Publication details
Panchen Lama's Kalachakra ceremony in Beijing in 1932 in Viktor Mussik's photographs
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| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| Citation | |
| Description | The eminent Tibetan Buddhist hierarch, the 9th Panchen Lama Lobzang Thubten Chokyi Nyima Geleg Namgyal (blo bzang thub bstan chos kyi nyi ma dge legs rnam rgyal, 1883-1937), was the first official who delivered the Kalachakra ceremony for non-Tibetans and non-Mongols outside the territory of Tibetan Buddhism. He thus played a significant role in the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in Republican pre-war China. The ceremony held in the Forbidden City from 14 to 24 October 1932 was primarily political and the first of its kind. The event itself is well covered in the literature, but its visual aspect is absent. No photographic documentation has been published except for a large, coloured sand Kalachakra mandala photographically documented and published by the American Basil Crump. Only recently have ten black and white photographs by the Czech traveller Viktor Mussik appeared, whose heuristic value is indisputable. The paper deals with the Kalachakra ceremony itself in general, as well as its specific form in October 1932. |
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