Raw data
"Donggar is a small village with a dozen households in Zhada County [in the Ngari Prefecture, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanda_County - tmc]. At the foot of a mountain and standing by a river, it is about 40 km northwest of the ruins of the Guge Kingdom. The archaeologists unearthed two grottos, one on the cliff adjacent to the Donggar Village and one in the neighboring Piyang Village. They are the largest Buddhist caves so far discovered in Tibet."
http://www.tibetinfor.com/english/culture/c_plaza/archaeological/arch_02.htm
The village of Dindun and the nearby sites of Dungkar/Piyang are situated roughly in the vicinity of ruins of the ancient town of Kyunglung, West of Mt. Kailash & Lake Manasarovar - Aldenderfer (map of the region, 2005b:10)
At Piyang there are "over 1,100 caves of varying shapes and sizes […] some are clearly habitation sites, while others are probably meditation caves, and still others have ritual architecture within them." - Aldenderfer (2005b:10)
"The Donggar Piyang Grottoes, spread along a 30-kilometer narrow clay cliff to the northeast [error, it should read northwest - tmciolek, 9 Aug 2010] of the Zhada county seat, are actually located in two villages. The Donggar and Piyang villages are both under the jurisdiction of Donggar Township. The two villages are two kilometers apart."
http://www.heytibet.com/web/artc/568.html
Kyunglung, China Page
World:China:Xizang Zizhiqu
Lat 31.0333 Long 80.5833
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CH/14/Kyunglung.html
[The Donggar village in question not to be confused with Donggar, Lat 29.3333 Long 88.8167
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CH/14/Donggar2.html
or with Donggar, Lat 31.0667 Long 90.8333
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CH/14/Donggar.html ]
Input by: tmciolek, Aug 7, 2010
Final data (and their sources)
Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 20 km from the point defined by the coordinates below.
General location of the Piyang monastery, CN.
Lat 31.629 Long 79.3600
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2010.
Google Map link:
Final data - explanatory notes
1. Monastery's name
- Piyang monastery - http://www.heytibet.com/web/artc/568.html
2. Monastery's modern country & province
- China:Xizang Zizhiqu
3. Monastery's alternative/historical names
[missing data]
4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates
- Approx., Lat 31.629 Long 79.3600 - est. coordinates for a point 2 km NW of the estimated location of Donggar village Lat 31.6125 Long 79.3700, - tmciolek, 9 Aug 2010.
5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries
- Donggar monastery
6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village
7. The settlement's alternative/historical names
[missing data]
8. The settlement's coordinates
- Exactly, Lat 31.0333 Long 80.5833 - http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CH/14/Kyunglung.html
9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition
[missing data]
10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition
[missing data]
11. Date-early
[missing data]
12. Date-intermediate
[missing data]
13. Date-late
[missing data]
14. Details of contacts with other monasteries
[missing data]
15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery
- archaeological
16. Additional notes
- Over 1,100 caves of varying shapes and sizes (habitation sites, meditation caves, ritual sites)." - Aldenderfer (2005b:10)
17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by
[missing data]
end of page
