After Tibet Empire Collapse, Guge kingdom was born, It played important role from 10th century to 17th Century. However, a war in 1630 destroyed thw whole kingdom. The glory and vicissitudes of guge kingdom is still a riddle up to now. The surviving buildings of Guge kingdom are altogether 1,416 including caves, houses, watchtowers, ancient towers are scattered on the slope over 300 m high. As the capital of the ancient Kingdom, it has the largest complex of architecture in Tibet. The red hall, White Hall, Yamantaka Hall are comparatively well preserved.
It is a wonder of Nagri. In the mid – nine century, the Tubo imperial court came to an end. The offspring of the King Namdam established their own kingdoms and Gyede Nyinmagong became the king of Ngari. The second son of his three sons occupied Zarang and established the Guge Kingdom.
In the main ruins of the Guge Kingdom in Zarang, the destroyed citywalls and the natural earthen forests exist harmoniously. More than 400 houses and 800 caves scatter on the 300 – meter – high mountain slope. As the capital of the Kingdom, the Zarang Ruins cover an area of 720,000 square meters. It is the second largest building comples in Tibet next to the Potala Palace.
The main buildings include the Red Temple, White Temple and Mandala Hall. More than 1,000 square meter murals on the walls of the Samsara Hall are most precious. In addition to the images of Buddha, murals demonstrate such seldom images as other living things and the snakes with a human head. The caves around the temples still house some weaponry and hamlets used by the ancient soldiers.
Tourists should buy tickets in advance from the Zanda County Cultural Bureau for the visit to Ruins of the Guge Kingdom.
