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The Tibetan Kanjur has long been recognized as both a symbolic embodiment of the Buddhist canonical literature and as a ritual object, resulting in the production of various versions that differ in content, arrangement, and specific textual formulation. Since the late 1970s, the provenance, lineage affiliations, and historical development of these Kanjurs have attracted significant scholarly attention. In this paper, I present the findings of textual-critical research on the Tibetan translation of the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā (Ggn), focusing particularly on two manuscript collections preserved at Nesar Monastery in Dolpo, namely the Nesar and Lang Kanjurs. Both Kanjurs, possibly dated as early as the thirteenth century, lie outside the two main lineages, Tshal pa and Them spangs ma, and demonstrate strong connections with Local or Independent Kanjurs, notably those of Phug brag and Namgyal. By undertaking a close comparison of selected passages from the Ggn across twenty-one canonical witnesses, this study finds that, for the Ggn: (a) the Nesar and Lang Kanjurs possess a group of unique textual variants which distinguish them from all other known Kanjur and Proto-Kanjur editions; (b) the Lang Kanjur appears to have been based chiefly on the Nesar Kanjur or an exemplar closely related to it; and (c) the compilers of the Lang Kanjur also relied on at least one other manuscript, which seems to have preserved readings of greater accuracy. These findings highlight the importance of the Nesar and Lang Kanjurs for textual-critical investigation and for understanding the transmission history of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. Ongoing research into these Kanjurs will yield crucial evidence for constructing a more nuanced and historically informed account of the formation, adaptation, and regional diffusion of the Tibetan Buddhist canon. Full article

Dolpo is a culturally Tibetan region in the inaccessible parts of the Himalayas, where Buddhist and Bon traditions coexist to this day. Due to their religious significance, the temples and monasteries of Dolpo reflect the historical connection to the religious centres of the Tibetan area. Accordingly, a holistic documentation of the preserved buildings can provide new insights for the development of typologies of Buddhist architecture in the Western Himalayas. To shed light on the mainly undocumented Buddhist architecture of this region, we launched our first research project in 2018. As a result, the architectural documentation of eighteen Buddhist sites in Dolpo is now available for the first time, based on the on-site assessment and survey during four field missions between 2018 and 2023. It provides an overview of the location, descriptions and references, photographs, sets of plans and 3D models of the surveyed buildings, enabling an inventory of the region’s cultural heritage to be initiated. The results enable us to establish a comprehensive typology of Buddhist architecture in Dolpo that allows for comparative analyses with buildings already documented in previous projects. Last but not least, the documentation provides the basis for much-needed restoration work. Full article