The Onpo Lhakhang of Sumur. Notes on the neglected Nyingmapa tradition of Nubra

Abstract

For more than two hundred years, the Nubra valley of Ladakh has been pervaded by a socio-religious network that is related to the Nyingmapa tradition and existed beside the large-scale monastic system of the dominant Gelugpa. This system manifested itself in a two-fold manner. First, through a selected group of families whose members were “astrologers” (Tib. onpos) and sometimes also “traditional medical practitioners” (Tib. amchis). Second, the system took shape through a number of stupas which shared a specific iconographic topic: the “zhitro” mandala. In the center of the system was – and still is – the Onpo Lhakhang of Sumur.