2. Pilgrimage in the Tibetan Cultural Regions
Like its usage in other religions, “pilgrimage” in Tibet refers to a journey to a place that is regarded as sacred. In the Tibetan language, the terms used for this ritual journey are nékor (
gnas skor) or néjel (
gnas mjal), meaning to go around (
skor) or encounter/meet (
mjal) a né or sacred place (
gnas). Circumambulation as a religious practice can of course be traced to earlier Indian Buddhist practices directed toward stupas and other relics of the Buddha. Né means simply “place” but the term carries the implicit meaning of being a place where sacred power dwells.
3 The sacredness of a né may arise from a number of different sources, including that of autochthonous deities of place, the physical hierophany of high tantric deities, the residual power of a great ancient Buddhist master, or even a living Buddhist master. A né may also be understood differently across time, or between different groups, e.g., between Buddhists and Bön-pos.
The sources of this power can be understood in a number of ways, which may overlap. Most broadly, scholars have repeatedly observed that Tibetans understand the natural world as teeming with powers, both benign and hostile, with which humans have to interact in myriad ways. From subterranean water spirits (klu), to local terrestrial spirits (sa bdag, gzhi bdag), to mountains identified with territorial gods (yul lha), the Tibetan landscape is alive with awesome presences, with which humans must cohabit, to their benefit or peril. Territorial gods and their mountains are important recipients of pilgrimage, either being identified with a high Buddhist deity or simply continuing to exist as the territorial god alongside the later Buddhist understanding of the site. Spirits of this sort are sensitive to impurity or insult, and may inflict harm upon the offender. More dangerous are numerous classes of demons, male and female, who are also quick to harm and are by nature malevolent.
Above these local spiritual presences are indigenous Tibetan deities who were subdued by the legendary tantric Buddhist master Padmasambhava or Guru Rinpoché, in the 8th century. At first inimical to the new religion, these warrior gods, mostly of a class of deity known as the “haughty ones” (dregs pa), were tamed by Padmasambhava and bound by oaths to protect Buddhism. These gods were integrated into the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon as dharma protectors. While serving the cause of religion, these gods remain worldly protectors (‘jig rten pa’i srung ma), i.e., they are not awakened, and so must be approached with caution and respect, constantly being reminded of their vows to protect Buddhism. Another class, the supermundane protectors (‘jig rten las ‘das pa’i srung ma), are understood to be above samsaric limitations and concerns, and are often said to be manifestations of Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. In some cases, these higher protectors are regarded as tantric meditational deities, or yidam (yi dam), worthy of being objects of refuge, and more likely to be the source of power of a né.
These deities were brought to Tibet from India as Buddhism was propagated in Tibet in the 8th century and then again in the 11th century. Vajrayāna meditative praxis centers on the visualization of tantric deities with their retinues in their mandala palaces. The imposition of this Vajrayāna conception transformed indigenous nés along Buddhist lines in a process that has been called the “mandalisation” of Tibetan sacred sites, and is part of a broader “Buddhacisation” of Tibetan religion. While these processes largely overwrote indigenous or Bön narratives of sacred sites, the process was not complete in all cases, with some sites being understood as Buddhist, Bön, or folk religion.
4 The foremost deity and mandala that was imposed on Tibetan sacred sites was Denchok Khorlo Dompa (
bde mchog ‘khor lo sdom pa, Sanskrit:
Cakrasaṃvara), hereafter referred to as Khorlo Dompa.
5 Khorlo Dompa is central to the practice of the Sakya (
sa skya), Kagyü (
bka’ brgyud), and Geluk (
dge lugs) sects, and it is particularly important to the Drukpa (
‘brug pa) subsect of the Kagyü, which was instrumental in establishing some of the major pilgrimage sites and routes, including the pilgrimage discussed here. The Khorlo Dompa Tantra is a yoginī tantra, a class of tantric text/teaching that emphasizes goddesses and transgressive sexual and mortuary imagery. In the mandala, the central deity couple, Khorlo Dompa and Dorjé Pakmo (
rdo rje phag mo, Sanskri:
Vajravārāhī), ecstatically dancing in sexual union in their palace, fanged, and bedecked in skulls, are surrounded by wrathful goddesses called khandromas, or “sky-goers.” (
mkha’ ‘gro ma, Sanskrit:
ḍākinī). The presence of the khandromas figures prominently at numerous nés, protecting the sites, and if appeased, bestowing blessings and empowerments.
Another important aspect of this tantra is its mapping of twenty-four pilgrimage sites (pītha-s), corresponding to the parts of the deity’s adamantine body or that of the tantric yogi, onto the Indian subcontinent. The concept of a network of pīṭhas first arose in Śaiva and Śākta circles—where the sites were places empowered by the presence of Śakti and Śiva, and were destinations for pilgrims and yogis. This idea and some of the very same sites were then imported into Vajrayāna Buddhism. The Sanskrit term pīṭha was translated into Tibetan as né, homologizing the indigenous concept with the new Vajrayāna one. These sites would be remapped onto the Tibetan landscape, subjugating and sacralizing the Land of Snows with the power and authority of the Khorlo Dompa tantra, its practices, and its advanced practitioners.
A useful indigenous concept for the understanding of the power of a né, and its transformative effect on the pilgrim is that of jinlap (byin rlabs) often translated as “blessing,” though here perhaps “empowerment” is a better term. The early Tibetan kings were said to possess jin, “splendor” or “glory,” which flooded the landscape, the state, and its inhabitants. In Buddhism, the concept developed early that the charisma and power of the Buddha was transformative. After his death, his mortal remains, regarded as powerful relics, were interred in large reliquaries (stūpa), which became pilgrimage sites at the major places associated with his life. The relics of other great masters came to possess a similar power, and the stūpas housing them were venerated across the Buddhist world. In the Vajrayāna context, the power of Khorlo Dompa and his mandala subdue the spot as a Buddhist site and empower the environment and pilgrims who come there.
5. The Druk Lineage and the Opening of the Sauraṭa Né
The Druk (‘brug) lineage is one of the sub-sects of the Marpa Kagyu (mar pa bka’ ‘gyur). It was established by Tsangpa Gyaré Yeshé Dorjé (gtsang pa rgya ras ye shes rdo rje, 1161–1211), who was one of the disciples of Pakmodrupa Dorjé Gyelpo (phag mo gru pa rdo rje rgyal po, 1110–1170). The name Drukpa (‘brug pa) came from a vision had by Tsangpa Gyaré in which he saw nine dragons (‘drug) fly up from the earth into the sky when he was on pilgrimage. Tsangpa Gyaré’s lineage flows down from the great systematizer of Kagyu, Gampopa Sonam Rinchen (sgam po pa bsod nam rin chen, 1070–1153), who united the more ecstatic siddha lineage that he received from Tibet’s great yogi Milarepa (mi la ras pa, 1040–1123) with that of the monastic Kadam tradition. However, Tsangpa Gyaré and the Druk lineage emphasized the siddha-based tantric teachings and practices that are traced to Milarepa’s second great disciple, Rechungpa Dorje Drakpa (1085–1161). This connection flows through Lingrepa Pema Dorje (gling ras pa padma rdo rje, 1128–1188) who was a married tantric practitioner, and more immediately in the form of a cycle of treasure texts concealed by Rechungpa that was discovered by Tsangpa Gyaré.
Tsangpa Gyaré’s disciple Götsangpa Gönpo Dorje (rgod tshang pa mgon po rdo rje, 1189–1258) was a traveling musician and actor in his youth. He eventually became disillusioned with worldly life and sought out Buddhist teachings. Götsangpa spent many years in retreat and also traveled extensively to Buddhist sacred sites on the Tibetan plateau, such as Mount Kailash, where he established the definitive circumambulation route. He established sites in Lahaul, and travelled down to the Indian plains, most notably to Jalandhara, which is one of the twenty-four sacred sites associated with the Cakrasamvara tradition, and which is also regarded as a Śākta pīṭha.
A né is considered to be hidden or closed until a spiritually advanced being makes it available for himself and others as a site for pilgrimage and practice. The opener of the Sauraṭa né was a disciple of Götsangpa—Chöjé Shelgompa (
chos rje shel sgam pa).
12 Shelgompa was sent to Nako by his teacher to open this né, which the latter identified as one of the twenty-four places associated with Cakrasaṃvara. When Chöjé Shelgompa came to the region, people were unaware of the né and their proximity to it. The story goes that when Chöjé Shelgompa first came to the region, he asked what the name of the place was. The answer was “Embankment Mountain” (
ri rags), but Shelgompa corrected the person, “no, this place is “the seat of the né” (
gnas gdan) Continuing on to the village of Maling, he met an elderly woman, whom he asked, “What is the name of this place? She gave the name as Maling, but again he corrected his informant, saying “No, it isn’t Maling, it is the outer fringe of the né” (
gnas gling).”
13 Reaching the village of Nako, the pattern continued, with Shelgompa correcting his informant, “No, it isn’t Nako, it’s “the doorway to the né” (
gnas sgo). He explains the auspicious location saying, “At the top is the eastern mountain, the lower part is the western mountain, in the front is the turquoise lake. At the rear is the constructed temple,” the latter presumably referring to the 11th century structure attributed to Rinchen Zangpo.
6. The Sauraṭa Nékor
The name
Sauraṭa is a Tibetan pronunciation/spelling of Saurāṣṭra, which is one of the twenty-four pilgrimage sites named in the Cakrasaṃvara corpus. The pilgrimage guide calls the né Sauraṭa, but among the inhabitants of Nako village, it is more commonly referred to Somang. This is likely to be due to Somang being the name of the incarnate lama who owns the site, and leads the yearly group pilgrimage there.
14 Beginning in the village (
Figure 2), the path climbs the ridge of the mountains to the east of the lake to a pass where it crosses to the other side of the ridge. As one begins the climb up from town there are rows of chörtens and mani walls,
15 and a large new mani wheel
16 that is wind-powered on the promontory that juts out overlooking the lake and the village. Just behind this, and presumably older, is a large cairn (
la btsas) topped with a bundle of juniper branches adorned with white silk offering scarves (
kha btags), that is probably a shrine to a local deity, though my informants did not mention it, and it is not mentioned in the pilgrimage guide. In front of this is a tall, stripped tree trunk with a tall vertical prayer flag (
dar chen). From this point, the path is clearly marked and very well-maintained. This is so for the route for some time beyond the pass and on along the other side of the mountains as the path runs more or less level.
Just before the pass is the first of the self-arisen (
rang byung)
17 stone features of the né. A tall narrow stone stands to the right of the path. On this stone is an image of Padmasambhava, with a demoness holding an eight-year-old child in her mouth, under his foot. It is said that when Chöjé Shelgompa began to explore this né, the forces of darkness rallied to try to stop him from his task. Here at the beginning of the route we see Padmasambhava appear in his well-established role of subduer of demons, aiding Chöjé Shelgompa in his efforts, not in bringing Buddhism to the region, but rather in opening up a new sacred space that will benefit others. Throughout the route, Padmasambhava is present to protect, encourage, and welcome Chöjé Shelgompa. Moreover, we see his mere presence here as a major source of the power that makes this a né.
Just up the path toward the top of the pass are two large standing stones, one leaning against the other. The lower one is said to be Dzambhala, the regent of the northern direction and the god of wealth. As is usual in his depiction, he holds a mongoose in his left hand. This is the most obvious feature that is recognizable in the rock, as the mouth of the mongoose is easily seen and there are two black dots on the stone that are its eyes. Lodged between the two large standing stones is a small, nearly square stone that is said to be a single dice. These are said to be messages, but just what the messages mean was not clear to my informants nor is it explained in the pilgrimage guidebook.
At the top of the pass is a large cairn (
lab rtse) with many strings of prayer flags connecting the bundle of sticks and juniper branches with the surrounding peaks and boulders. Nothing was said about this monument. The three large rock columns surrounding the cairn are said to be like the three legs of the tripod of a local cooking stove. A large boulder just down the slope was said to be a copper cooking vessel that was used by the Buddha Śākyamuni and his entourage when they prepared food for a tantric worship gathering (
tshogs mchod) here. This is one of two appearances of Śākyamuni at this pilgrimage site. About an hour further on there is a very large boulder with three deep indentations that are said to be the bodily imprints (
sku rjes) of Guru Rinpoche and his consorts, Khandro Yeshe Tsogyel (
mkha’ ‘gro ye shes mtsho rgyal) and princess Mandāravā, (
Figure 3) who came here to welcome and encourage Chöjé Shelgompa. They gave him Dharma teachings and tantric empowerments, and showed him the way to continue.
The imprints are quite deep into the surface of the boulder, and like most of the other self-arisen images, don’t appear to have been colored or accentuated to make them more visible. The imprint of Mandāravā, however, is thickly coated with oil (a common gesture of worship along this pilgrimage), which makes the image more visible. There are also coins stuck to the surface (another common practice) where her face would be, and there are khataks wedged between the rocks at the edge near her. Yeshe Tsogyel’s image is less clear, but there is a small stack of flat black stones at the bottom of it, with a few lighter ones placed on top of the stack. There are prayer flags strung between the top of the stone and others around and a wooden pole on the other side of the path.
About two hours later, one comes to a huge boulder on the exposed underside of which is said to be the imprint of Chöjé Shelgompa’s hand grasping his walking stick. At this spot, khandromas hurled this boulder at Chöjé Shelgompa because they did not want him intruding into their territory. He said, “Don’t do this!” and held up his walking stick, stopping the boulder and imprinting it with his hand. His command ended with the sound “a,” which is an imperative particle in colloquial Tibetan, and this letter is said to be imprinted far up on the mountain’s face above this spot. Further on, is a rock face with many small niches in it. This is said to be imprints of the Buddhas of the Forunate Aeon (
bskal bzang gi sangs rgyas) who came here to welcome Chöjé Shelgompa. It is said that a virtuous and realized person will be able to see butter lamps burning in each of these niches. It is also at this spot where one catches the first glimpse of Tashigang (
bkra shis sgang) monastery, which is situated along the route and is typically included in the pilgrim’s itinerary. There is a ridge here at which pilgrims do prostrations in the direction of Tashigang and rest of the route further on.
18Tashigang requires a steep climb up from this point. The main structure is quite small, but there is new construction going on just below it. The focal point of the main assembly hall is a small image of Milarepa that is said to have been made by one of his disciples during his lifetime. He made three such images, and all three are said to be in the area of Hangrang. The other two are supposed to be in the possession of private individuals and only brought out occasionally, so this one is important because it is accessible. The image is said to have hair that grows back if cut. It is located in a cavity in the chest of a large statue of Shākyamuni, covered with a glass door. The shrine contains a number of other statues, including a large Guru Rinpoché with consort, and a finely detailed Chenrezik (spyan ras gzigs, Sanskrit, Avalokiteśvara).
Continuing on from Tashigang, the next site is a small spring coming down to the path from above, forming a small pool. It is said that there were a pair of tantric practitioners (
dpa’bo/dpa’ mo, Sanskrit vīra/vīrā) who were living here, and they transformed themselves into the form of a brahmin couple. They did this in order to hide who they really were, specifically so that Chöjé Shelgompa would not recognize them or judge them. When Chöjé Shelgompa reached this spot, he was very hungry and thirsty. He did not know at this point where Sauraṭa was, and he had not brought enough food and water. The couple either created or revealed this spring, and offered water to Chöjé Shelgompa, saying that it would be like the blessed water that is given during a tantric empowerment or like the elixir of immortality. Drinking his fill of this water, Chöjé Shelgompa felt completely satisfied and energized. A little further on, there is a naturally-arisen image on the rock face of the old Brahmin couple (
Figure 4).
Climbing up toward the final destination, there is a place where one sees an image in the mixture of light and dark stone far up on the rock face. Against a white background there is a long thin dark shape coming down that is said to be a poisonous snake. Just below, but rising up into the white area are two dark shapes that are said to be a golden fish and a turquoise fish. The white background is said to be a lake of milk. The meaning of all this was not explained by my informants or the pilgrimage guide, other than that it is a landmark to help locate the next site, the spring created by Guru Rinpoché.
The spring known as tsechu (tshes bcu) is the last site before arriving at Sauraṭa né. Guru Rinpoche created a spring here for Chöjé Shelgompa, who, when he drank this water, became so happy that he said it was like the feast offering (tshog mchod, Sanskrit: gaṇa pūja) celebration on the tenth day of the lunar month in honor of Guru Rinpoché, thus this is what this spring is called. This site is more elaborate than the previous spring, with mantras of Guru Rinpoché painted and carved on the large boulder, khataks tied around the tree, and prayer flags decked across the site. The spring itself, however, was not flowing. There was a plastic soda bottle propped up where the water should have been coming, but there was no stream and the bottle was empty.
Finally arriving at the heart of Sauraṭa eleven hours after departing the village, one enters through a rough wooden gateway surrounded by lush greenery studded with small dandelion-like flowers (
Figure 5). The site is a short distance up the valley from the confluence of the Sutlej and Spiti rivers, directly across the Sutlej gorge from Shipki pass, which is the border between India and China and is now controlled by the Chinese military (
Figure 6). The space is situated on a steep hillside, with several levels of flat ground on which the structures sit. On the level where one enters is a three-room guesthouse and the caretaker’s quarters. The caretaker’s quarters consisted of a fairly large room with a stove and sitting and sleeping space. Behind this room was a cave, which is one of the five main caves of the né. At first sight the cave seemed to be no more than a storage area, with several car batteries, and numerous other practical things piled up, though there were several khataks draped across the space, including one hanging from a spot in the rock ceiling. It was only later that we learned that this was one of the caves of the né circuit.
Up a level, and further on than the caretaker’s quarters is the shrine room that seemed to serve as the focal point of regular worship at the site (
Figure 7). The caretaker filled the water bowls and lit the oil lamps daily, and the room was well-maintained. It seemed however, that there was not always a caretaker present, as we had to wait for several weeks to do the pilgrimage for the caretaker to return to Sauraṭa from his home in Nako. In a windowed vestibule, there is a small rock ledge with oil lamps, and numerous coins pressed on the rock wall above. The stucco-like wall of the vestibule was said to be the result of Chöjé Shelgompa blowing his nose in his hand and flinging it out the door of the shrine, creating the rough surface of the wall. Entering the tiny doorway one comes to the shrine itself, which hold five or six people. The central image is an eleven-headed, thousand-eyed Chenrezik (
spyan ras gzigs, Sanskrit:
Avalokiteśvara). In front of it are a few smaller images, including a Guru Rinpoché, and photos of the current and previous Somang Rinpochés. This is the incarnation lineage associated with the site. Up on a cabinet to the left of the main image was a large book in very poor condition and several others. On a small puja table near the window was a book that was said to be the original of the pilgrimage guidebook (
gnas yig) of Sauraṭa. The text in the
appendix here is the translation of the transcribed text done by Lama Ngawang Negi.
Towering over the entire site are two massive stone formations, each split into two conjoining parts. One is said to be a Denchok “father-mother” deity couple in sexual embrace (yab yum) and the other is Tamdrin (rta ‘grin, Sanskrit: Hayagrīva) and Dorjé Pakmo (rdo rje phag mo), Sanskrit: Vajravārāhī). Higher up, but often hidden by clouds, is a peak called Khorlo Dompa because the stone bears his image along with his consort and there is a lake in which the image is reflected. Surrounding the peak is a path that the khandromas circumambulate. This spot is said to be difficult to reach but is visited by some pilgrims. It is mentioned in the pilgrimage guidebook in reference to Drölma Cave, but is not emphasized as a central feature of the né.
In addition to the temple, there are the residence of Chöjé Shelgompa and numerous footprints (
rje zhabs) and “self-arisen” (
rang ‘byung) images along the way. The central features of the né, however, are the five caves. The organization of the caves into a mandala-like form is typical of many Tibetan pilgrimage sites, and is often discussed in terms of this functioning to “buddhacise” a perhaps-previously indigenous sacred site.
19 The center is Yeshe Gönpo (
ye shes mgon po, Sanskrit:
jñānanātha) Cave, with Drölma (
sgrol ma, Sanskrit:
tārā) Cave in the east, Pakmo Cave in the south, Tamdrin Cave (
rta ‘grin phug) in the west and Jakhyung Cave (
bya khyung phug) in the north. Of the five, Pakmo cave is actually far away and seldom visited by pilgrims. In it there is the self-arisen breast of Dorje Pakmo. It was said that the cave was quite far from the center of the circuit and the breast was not very clearly manifest, so few include it in their circuit. The rest of the caves are quite close together, the circuit taking under three hours to complete.
The first site one comes to is Tamdrin Cave. The route circles clockwise from the west (exempting the southern cave) and finishes in the center. This cave is where group rituals are performed when a large local group, led by Somang Rinpoché, comes to Sauraṭa during full moon in May/June each year. Tamdrin is often considered to be an emanation of Chenrezik, as a wrathful form. He is a widely encountered protective deity and meditational deity (yi dam, Sanskrit: iṣṭadevatā) throughout Tibetan and Himālayan Buddhism. There are paintings of him in two of the three Nako village shrines. There is a self-arisen image of Tamdrin in the ceiling of the cave, but my guides did not point out any features, other than that it was in a rather unkempt state.
From Tamdrin Cave, one goes back out the gate and climbs up and begins the clockwise circumambulation path. The first self-arisen image is of Dorje Pakmo’s breast. It is a small portion of a medium-sized boulder that is easily spotted since it is darkened from having been rubbed with oil. A little further on is a large flat boulder on which there are gouges that are said to be from when Buddha Śākyamuni cut up a demon on the rock’s surface. Next, one comes to a very large vein of smooth white rock coming down from the mountain with the appearance of a river. It is quite striking against the darker and more gravelly surroundings—six to eight feet across and hundreds of feet long from beyond where one can see above to over the rim below. Where the path crosses this rock “river” is a small pool of water that is said to be the khandromas’ washing basin. Just after this feature was a large cleft rock that was said to be the vulva of a khandroma (
Figure 8). It was nearly five feet tall and pilgrims had rubbed one side of it with oil and affixed coins. I was told by one informant that sometimes a spring flowed from this feature, though there was no evidence of that when we were there.
The next major self-arisen image is a large and prominent wrathful image of Guru Rinpoché surrounded by flames.
20 One then comes to Jakhyung (
bya khyung, Sanskrit:
Garuḍa) Cave. The cave is partially walled-in, with four chörtens (
chos rten) on the outer edge of the cave floor. Against the inner wall are hundreds of clay votive icons (
tsa tsa) that were made by monks who stayed in the cave for an extended period of time in the past (
Figure 9). On the ceiling of the cave is a self-arisen image of Jakhyung’s head and wings. The image has been rubbed with oil, and coins have been pressed on the surface (
Figure 10) as worship by pilgrims. My informants said that a wish made in this cave would definitely be granted, as long as that wish would have no negative impact on anyone. The next stop is said to have been Chöjé Shelgompa’s residence. This is a well-built dwelling of several rooms, partially built into a cave in the cliff face. Unlike many openers of nés, Chöjé Shelgompa never left this place, or if he did, he returned to live out his days here. My informants said that when he died, the Buddhas of the Five Lineages (
rgyal ba rigs lnga) came and prepared his corpse for the funeral. Markings on the wall are said to have been made by the Buddhas as they performed this service for Chöjé Shelgompa. The pilgrimage guide book says that Chöjé Shelgompa “feigned illness” at the end of his life and transformed into light, which was imprinted on the rock wall of the cave. It also mentions the imprints of the Five Buddhas “pulling up and pressing down,”without elaboration on what they were doing. My informants did not point out the image from Chöjé Shelgompa’s transfiguration, and I did not see it. These two elements of the story suggest that Chöjé Shelgompa left behind bodily remains, but I saw no large chörten and none was mentioned.
Moving on from Chöjé Shelgompa’s residence, one comes to a self-arisen image illustrating the well-known story of Milarepa and the hunter Khyirawa Gönpo Dorje (
khyi ra ba mgon po rdo rje). The image is quite high up on the rock face, so pilgrims apply oil and coins lower down on the rock. Next is another prominent self-arisen image of Guru Rinpoché on the cliff face. He is said to be riding on the sun, so like the previous image of him said to be surrounded by flames, the dark image of the Guru stands out against the red rock surrounding it. Above the image is a round indentation in the rock in which is said to be concealed the golden key which some holy being in the future will use to open a new né. A little further on from here is a large cave said to be the palace of the Yama Rāja, the Lord of Death. On the wall of the cave is a light patch of rock with black spots on it. The light surface is said to be the mirror on which one’s good and bad actions in this life are tallied as white and black stones.
21 Yama Rāja judges the person after death based on this accounting, and one goes accordingly to heaven or hell. This image is said to teach this important lesson. Above the cave is a small hole, with a red streak coming down from it. This is said to be the menstrual blood of an eight-year-old khandroma (
Figure 11).
The next cave is Drölma Cave. One day while Chöjé Shelgompa was living in his residence, he heard a man’s voice coming from the cave below while he was meditating. Going to investigate, he looked into the cave and saw the twenty-one Tārās dancing in a circle around Khorlo Dompa. Upon being seen, Khorlo Dompa flew up into the rock of the ceiling, blessing the rock and leaving a self-arisen image of his “secret part,” i.e., his phallus (
Figure 12). The twenty-one Tārās dissolved into walls of the cave. Women who are unable to conceive come to this place to become fertile, and the cave is said to bestow blessings on all who come there. Just inside the door is a broom with which to sweep the dirt of the floor as one leaves. The next person who enters looks at the floor, and if she is lucky, she will see footprints of khandromas in the dirt. One of my informants noted that earlier, the sightings of the footprints was quite common, but more recently it was becoming less so. At the rear of the cave is a small passage between an upper and lower boulder. It is said that if one is without sin, he or she will be able to squeeze through the space. A sinful person will not be able to pass through.
Finally, one reaches the center, Yeshé Gönpo Cave. “Yeshé Gönpo” is another name for Mahākāla, and the Drukpa lineage generally emphasizes the four-armed form of this protector and yidam. This is a very large and well-appointed cave, with a wooden floor and central altar (
Figure 13). When a large group of people do the pilgrimage in May/June led by Somang Rinpoché, he leads the puja and feast offering in this space. Just inside the door is a small stove, that conceals a self-arisen letter “āḥ” on the floor. This was placed here to prevent people from stepping on the image. In the ceiling of the cave is the self-arisen face of Yeshé Gönpo (
Figure 14).
7. Common and Unique Features
The characteristics of the Sauraṭa né are largely consistent with those found at other sacred sites across Tibetan cultural regions. The most notable is the identification of the site as one of the twenty-four pīṭhas of the Khorlo Dompa maṇḍala. Like other major pilgrimage sites on the Tibetan plateau, particularly Tisé, Tsari, and Lapchi,
22 Sauraṭa’s transformative power (
byin rlaps) arises fundamentally from Khorlo Dompa, the other deities of the maṇḍala, and the presence of the khandromas. Sauraṭa also grants blessings due to the spiritual presence of great yogis, such as Padmasambhava, Milarepa, and Chöjé Shelgompa.
The extensive presence of lithic hierophanies is common to the major nés as well. Footprints and other body impressions, self-arisen images in stone, and edifying or auspicious scenes in stone are found at Tisé, Lapchi, and Tsari, as well as other nés. The keyhole containing the key to a further sacred land is also present at Tisé. (
Huber and Rigzin 1999, p. 129). The perhaps most remarkable stone features, the khandoma’s vulva, and the phallus of Khorlo Dompa, have parallels at both Tsari (
Huber 1999b, p. 67) and Lapchi (
Huber [1997] 2007, p. 267). The same is true of springs and other water features, which dispense blessed water, or “attainment water,” and Tisé features a khandromas’ bathing pool (
Huber and Rigzin 1999, p. 135).
Perhaps the most significant difference between these great Khorlo Dompa-associated nés and Sauraṭa is the insignificance of the mountain in the circuit. At the other sites, the peak is considered the center of the maṇḍala and the palace of the Khorlo Dompa and his retinue. This is particularly remarkable in that the mountain, Riwo Purgyel, the highest peak in Himachal Pradesh, towers above the Hangrang region, and is regarded as its territorial god (yul lha). The process of “mandalisation” mentioned above would suggest that this peak would, over time, have been overwritten with the Khorlo Dompa narrative either partially or completely, but this has not occurred. Other remarkable peaks across the Tibetan plateau (including the nearby Kinner Kailash peak) came to be local instantiations of the paradigmatic Khorlo Dompa peak, Tisé. While this “mandalisation” has occurred to varying degrees at major sites in Tibet, for whatever reason Riwo Purgyel has resisted this process and plays no part in the Sauraṭa pilgrimage that lies on its slopes. As an interesting aside, I was told by two of my informants that the position of the Nako oracle of Riwo Purgyel had been vacant for some time. The position was traditionally held by a member of one of several families but no one had stepped up to take on this responsibility because of its stringent purity demands. I was told that the families in question had recently encountered misfortune because of this dereliction of duty. Nonetheless, Riwo Purgyel still had no voice as of the time I spent in Nako. While the yul lha has so far resisted “buddhacization,” the deity’s standing in the region is uncertain.
Lakes are typically also central, with the mountain being the male feature and the lake being female (
Buffetrille 1998, p. 18). The lake in Nako is part of the village circumambulation route, being a place where Padmasambhava once meditated, but other than being mentioned in the pilgrimage guide as an auspicious feature outside the né, it does not play a part in this site.
Rather than a mountain serving as the center of the maṇḍala, at Sauraṭa it is a cave, in a circular arrangement of caves. Caves are common features at Tibetan pilgrimage sites, but with rare exceptions, they are seldom the focal point of the né.
23 Though it has become commonplace in the scholarship on Tibetan pilgrimage that “mandalisation” serves as a traditional interpretive concept imposed upon Tibetan sacred sites, it important to note here that while the caves are laid out in a maṇḍala-like form, this is not a maṇḍala in the same sense as when the Khorlo Dompa maṇḍala is overlaid on a mountain and its surrounding features. Sauraṭa is itself held to be one of the twenty-four sacred sites of Khorlo Dompa Body Maṇḍala, but there doesn’t seem to be any sense that it is regarded as a maṇḍala itself. The Sauraṭa pilgrimage guide never uses the word “maṇḍala” (Tibetan:
dkyil ‘khor) to describe the caves, it just locates them at the cardinal directions.
The deities of the five caves at Sauraṭa are also found at the other great pilgrimage sites in Tibet, but it is noteworthy that since the five caves form the core of the site, one would perhaps expect the central cave to be Khorlo Dompa, but he appears only in the narrative about Drölma cave. The relatively-near peak called Khorlo Dompa, surrounded by the khandromas, is said to be the palace of the deity in the description of the Drölma Cave, but few make the strenuous trek up to this spot, thus it is not central to most pilgrims’ performance of this nékor. The presence of Drölma herself is attested to at the Tsari and Tisé pilgrimage routes.
Caves and lithic hierophanies of Dorjé Pakmo are found at the major pilgrimage sites, and this should not be surprising as she is the consort of Khorlo Dompa in the
Cakrasaṃvara Tantra. In the description of the twenty-four pīṭhas of the Khorlo Dompa maṇḍala, the deity consort of the goddess of this site is Tamdrin/Hayagrīva (
Gray 2007, p. 60), but that this is the reason for his presence at Sauraṭa is speculative. That he is a popular meditational deity (
yidam) across the sects of Tibetan Buddhism is enough to explain his presence here. The same can be said of Jakhyung (Sansrit: Garuḍa), and he is also an important pre-Buddhist and Bön meditational deity. Yeshé Gönpo, or Mahākāla, appears in the pilgrimage guides of the major né. Yeshé Gönpo is a protector deity, but he is of the transcendent protector class so he can also serve as a yidam. The Drukpa lineage observes the practice of Four-Armed Mahākāla (Yeshé Gönpo) as one of its core practices. There are many depictions of Yeshé Gönpo in the shrines in Nako Village, and the contemporary importance of this deity can be seen at the monastery in Bhuntar, in Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh, where Somang Rinpoché currently lives. Two subsidiary temples have recently been built flanking the main assembly hall: one of Khorlo Dompa, and the other of Yeshé Gönpo.
My informants told me that Sauraṭa offered rewards both worldly and mundane. In, fact, one informant told me that just taking seven steps toward Sauraṭa brought blessings. Throughout the route there were features that were said to be perceived differently depending on whether one was a holy person or an ordinary one. Some of the particular features were said to have more specific benefits. Jakhyung Cave was said to grant any request that was made without malice. The phallus of Khorlo Dompa in Tārā Cave would grant progeny to the childless. The narrow passage between the boulders at the back of the cave demonstrated one’s being without sin—assuming he or she makes it through.
The pilgrimage guidebook similarly states that visiting the né granted blessings, primarily because of the empowerment as one of the twenty-four pīthas of the Khorlo Dompa maṇḍala, because heroes and khandromas gather there, and because of the attainments of Chöjé Shelgompa, who opened the place for future pilgrims and who lived out the rest of his life there. The site grants the accumulation of merit and the purification of pollution (grib). For the fortunate, meditative accomplishment and understanding will increase and for ordinary sinful people, evil will be dispelled. The guidebook claims that Sauraṭa is unique in that it turns the mind of all who come there to the dharma.