mural, early 20th century, photo Josef Mueller
The large complex known as Kussung Magar (meaning bodyguard regiment) was built by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama adjacent to the Norbulingka Summer Palace. Typically for government projects of this period, the complex is laid out symmetrically about a central axis. A long building to the south was a soldier's dormitory previously housing 100 soldiers whose job it was to ensure the Dalai Lama's safety. Two smaller buildings, used by the officers and as arms depot, flanked a central building close to one of the gateways into the Norbulingka. This central building was called the Magar Podrang ("Army Palace"), where the 13th Dalai Lama would receive foreign visitors to whom entrance to the Norbulingka was denied. The building was very elaborately decorated and well-built. Even the detailed plan of the Podrang itself and of the long building was quite symmetrical: each side had the same number of pillars and windows. The Podrang was entered via a pair of stone stairs flanking a wooden portico. The interiors had surviving religious murals, partially white-washed during the cultural revolution. Among those not covered was a large mural illustrating the Shamballah myth, depicting the forces of good leaving the paradise of Shamballah to fight and defeat the forces of evil, ushering in a new age of enlightenment. A mural depicting Kusung Magar, probably completed during the life-time of the 13th Dalai Lama , suggests that the entire complex was originally surrounded by walls.
Fragment of mural, Kussung Magar
Window, Kussung Magar The 14th Dalai Lama reportedly used the Magar Podrang to watch movies using a gift projector. After 1959, the entire bodyguard complex was turned into a government clinic. In late 1997, the clinic, now privatized, moved to different premises and sold the complex to a Chinese property developer. The administration of the Norbulingka (now a museum) tried unsuccessfully to reclaim Kussung Magar as part of the original Norbulingka complex. In early 1998, the developer had the core of the Kussung Magar complex demolished. The carved windiws and pillars were, with few exceptions, burnt, and the murals destroyed.
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5.2 Dakpo Trumpa
Dakpo Trumpa was a mansion built before 1900 by a noble family related to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama.The family worked for the Tibetan government as tax collectors in the Lhoka area. They collected "green tax" (agricultural taxes) from farmers. These taxes were paid in foodstuffs such as grains and peas, and in wool and butter collected from nomads. Part of the Dakpo Trumpa Lhasa residence was used to store the goods.
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At that time, the main building had three storeys, and a central courtyard. On the top floor lived the Dakpo Trumpa family (3a). Just below the family's main sitting room lived the secretary of the family (2a) whose job it was to keep accounts of the collected tax goods. At the north wing of the middle floor was the family chapel (2b). This probably once had religious murals on the walls which were lost during the cultural revolution. Some religious writings could still be seen on the wooden beams supporting the ceiling. The servants of the family also lived on the middle floor (2c). All the rooms were previously connected, one could walk around the building going directly from one room to the next. On the ground floor were the store rooms for the tax goods (1a). In front of the main building was a courtyard (1b). Around the courtyard were stables (1c), and near the main gate facing west was a small room for the housekeeper (1d). This room was given to the Dakpo Trumpa family after the house was nationalized in the 1960s. Sometime afterwards, most of the third floor of the main building was destroyed. The wooden construction on the second floors showed traces of burning. The facade of the main building was well-preserved, and illustrates perfectly the hierarchical structure of a noble house (see illustration on back cover). The long western elevation of the mansion was important for the historic character of the Palling alleyway.
On the 15th of April, 1998, the tenants of Dakpo Trumpa house were told by the housing authorities that they had two days time to move out of the house because it was going to be demolished. After construction of a new housing block, they would be able to return to flats equivalent in size to their old ones. The original Dakpo Trumpa family, the only one who owned their flat, was told that they had to sell their flat so that the entire complex could be rebuilt. They would receive RMB40.000,- (US$5.000,-) compensation, but would have to pay RMB80.000,- (US$10.000,-) for the upgrading of their housing if they wanted to move into a flat of equal size in the new four-storey building.
In 1998, the building was demolished and replaced by 4-storey public housing block.
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5.3 Chongye Bumthang
Bumthang, main building east elevation, JH
Bumthang was the name of a noble family from Chongye in Southern Tibet. Their mansion is built two storeys high in masonry, with the eastern wing being a bit lower than the western wing because one was the area for servants and stables and the other was the family's residence. Both wings have a courtyard and a separate entrance, and a gate with elaborate carved decorations leads from the servants' courtyard into the master's wing. The master's wing has beautifully-carved wooden railings, and is composed symmetrically. The residential rooms are on the northern side of the courtyard, and have big windows facing south. On the opposite side are kitchens and additional rooms. According to official information, the family died out when several members became insane, which some Lhasa people blame on their mansion having had two gates on opposite sides of the house. The craftsmanship displayed in the details of Bumthang mansion is among the finest in Lhasa.
After 1959, the house was converted into public housing, with some families having to live in former stables and store rooms. The leaking roof which had not been fixed for many years led to a dangerous dilapidation of parts of the second floor, and the southern side of the master's wing had begun to sink becuase of weakness in the wooden pillars on the ground floor. In early 1998, plans were made to demolish the site in order to build a four-storey building. Intense lobbying by the THF stalled the demolition. Unfortunately, until the demolition was halted, the workers had inflicted some damage to the buildings. The fine railings, and other elaborate wooden details, had been chopped up for use as firewood, as Tibetan workers are accustomed to having regular tea breaks. The House is now included in the list of 76 procted buildings. THF hopes to begin work on he site within 1998, before further deterioration of the building leads to further structural damage.
In October 1998, THF and the Cultural Relics Bureau began a joint rehabilitation project at Bumthang.
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5.5 Khimey
Khimey is the 18th-century ancestral residence of the Khimey noble family. It is two storeys high, built from stone and mudbricks, and has preserved a few details decorated with exceptional carvings. After 1959, the house was converted into public housing. Later, the northern half of the building was given back to the five heirs of the Khimey family. In early 1998, both halves were in similar state of dilapidation, and parts of the roof had already caved in. Despite its prominent location on Lingkor South Road, near the Anni Tsangkung, the house had been scheduled for demolition. Mr. Khimey and his siters would have received five flats of equal size to the rooms they owned in the old house, and the new construction would have been four stories high. Then it was pointed out by Mr. Khimey that a wooden beam in one of the rooms had specially been painted by the personal doctor of the 7th Dalai Lama in the early 18th century. Even though these paintings had been painted over during the Cultural Revolution, an attempt to bring them back to light revealed a painted medicine Buddha. This was reason enough for the Cultural Authorities to place the house under protection, even before the list of 76 was accepted.
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THF and the government's special Ancient Arts Construction Company then collaborated, under auspices of the Cultural Relics Bureau, on the rehabilitation of Khimey House. The Ancient Arts Company has worked on the government-sponsored restorations of Potala Palace, Ganden monastery and Tromsikhang House (see 8.). The work on the government-owned half of Khimey House was completed October 1998.
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