Chongye Valley

The Valley of the Kings or Chongye Valley branches off the Yarlung Valley to the southwest and contains a series of graveyard tumuli, approximately 27 kilometres (17 mi) south of Tsetang, Tibet, near the town of Qonggyai on Mure Mountain in Qonggyai County of the Shannan Prefecture.

The site possesses eight large mounds of earth resembling natural hills that are believed to contain eight to ten buried Tibetan kings.

"According to Tibetan tradition all the kings from Dri-gum onwards are buried at ‘Phyong-rgyas, but as the site now presents itself, there are just ten tumuli identifiable as the tombs of all the kings from Srong-brtsan-sgam-po to Khri-lde-srong-brtsan, including two princes . . . ."

Other sources, however, have indicated that there are actually nine mounds rather than eight or ten. The kings believed to be buried at the site include Songtsän Gampo (the founder of the Tibetan Empire), Nansong Mangsten, Tridu Songtsen, Gyangtsa Laban, Tride Tsugtsen, Trisong Detsen, Muni Tsangpo and Tritsu Detsen.

Two stone lion steles were erected at the front of the Valley of the Kings. Although one has been destroyed, the other is intact except for a broken leg. The lion is 1.55 meters high and 1.3 meters in length and stands on a 0.76 meter (about 0.83 yards) pedestal.

The largest of the mounds, located near the north bank of Qonggyai (Chonggye) River, has a reconstructed 13th-century temple dedicated to Songtsän Gampo. The temple was rebuilt with restored murals in 1983 and is maintained by three monks. Gampo's statue is situated in the centre of the temple's altar and is surrounded by statues of his Chinese wife, Wen Cheng, and his Nepalese wife, Tritsun, who is holding a crystal ball. Eminent ministers stand at the side, including Sambhota, a noted Tibetan philologist who is held to be the founder of Tibetan writing. Behind this altar statue display is a crowned Maitreya with two Sakyamunis and a mural on the right wall depicting Indian deities of the 8th century AD.

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Wikipedia