Tibet: Sakya, Manjushri Chapel (SRG Archive)
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The Manjushri Lhakang (temple) of Sakya Town in Tibet, is located in a small room above the building known as the Drolma Lhakang located a short distance from the main Lhakang Chenmo temple complex of Sakya. The Drolma Lhakang has three separate temple rooms. The first, on the ground floor, is called the Drolma or Tara temple although there is little inside that is specifically dedicated to Tara. To the right side of the main entrance, accessed through a separate door, is the Tangtong Gyalpo Lhakang. In June of 2007 this temple was under extensive renovations. Looking down from an upper floor window repetitive mural images of Tangtong Gyalpo can be seen on the walls. (See a map of the Tsang region of Tibet).
Of the two related ruling religious families of Sakya, one of those families is referred to as the Drolma because of the close proximity between the Drolma temple and their family home which now has become known as the Drolma Podrang. The other family is known as the Puntsog Podrang.
The Manjushri Lhakang is located on the 2nd floor of the two storied Drolma Lhakang temple. The room is not large and has a single pillar in the middle and a couple of small windows. There is no shrine or furniture in the empty room. The four walls are painted with murals, floor to ceiling, depicting every form of Manjushri, peaceful and wrathful. The more important, or common, of the forms are painted large scale with the minor, or more obscure forms, smaller in size. Each iconographic form is accompanied with a name inscription. Some of the Manjushri forms have retinue deities which can be seen clearly in image #46875. The iconography of the paintings represent the many forms of Manjushri found in the Kriya, Charya and Yoga Tantras of Tantric Buddhism. One wall has sustained damage and the paintings have been effaced with cracks patched and filled. (Photos dated June, 2007).
Jeff Watt 8-2011 [updated 1-2019, 8-2021]
New information has shown that both floors of the Drolma Lhakang were completely renovated in 1790 by Wangdu Nyingpo the 32nd Sakya Trizin. In an excerpt from Wangdu Nyingpo's autobiography which was discovered by 38th Sakya Trizin Dragshul Trinley Rinchen (1871-1936), it says:
"Then, after some time had passed, I built a new temple for the Longevity Deities in the Drolma Lhakang, completed the unfinished construction of the Manjushri Temple, and renovated and newly constructed the Protector Temple of Samling. Many various miraculous feats were displayed."
"/_de nas re zhig song ba'i dus dag tu/_sgrol mar tshe lha lha khang gsar pa dang /_'jam dpal lha khang gsar bzhengs 'phro can dang /_bsam glinga mgon khang nyams gso gsar bzhengs byas/_ya ma zung gi cho 'phrul mang po dang/_"
The names of the artists Wangdu Nyingpo commissioned to paint the murals is unknown. Dragshul Trinley Rinchen also wrote that there were originally sculptures in the Manjushri chapel when he saw it, but they are now missing.
Nick Dharmadi 8-2026
