The Power Places of Central Tibet – Keith Dowman

Tibet is now open to anyone wishing to explore its ancient culture. This book, based on a nineteenth- century guide for Tibetan pilgrims by the renowned Lama Jamyang Kyentse Wangpo, describes the location, site, relics and background to places of major religious and historic significance. To compile the guide, the author followed in Jamyang Kyentse’s footsteps, visiting 150 temples, monasteries, sacred caves, lakes and mountains. Some of these are easily accessible to tourist groups; others have to be reached on foot – certain valleys written about here had never previously been visited by a foreigner. There is full information about Lhasa and the route west from Lhasa to the Nepal border – both popular destinations for the tourist – and descriptions of seventeen pilgrimages within a 150 km radius of Lhasa. Photographs, maps and drawings help the visitor to locate and identify what is to be seen.
The Pilgrim’s Guide will inform the tourist in his organized perambulation of major monasteries; provide geographical and historical information for the specialist; supply the trekker with route maps and destinations; and also give the armchair traveller and student of Tibetan Buddhism the first detailed guide to Central Tibet ever published. It will be an invaluable companion to the package tourist and pilgrim trekker alike.
The Power Places of Central Tibet – Keith Dowman