Ruin of the Guge Kingdom

Ruin of the Guge Kingdom - Brief Introduction

Ruin of the Guge Kingdom is located on an earth piled hill in Zanda County, about 2 kilometers away from Xiangquan River. It is the largest construction ruin of Guge Kingdom which occupied western Tibet in ancient times. It has been listed as a key state protective cultural relic.

Ruin of the Guge Kingdom was constructed in 10th century. It has a length of 1200 meters from the south to the north and has a width of 600 meters from the east to the west. It covers an area of 0.72 million square meters.

There are monasteries, palaces, blind passes, caves, shrines, castles and civilian buildings in the Ruin of the Guge Kingdom. Most of the constructions are collected at the eastern slope of the hill.

Ruin of the Guge Kingdom - Architectures

There are five well preserved palaces with murals in good condition in the Ruin of the Guge Kingdom. They are the Red Palace, the White Palace, the Palace of the Tara, the Vajrabhairava Palace, and the Mandala Palace. The former four palaces are located at the foot of the hill while Mandala Palace is on the top of the hill.

The architectures at the Ruin of the Guge Kingdom are of high value in painting, clay sculpture, carving and some other arts. It is a complete work left by Guge Kingdom and also a representative construction with the construction style of Guge Kingdom.

Ruin of the Guge Kingdom - Preservation

Ruin of the Guge Kingdom is a majestic ancient city which covers a large area in plateau. It provides materials for the research of the history of Tibet and the ancient architectures of China.

The murals and sculptures in the Ruin of the Guge Kingdom are of rich contents and high values. They are of high artistic value and research value.

In 1959, the central government appointed a team to research the Ruin of the Guge Kingdom.

In 1961, the State Council listed the Ruin of the Guge Kingdom as key state protective cultural relic.

In 1985, the Cultural Heritage Management Committee of Tibet Autonomous Region did careful research at the Ruin of the Guge Kingdom.

In 1987, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage allocated exclusive fund for the restoration of the Ruin of the Guge Kingdom.

In 1988, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage did six rescue-restorations at the Ruin of the Guge Kingdom.

In 1997, the Heritage Rescue Office of Ngari Prefecture listed the Ruin of the Guge Kingdom in the overall rescue plan.

Since 1997, more than 20 million RMB has been invested into the preservation of the cultural relics in Ngari Prefecture, including the Ruin of the Guge Kingdom.