The Buddhist Cliff Carvings in Kangmar County, Shigatse
Chinese Name: 少岗摩崖佛像群
English Name: The Buddhist Cliff Carvings
Location: Located in Kangmar County(康马县), Lhasa Prefecture(日喀则市), Tibet Autonomous Region, China
Admission Fee: Free
Opening Hours: All day
History and Development of The Buddhist Cliff Carvings
As the little stone Buddha Gang group at the Kangma County Township less Lanton village on the south side of the cliff, red bar along the cliff to the north, o30 statue group from the high ground to 10 meters altitude of about 3900 meters. There are 9 statues statue, carved in the seedlings of more than 40 meters long, about 10 meters high cliff face, chiseled techniques for line carving, shallow notch, uniform thickness, is engraved with the size ranging from eight statues, a prayer and a few spells, with some of the conch and fire Arafat pattern.
Main Attractions- The Buddhist Cliff Carvings
Tibetan Buddhist inscriptions in different historical periods, the village and the art form is different. Took the village, before and after thirteenth Century the lithoglyphs problem in village Buddha, Bodhisattva, Tara shape, to the middle of the fourteenth Century after the phagmodrupa Dynasty regime lithoglyphs theme is more widely, in addition to Buddha and Bodhisattva shape is still the main theme, to Tibetan Buddhism founder and master figures are everywhere. From the small Gang cliff stone Buddha statues of the content, form, layout and carving techniques, with statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva, Tara, curse words, text as the main theme, and the Buddha statues of Maitreya kind tall, two lobe shoulder, with bare right shoulder mounted, round head arched body, clothing decorative concise, simple manner the knife, taken as bas relief techniques, Daofa ancient group, has obvious characteristics in thirteenth Century to fourteenth Century in Tibet the lithoglyphs. In particular, Shakya Mani’s three apprenticeship in the form of Shakya Mani’s right shoulder anti riding frame is a style that began to prevail in Tibet in the middle of the fourteenth Century. Therefore, Little Buddha lithoglyphs Gang group should belong to fourteenth Century and the historical and cultural heritage.
Attraction Transportation
Air
Shigatse Heping Airport is located in Jiangdang Township, Shigatse Region, about 43 kilometers (26.7 miles) to downtown area. There is only one direct flight from Shigatse Heping Airport that is the flight between Shigatse and Chengdu, so tourists from other place could choose to transfer to Chengdu to take flight to Shigatse or take flight to Lhasa Gonggar Airport first and then take bus from Lhasa to Shigatse or take regular bus from the Lhasa Gonggar airport directly to Shigatse. The distance from Gonggar Airport o Shigatse is about 400km, taking about 4 hrs.
Train
The train between Lhasa and Shigatse is only cost 3 hrs on the road, which is shorter than by shuttle bus (4-5 hrs on the road). At present, there is 1 train each day both from Lhasa to Shigatse and from Shigatse to Lhasa.Ticket fare is CNY 169.5 for a soft sleeper, CNY 111.5 for a hard sleeper, and CNY 40.5 for a hard seat.Lhasa-Shigatse Railway is the extend line of Qinghai-Tibet Railway. It was built since Sept 26th 2010. And the official operation day was on Aug 15th 2014. The beginning station is Lhasa Station. And then, the railway goes through Deqing County and Qushui County. After goes along the Yalu Zangbu Valley 90km, the railway reaches Shigatse. The total length is 253km.
Downtown Transportation
Since Shigatse is a small city, walking is the most convenient way to get around. Pedicabs and tricycles are also available. Tricycles will charge 2–3 yuan per person, although you are able to bargain with them. Taxis will all charge 10 yuan.
Attraction Travel Tips
1. Traveling Hours: 1~2 hours
2. Traveling Seasons: All year
3. High Altitude Sickness Avoiding: Bring enough water and some thick clothes, eating more fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins and so on.
4. Pay attention to respect the local customers.
