Cult Complex in Zanskar: Analysis, Interpretation

Abstract

Purpose. The study investigates a Buddhist image on a standalone stone and an offering contained in a clay vessel. The cult complex is located near Zangla, not far from the Changut Choeling female monastery, in the north of Zanskar (Ladakh, India).

Results. The image depicts the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, the patron deity of Tibet. The clay vessel (73 mm in height) found near the stone contains a square iron plate (~25x25 mm) with traces of insets, one of turquois; a transparent crystal bead; and two perforated bones. An examination of the vessel contents revealed that it originally contained a piece of meat or some blood. Based on a traceological analysis of the bone items, they appear to have been worn on a cord. All the items in the vessel are of special significance in the Buddhist culture as well as folk religion of Tibet. They could have served as offerings to Avalokiteśvara as well as local patron deities – btsan and lha, who were believed to live in that stone. After all, Buddhism in Tibet became part of the folk religion. The tradition of making offerings in a vessel placed at the foot of a stone with a divine image has parallels in the culture of Central Asian Turks. Excavations of Turkic mortuaries have revealed silver, as well as ceramic, vessels at the foot of heroic figures. Researchers believe that they were used for sacrificial offerings and for drinks in funeral rituals. Like in Zanskar, such vessels were left on the surface, and over a thousand years must have passed before they became fully covered with earth so that they would later be found during excavations.

Conclusion. Offerings in vessels placed at the foot of stone statues of deities and ancestors, as well as stones accommodating local patron spirits, appear to have been common among the peoples of Central Asia in the Middle Ages.