The Siddha Cave

Könchokling (དཀོན་མཆོག་གླིང་) is a painted cave in the Choshar region of Upper Mustang, Nepal. It takes about four hours at a brisk pace to reach it from the walls of Lo Manthang. The path winds up through rugged terrain, and towards the end of the side valley leading to the cave an array of eroded sand pinnacles gives the landscape an almost unreal quality. Stupa ruins mark the foot and the crown of the hill leading to the ridge in which the cave is cut. The final approach requires descending a short but steep drop on the east side of the ridge — secured by rope — to reach the cave entrance, which is now protected by a door maintained by the local villagers, accessible only in the company of a caretaker.

The cave is fully open on one side. An elongated central pillar divides the interior into a larger southern and a smaller northern section. The south wall is largely plain, with only traces of whitewash and a carved corner niche that may once have served as a sitting or sleeping area. The main murals are concentrated on the west wall and continue onto a narrow projection to the north of the pillar. The north section houses the principal iconographic focus of the programme, together with a niche on the north wall whose back and side walls bear the blackened remains of a Kagyü teaching lineage.

Iconographic Programme

The programme centres on a triad on the west wall of the north section of the cave. In the centre is Vajradhara, holding a vajra and bell with his hands crossed in front of the chest. To his left is Ṣaḍakṣara Lokeśvara Shadakshara Lokeśvara attended by Manidhara (the Jewel-holder) and Shadakṣhari (the Six-syllable Lady), seated behind his knees. To the right is Green Tārā performing the wish-granting gesture (varadāmudrā) and holding a blue lily (utpala), attended probably by Ekajatā and Māricī.

This triad is the compositional anchor of the entire cave. Distributed around it on the west wall and continuing into the north wall are all 85 great adepts (mahāsiddha) as praised in the verses of Vajrāsana, a twelfth-century author probably identifiable with the Tibetan translator Tsami. The 55 siddhas preserved on the west wall and the 6 on the narrow projection are arranged reading from right to left — which is highly unusual — beginning with siddha no. 31, Dengipa, so that the sequence runs outwards from the triad. The north wall carries siddhas 1–30 in two rows reading from left to right, placing Vajradhara conceptually at the centre of all 85 figures, with the first thirty to his right and the remainder to his left.

Beneath each figure on the west wall and the projection, fragmentary captions preserve portions of Vajrāsana’s verses, enabling the identification of many of the depicted figures. Each panel follows a consistent format: the siddha is typically placed on the right side of the panel with a companion — the large majority female — a tree, and at least one animal. Identifying iconographic attributes are rare, but the verse captions and compositional sequence allow the programme to be reconstructed in considerable detail. Nagarjuna (no. 1) is shown enveloped by snakes, with an additional snake listening in the tree. Tampaka (no. 42), praised as a brahmin who became a blacksmith, is depicted working metal and wearing a nail as an earring. Kakana (no. 40), identified as a brahmin master of poetry, holds a skull-cup. A practitioner panel in the southwest corner of the siddha zone depicts two teachers in pointed red hats flanking ritual implements and offerings, identifying the teaching being transmitted as that of the 85 great adepts according to Vajrāsana’s verses.

The lineage in the north wall niche begins with the standard Kagyü sequence — Vajradhara, Tilopa, Nāropa, Marpa, Milarēpa, Gampopa (1079–1153) — and appears to continue with Phagmodrupa (1110–70) and subsequent holders. A total of sixteen figures precede the practitioner, the last teacher depicted frontally as the direct teacher of the practitioner shown around the corner. This succession leads well into the fourteenth century. The lineage may cross sectarian lines in its later figures, and a conclusive identification cannot be offered; it is possible that the precise affiliation was always intentionally inclusive.

Paintings and Dating

The paintings are remarkable for their combination of accomplished draftsmanship and an austere approach to colour. The figures are drawn in confident black lines with rapid shading applied close to these contours. Despite appearances, the paint was not applied directly onto the clay surface: the wall was covered with a white ground layer, subsequently painted in a tone matching the clay, so that abrasion — which is considerable — reveals a disturbing white beneath. The preserved palette consists of tones of orange-red and a dark grey that was once green; yellow and other colours have oxidised beyond recognition. The restrained use of colour appears to be a deliberate aesthetic choice rather than a shortcut.

The paintings can be attributed confidently to the fourteenth century — later than Luri, and before the fifteenth-century monuments within Lo Manthang. The initial published attribution to the eleventh century was an overstatement made without detailed study. Establishing a more precise context has proved difficult, as neither Newari art in Tibet nor Buddhist art of the Kathmandu valley provides close parallels; in many respects the paintings at Könchokling stand apart from what is otherwise known from early Mustang.

The ruined stupas and temple remains along the approach, together with the iconographic programme, suggest that the cave served as a hermitage where practitioners would have meditated in the tradition of the great adepts depicted on its walls. The complete documentation of the cave from May 2012, including details of the siddha captions and their identifications, is available in the (◊ Könchokling) gallery.