A Review of Celestial Burying Ground in Tibet
A Review of Celestial Burying Ground in Tibet
Celestial burying ground, also called "Mandala", is where life leaves and comes. A huge piece of stone hidden in high mountains is surrounded by burning plants that give up smoke going up into the air.
(Panoramic view of Zhigungti Celestial Burial Ground.)
The Tibetans believe in Buddhism and hold that life is endless. One life ends and this means the beginning of new life. In their eyes, body is merely the carrier of soul. When one life ends, the soul leaves the body that needs to be presented to the deities as sacrificial object. Returning the useless body to the earth is the most precious contribution to Buddha. Celestial burying ground is an altar for the said sacrificial object.
Generally, the site is determined by eminent monks and Living Buddhas according to traditional religious way, or determined by all of the locals. Stones are indispensable for the site. No matter how the site is determined, however, it should be close to a monastery (Buddha will direct the soul to where it should go), face the sun (sunlight will help disperse evil atmosphere), stay away direct invasion of wind, and be located at a slope.
In front of the celestial burying ground there should be ranging mountains that protect the site from being invaded by wind and snow, and make it impossible for the soul to see his/her hometown and would then be hesitant to leave.
In Tibet there are more than 200 celestial burying ground sites, with a few which are most influential.
The Largest Ground
(Aromatic plants are burnt for auspicious smoke in the Ground.)
Of the three Celestial Burial Grounds in the world, two are in Tibet, respectively being Zhigungti Celestial Burial Ground by Zhigungti Monastery in Meizhugongka, and Samye Celestial Burial Ground by Samye Monastery in Shannan.
Jorba Jidain Gongbo, founder of Zhigunti Monastery, told his disciples when dying: "Deities told me to build a celestial burial ground in Heshan to suppress a female demon there."
Before long, the ground was built. It won aid and support from deities. To the south of the Celestial Burial Ground are white dagobas where Prayer Sutra and Peace Sutra are buried.
Living Buddha Jorba was afraid that dead people in far away places would not be sent here. He had another celestial burial ground set up nearby Zhigungti Celestial Burial Ground connected with the Heaven. One who sheds one drop of blood there would also be able to go to the Heaven.
The Zhigungti Celestial Burial Ground is piled up with stones, staying half a meter above the ground. Four stone pillars stand around it, each 1.5 meters high. Vultures stand there to watch the progress of celestial burial rituals.
By the Burial Ground is a stone-mud incense burner, from which comes smoke all the year round. This is different from other celestial burial grounds where smoke does not exist when people have left.
Given the mysteriousness of Zhigungti Celestial Burial Ground, many bring the dead from Nagqu and Ngari. As bodies come from afar, they are placed on the terrace for a few minutes until the Celestial Burial Master has finished reciting sutras. Next to the Ground is a small house that enshrines a statue of Buddha and could also be used by Celestial Burial Master to rest.
Vultures roam around in a grassy ground surrounded with iron fences.
Master of Zhigungit Celestial Burial Ground is assumed exclusively by monks, a practice which is different from others.
(Tools used by celestial burial masters.)
The Oldest Ground
The oldest celestial burial ground lies nearby Dalagangbo Monastery in Gyicha County, Shannan. It is located far away from villages but stands at the foot of Dalagangbo Mountain. Standing at the gate to the monastery, one finds two round peaks on both sides. They look like breasts of a girl, hence Breast Mountains.
Dalagangbo Celestial Burial Ground stands at the foot of the "Left Breast".
"It has a history of more than 1,000 years," many say. "It is the oldest of its kind in Tibet."
Compared with other grounds, it is smaller in size, large enough only for two bodies. By it is an ancient cypress tree. A small house is ready to collapse nearby; inside it is an almost broken statue of Buddha; iron axes and other tools used by the dead litter the area¡.
According to monks, wild dogs chase vultures to the degree that few vultures come. They also bite parts of bodies here and there.
"This damages the image of the Ground, and not many send bodies here for celestial burial," they said.
"We are raising money to build iron fences around the Ground to keep off wild dogs."
The Noblest Ground
Polungka Celestial Burial lies on the slope of Babao Lotus Flower Mountain less than 5 km from Lhasa. It is composed of a huge stone dotted with large and small pits, facts that show the Ground has a long history. Before the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, this was the Ground exclusively for eminent monks, Living Buddhas, nobles and Gashag (local government) officials. Even today, dead monks are sent here to be celestially buried.
Nearby the Ground is Polungka Monastery built on a huge piece of stone. The major hall of the monastery is of four floors, with the lowest floor being a 30-square-meter mountain cave.
During the period of Songtsan Gambo, Minister Tome Sangbozha and others were sent to create scripts in India. When he returned to Tubo, King Songtsan Gambo built a house for him at Polungka. In three months, the minister created Tibetan letters. The six words reading Ong Mani Bei Mima enshrined in the main hall were legendarily written by the Tubo minister himself. In order to learn to write, Songtsan Gambo shut himself in the mountain cave for one year.
(Sera, the most curious celestial burial ground.)
In the eyes of certain Tibetans, the Ground was holy also because the monastery enshrines a statue of Buddha that faces the Ground. Legend has it that the statue existed as Songtsan Gambo was born. When it was first enshrined in the main hall of the monastery, it faced east. On the second day, however, it turned to the Ground. Songtsan Gambo told the monastery abbot in dream that the statue represents him as the Life Buddha facing the Ground to recite sutras day and night to redeem the sins of the dead.
The Ground became open to the public. Even the ordinary dead people could be sent here for celestial burial.
Most Curious Ground
Sera Celestial Burial Ground in the northern suburb of Lhasa faces Sera Monastery across a small hill. Next to the Ground is a small temple still falling under management by Neqoin Monastery said to be built by Yellow Sect Master Lhobo Renqen to redeem the sins of the dead. The stone used as the Celestial Burial Ground came from India. When transporting the huge stone, the master carried it under his armpit and covered it with his Buddhist robe for fear that the Indian evils would follow him and the stone to Tibet. When the master reached the mountain, he found three stone pillars at the foot. Below the pillars was a stream. Out of curiosity, he calculated and found that was the best place to set up a celestial burial ground. He then put the stone he brought from India on the top of the three stone pillars, forming Sera Monastery Celestial Burial Ground.
In the Ground are two large pits, surrounded by small ones. The locals hold that that one pit contained elixir and one is used to make drugs, with the small pits used for sacrificial objects paid to the Ground. By sacrificial objects paid to the Ground, it means pieces of bodies, and vultures are envoys sent by the deities to fetch the objects.
As a matter of fact, these pits are used to chop skulls and bones. In the middle of the stone is a white line said to be the iron chain linking the world with Heaven. Monks of the nearby temple say the dead celestially buried on the Ground would not suffer many disasters in the next life.
(Polungka, the nobiest celestial burial ground.)
Every afternoon there will be people taking ritual walk around the holy mountain who come to prostrate themselves in front of the Ground. This writer once talked to an old woman who said she came from Qamdo.
"I come to Lhasa to worship Buddha," she said.
"My long was told of the Ground."
The following is a record of my interview with a local monk I made on August 7, 2003:
QUESTION: How long have you been here?
ANSWER: Seven years.
Q: Where is your hometown?
A: Mamkang County in Qamdo.
Q: Do you live in the house nearby the Ground?
A: Yes, I do. When the dead are sent here, their relatives need people like me to recite sutras and pray for the dead.
(Damo, the most mysterious burial ground.)
The Most Mysterious Ground
Damo Celestial Burying Ground nearby Damo Monastery in Chaqu Town, Biru County, is known to many but only occasionally the relatives of the dead use it. It is famous for the fact that one wall in the Ground was built with skulls of the dead sent there for celestial burial.
Biru County is 80 km from Lhasa, and the Ground is 60 km from the county seat. Standing by Nujiang River, the Ground is skirted by a road so narrow to allow only one truck to pass.
The Ground is 200 meters away from Damo Monastery. Surrounded by walls, the monastery looks like a civilian house but with three stories. The top floor houses statues of Buddha, such as Sakyamuni and Goddess of Mercy. The second floor has a huge sutra pillar in the center. It bears lines of Prayer Sutra and the sutra for redeeming the sins of the dead. According to monks there, only good people enjoy celestial burial in the Ground. Those who are not good enough would be celestially buried in the bottom floor, on dirt Ground.
The Skull Wall is wrapped up with adobe bricks. In the center of the wall are two doors leading to the Celestial Burying Ground. They are not open. Generally, people go in and out through a postern door nearby.
(Dalagangbo, the oldest celestial burial ground in Tibet.)
"The Skull Wall was built according to instructions of Living Buddha Dapo with the monastery. This makes the Ground the only one that keeps the skull of the dead subject to celestial burial.
Four skulls form a group separated with wooden frames. A rough count shows they number some 2,000. Some skulls are not complete.
"Celestial master take one piece from each of them to make beads," monks there said.
Some of the skulls are painted with hair, beard, eye brows and even teeth.
"They were painted by masons who built the wall or children living nearby," monks said.
Celestial burying ground, also called "Mandala", is where life leaves and comes. A huge piece of stone hidden in high mountains is surrounded by burning plants that give up smoke going up into the air.
(Panoramic view of Zhigungti Celestial Burial Ground.)
The Tibetans believe in Buddhism and hold that life is endless. One life ends and this means the beginning of new life. In their eyes, body is merely the carrier of soul. When one life ends, the soul leaves the body that needs to be presented to the deities as sacrificial object. Returning the useless body to the earth is the most precious contribution to Buddha. Celestial burying ground is an altar for the said sacrificial object.
Generally, the site is determined by eminent monks and Living Buddhas according to traditional religious way, or determined by all of the locals. Stones are indispensable for the site. No matter how the site is determined, however, it should be close to a monastery (Buddha will direct the soul to where it should go), face the sun (sunlight will help disperse evil atmosphere), stay away direct invasion of wind, and be located at a slope.
In front of the celestial burying ground there should be ranging mountains that protect the site from being invaded by wind and snow, and make it impossible for the soul to see his/her hometown and would then be hesitant to leave.
In Tibet there are more than 200 celestial burying ground sites, with a few which are most influential.
The Largest Ground
(Aromatic plants are burnt for auspicious smoke in the Ground.)
Of the three Celestial Burial Grounds in the world, two are in Tibet, respectively being Zhigungti Celestial Burial Ground by Zhigungti Monastery in Meizhugongka, and Samye Celestial Burial Ground by Samye Monastery in Shannan.
Jorba Jidain Gongbo, founder of Zhigunti Monastery, told his disciples when dying: "Deities told me to build a celestial burial ground in Heshan to suppress a female demon there."
Before long, the ground was built. It won aid and support from deities. To the south of the Celestial Burial Ground are white dagobas where Prayer Sutra and Peace Sutra are buried.
Living Buddha Jorba was afraid that dead people in far away places would not be sent here. He had another celestial burial ground set up nearby Zhigungti Celestial Burial Ground connected with the Heaven. One who sheds one drop of blood there would also be able to go to the Heaven.
The Zhigungti Celestial Burial Ground is piled up with stones, staying half a meter above the ground. Four stone pillars stand around it, each 1.5 meters high. Vultures stand there to watch the progress of celestial burial rituals.
By the Burial Ground is a stone-mud incense burner, from which comes smoke all the year round. This is different from other celestial burial grounds where smoke does not exist when people have left.
Given the mysteriousness of Zhigungti Celestial Burial Ground, many bring the dead from Nagqu and Ngari. As bodies come from afar, they are placed on the terrace for a few minutes until the Celestial Burial Master has finished reciting sutras. Next to the Ground is a small house that enshrines a statue of Buddha and could also be used by Celestial Burial Master to rest.
Vultures roam around in a grassy ground surrounded with iron fences.
Master of Zhigungit Celestial Burial Ground is assumed exclusively by monks, a practice which is different from others.
(Tools used by celestial burial masters.)
The Oldest Ground
The oldest celestial burial ground lies nearby Dalagangbo Monastery in Gyicha County, Shannan. It is located far away from villages but stands at the foot of Dalagangbo Mountain. Standing at the gate to the monastery, one finds two round peaks on both sides. They look like breasts of a girl, hence Breast Mountains.
Dalagangbo Celestial Burial Ground stands at the foot of the "Left Breast".
"It has a history of more than 1,000 years," many say. "It is the oldest of its kind in Tibet."
Compared with other grounds, it is smaller in size, large enough only for two bodies. By it is an ancient cypress tree. A small house is ready to collapse nearby; inside it is an almost broken statue of Buddha; iron axes and other tools used by the dead litter the area¡.
According to monks, wild dogs chase vultures to the degree that few vultures come. They also bite parts of bodies here and there.
"This damages the image of the Ground, and not many send bodies here for celestial burial," they said.
"We are raising money to build iron fences around the Ground to keep off wild dogs."
The Noblest Ground
Polungka Celestial Burial lies on the slope of Babao Lotus Flower Mountain less than 5 km from Lhasa. It is composed of a huge stone dotted with large and small pits, facts that show the Ground has a long history. Before the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, this was the Ground exclusively for eminent monks, Living Buddhas, nobles and Gashag (local government) officials. Even today, dead monks are sent here to be celestially buried.
Nearby the Ground is Polungka Monastery built on a huge piece of stone. The major hall of the monastery is of four floors, with the lowest floor being a 30-square-meter mountain cave.
During the period of Songtsan Gambo, Minister Tome Sangbozha and others were sent to create scripts in India. When he returned to Tubo, King Songtsan Gambo built a house for him at Polungka. In three months, the minister created Tibetan letters. The six words reading Ong Mani Bei Mima enshrined in the main hall were legendarily written by the Tubo minister himself. In order to learn to write, Songtsan Gambo shut himself in the mountain cave for one year.
(Sera, the most curious celestial burial ground.)
In the eyes of certain Tibetans, the Ground was holy also because the monastery enshrines a statue of Buddha that faces the Ground. Legend has it that the statue existed as Songtsan Gambo was born. When it was first enshrined in the main hall of the monastery, it faced east. On the second day, however, it turned to the Ground. Songtsan Gambo told the monastery abbot in dream that the statue represents him as the Life Buddha facing the Ground to recite sutras day and night to redeem the sins of the dead.
The Ground became open to the public. Even the ordinary dead people could be sent here for celestial burial.
Most Curious Ground
Sera Celestial Burial Ground in the northern suburb of Lhasa faces Sera Monastery across a small hill. Next to the Ground is a small temple still falling under management by Neqoin Monastery said to be built by Yellow Sect Master Lhobo Renqen to redeem the sins of the dead. The stone used as the Celestial Burial Ground came from India. When transporting the huge stone, the master carried it under his armpit and covered it with his Buddhist robe for fear that the Indian evils would follow him and the stone to Tibet. When the master reached the mountain, he found three stone pillars at the foot. Below the pillars was a stream. Out of curiosity, he calculated and found that was the best place to set up a celestial burial ground. He then put the stone he brought from India on the top of the three stone pillars, forming Sera Monastery Celestial Burial Ground.
In the Ground are two large pits, surrounded by small ones. The locals hold that that one pit contained elixir and one is used to make drugs, with the small pits used for sacrificial objects paid to the Ground. By sacrificial objects paid to the Ground, it means pieces of bodies, and vultures are envoys sent by the deities to fetch the objects.
As a matter of fact, these pits are used to chop skulls and bones. In the middle of the stone is a white line said to be the iron chain linking the world with Heaven. Monks of the nearby temple say the dead celestially buried on the Ground would not suffer many disasters in the next life.
(Polungka, the nobiest celestial burial ground.)
Every afternoon there will be people taking ritual walk around the holy mountain who come to prostrate themselves in front of the Ground. This writer once talked to an old woman who said she came from Qamdo.
"I come to Lhasa to worship Buddha," she said.
"My long was told of the Ground."
The following is a record of my interview with a local monk I made on August 7, 2003:
QUESTION: How long have you been here?
ANSWER: Seven years.
Q: Where is your hometown?
A: Mamkang County in Qamdo.
Q: Do you live in the house nearby the Ground?
A: Yes, I do. When the dead are sent here, their relatives need people like me to recite sutras and pray for the dead.
(Damo, the most mysterious burial ground.)
The Most Mysterious Ground
Damo Celestial Burying Ground nearby Damo Monastery in Chaqu Town, Biru County, is known to many but only occasionally the relatives of the dead use it. It is famous for the fact that one wall in the Ground was built with skulls of the dead sent there for celestial burial.
Biru County is 80 km from Lhasa, and the Ground is 60 km from the county seat. Standing by Nujiang River, the Ground is skirted by a road so narrow to allow only one truck to pass.
The Ground is 200 meters away from Damo Monastery. Surrounded by walls, the monastery looks like a civilian house but with three stories. The top floor houses statues of Buddha, such as Sakyamuni and Goddess of Mercy. The second floor has a huge sutra pillar in the center. It bears lines of Prayer Sutra and the sutra for redeeming the sins of the dead. According to monks there, only good people enjoy celestial burial in the Ground. Those who are not good enough would be celestially buried in the bottom floor, on dirt Ground.
The Skull Wall is wrapped up with adobe bricks. In the center of the wall are two doors leading to the Celestial Burying Ground. They are not open. Generally, people go in and out through a postern door nearby.
(Dalagangbo, the oldest celestial burial ground in Tibet.)
"The Skull Wall was built according to instructions of Living Buddha Dapo with the monastery. This makes the Ground the only one that keeps the skull of the dead subject to celestial burial.
Four skulls form a group separated with wooden frames. A rough count shows they number some 2,000. Some skulls are not complete.
"Celestial master take one piece from each of them to make beads," monks there said.
Some of the skulls are painted with hair, beard, eye brows and even teeth.
"They were painted by masons who built the wall or children living nearby," monks said.
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