136 lojda, klimburg-salter and strinu
Sculptures in the cella of the Tabo assemby hall are attributable to the founding
phase of the temple and still preserve their main features, despite their appear-
ance having been changed by later repairs and additions, such as crowns.
At the time of the foundation of the main temple, the main icon, a seated
meditating Buddha, was painted white and placed in the cella. Today, however,
this same figure is painted red and worshipped as Amitābha. Also belonging to
the original programme are the two attendant bodhisattvas in the cella (fig. 4.7)
and the two bodhisattvas in front of the cella. When the style of these sculp-
tures is compared to the banners from Dunhuang, one sees the same rather
stiff bodies with hardly any articulation of the body parts. Also the straight,
tubular legs and awkwardly drawn feet are similar. Also typical for this style
is the hairstyle with corkscrew curls at the shoulders. The faces are u-shaped
with a straight chin and two or three lines on the neck.
A pillar from Cogro (Tib. Cog ro) in Purang showing a standing figure of
Avalokiteśvara30 in a very flat style also connects the Central Asian style with
Purang. The deity is ornamented with a three-pointed crown on its dispropor-
tionately large u-shaped head. The figure takes up most of the stele with its
long arms and voluminous dhotī with a tight seam at the ankles. This type of
clothing is comparable with the dhotī of the Tabo entry hall figures and also
of the carved bodhisattvas from Baltistan of the eighth tenth century. A com-
parison with the Dunhuang banner showing Vajrapaṇī (fig. 4.2) attests to
striking similarities between the two bodhisattvas. The pillar is inscribed on
both narrow sides in uchen script, the Tibetan block style, helping to identify a
donor belonging to the famous Dro (Tib. ’Bro) clan.31 This clan had important
possessions throughout the Western regions of the Tibetan cultural zone and
was also important in Imperial Tibet. The pillar can be dated to the early ninth
30 For images of the pillar see Jahoda, Christian, and Christiane Papa-Kalantari, “Eine frühe
buddhistische Steinstele (rdo ring) in sPu rang, Westtibet: eine Neuuntersuchung: Bericht
einer österreichisch-tibetischen Feldforschung,” Asiatische Studien 63.1 (2009): 395–396,
Abb. 2–4, and Tshe ring chos rgyal, and Zla ba tshe ring, “Gsar du brnyed pa’i spu hreng gi
spyan ras gzigs kyi rdo ring las byung ba’i gtam dpyad [A Study of the Newly Discovered
Avalokiteśvara Stele in Spu hreng],” Gangs ljongs rig gnas [Tibetan Culture] 2 (1994): 5.
31 See Denwood, “The Tibetans in the Western Himalayas and Karakoram,” 51 and Jahoda,
and Papa-Kalantari, “Eine frühe buddhistische Steinstele,” 349–400. The authors note
characteristics of the inscription that link it to the Central Tibetan Yarlung Dynasty (372,
382). This inscription was first read and published by Tshe ring chos rgyal, and Zla ba tshe
ring, “Gsar du brnyed pa’i spu hreng gi spyan ras gzigs kyi rdo ring las byung ba’i gtam
dpyad,” 4–20.