8 
Sarat Chandra Das —A brief account of Tibet [No. 1, 
the foot of Lab-chhyi Kang, on the top of which are the abodes of Tslie- 
ring tshe-nga, the five fairies w r ho "were devoted to the sage Milarapa- 
At the foot of Lab-chhyi Kang, on the Tibetan side, are five glacial lakes* 
each differing from the others in the colour of its water, consecrated to 
the Tshe-ring tshe-nga. To the north of those monasteries lies Kyema 
tsho, one of the four great glacial lakes of Tibet, close to which is situat¬ 
ed Rivo tag-ssang ( £ the place considered holy ’), the favourite residence 
of Lhacham Mandarava, the wife of Padma Sambliava, who resides there 
in a spiritual state. It contains the foot-marks of that deified female 
saint. Travelling northward from Nanam one arrives at the foot of a lofty 
mountain called Gung thang La, which contains the abodes of the twelve 
sylvan nymphs called Tanma Chuni, who were bound under solemn oath 
by Padma Sambhava to protect Buddhism against the heretical enemies 
or the Tirthikas (Brahmanas), and to prevent ingress to Tibet of Indian 
heretics. Although it is alleged that since then the Indian Tirthikas 
never came to Tibet, yet it is found that the Indian Parivrajakas did, as 
they do now, visit Tibet. There are other passes and ways for commu¬ 
nication between India and Tibet, besides Gung thang La pass, and so 
the nymphs cannot with certainty be said to have succeeded in their 
attempt to close the passes. Notwithstanding this, it is believed that 
formerly Indian heretics who succeeded in entering Tibet mostly died 
of, or suffered from, fatal and dangerous diseases. Many people say that 
the learned Parivrajakas (in the days of the author) who visited Tibet did 
not find the water and climate of Tibet to agree with them, and that 
they also suffered from serious diseases. After crossing Gung thang La, 
and going northwards, you arrive at the district of Tengri, in which 
there are the hermitage and cavern of Pha tampa Sangye (founder of 
the Shichye school), and the tomb of that famous saint. A Chinese 
guard with a Tibetan militia is posted at Tengri to watch the movements 
of the frontier people. Then to the east you find Tesi Jong and to tho 
north SheZkar Dorjo Jong with a prison attached to it. Close to it lies 
She/kar Chhoide monastery. North-east of these, not at a great dis¬ 
tance from SheZkar Jong, is situated the famous monastery of PaZ Sakya, 
which contains a grand congregation hall Called Dukhan tj kanno , so 
spacious that within it a race can bo run. Sakya contains numerous 
objects of Buddhist sanctity. Tho Sakya hierarchs descended from 
K lion CldioigyaZ (all hough his temporal power is now extinct) continue 
to exist without interruption. They chiefly devote their attention to tho 
Tantrik portion of Buddhism, for which they arc greatly revered. 
From PaZ Sakya if you go northward for a full day’s march, you 
arrive at Khaim f l'ag Jong, the place where Lama Khaim propitiated tho 
deity Gonpo sha/dub. If contains a cavern cut in a rock called Dal Oon 
