Ruins of Ancient Guge Kingdom in Tibet

The ruins of the ancient Guge Kingdom are located in Western Tibet, close to border to India, deep in the bizarre limestone formations of the Sutlej Canyon, which resembles the Grand Canyon in the US. To visit the Guge Ruins, you first have to reach the town of Zanda (also known as Tsamda, Tsada or Tsoling) and - depending on the conditions - the 6-12 hour drive requires a good 4x4 off-road vehicle.

The Guge ruins, also known as Tsaparang, are to be found a few kilometers outside of Zanda. The settlement is built into a big limestone cliff and majestically thrones over the Sutlej Valley. Up to date not too much is known about the historical details of the area and its former inhabitants. One theory states that the Guge Kingdom descended form the legendary Shang Shung Kingdom and was founded in the 11th century by Khor De (also known as Byang-Chub Ye-shes 'Od respectively Yeshe O), a grand grand son of of Langdarma, last King of the Tibetan Tubo Empire. Khor De converted apparently from the Bon Shamanism to Buddhism and it was him who invited Latisha to Tibet in 1040. Latisha was responsible for the new translations of the Buddhist scriptures into Tibetan and contributed largely to the expansion of Buddhism in Tibet during the "Phyi-dar" period.

The first Western contact was established in 1624 by the Jesuit Missionaries António de Andrade and Manuel Marques, who were permitted to build a chapel at Guge and teach the locals about Christianity. In 1630, the conflict between Thi Tashi Dagpa, ruler of Guge and his brother, the emperor of Ladakh, escalated and the Ladakhi forces sieged the fortress, which turned out to be impenetrable. After the Ladakhis threatened to execute 5 citizens every day, Thi Tashi Dagpa and his family surrendered, descended from the fortress and were decapitated by his brother.

The West only learned more about Guge in 1930, when Italian Tibetologist Giuseppe Tucci explored the area and studied the frescoes at Guge.

Click through our picture gallery of Guge Kingdom. If you are interested in a trip to Western Tibet, we can recommend you our Mount Kailash Tour.

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