|
|
|
The chapel containing a four-fold image of Vairocana is today a crudely roofed structure attached to the side wall of a house. The room is 4.3 metres long and 3.1 metres wide. None of the surrounding architecture is ancient or provides any clues as to the original setting of the image. It seems that the four-fold Vairocana is the only remains of a temple once situated at the western end of the hill (> Lalung Vairocana gallery). Only archaeological documentation and excavation would reveal the original context and function of the image.
In the Vairocana Chapel four similar images are seated on a single throne structure with their backs towards one another. That these four images are a representation of Vajradhatu-Vairocana can today only be concluded from a comparison with the four-fold Vairocana at Tabo. It is very likely that all the images once performed the teaching gesture (dharmacakramudra) similar to the image at Tabo, but the mudra of highest enlightenment (bodhyagrimudra) also seems possible, as one image has its index finger raised. In any case, it can be assumed that all four images were once iconographically identical.
Page last updated: 13.04.2006
|
