Shalkhar, Upper Kinnaur

Shalkhar is a few kilometres northwest of Chango in Upper Kinnaur. Its monastery, known as Lhabhrang (ལྷ་བྲང་), is connected by local tradition with the great translator Rinchen Zangpo (རིན་ཆེན་བཟང་པོ་).

One temple of the complex, the Samdrub Chöling (བསམ་གྲུབ་ཆོས་གླིང་), was destroyed in the earthquake of 1975. A few pieces of sculpture and some manuscripts are all that remain to recall what was evidently once an important centre of Buddhism in the period of the early west Tibetan kings. One carved wooden capital, miraculously well preserved and still in use today, is probably the earliest surviving element of this temple and may be attributed to the eleventh century (◊ Shalkhar). Its form and decorative vocabulary connect it with other early wood carvings from the western Himalayan region documented at sites such as Ropa and Lachuse.