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Only three Kumbums are said to exist. The best known is the Gyantse Kumbum. A further Kumbum is at Kumbum Monastery (Ta'er Si) near Xining in modern Qinghai province in China (formerly near the border of the now defunct Tibetan province of Amdo). Concecrated in 1436AD, this structure contains 108 chapels in its four floors, and is illustrated with over 10,000 murals.
The Kumbum at Gyantse is a three dimensional mandala, meant to portray the Buddhist cosmos. The Kumbum, like other mandalas, which are portrayed by a circle within a square, enables the devotee to take part in the Buddhist perception of the universe and can depict one's potential as they move through it. Mandalas are meant to aid an individual on the path to enlightenment. The Kumbum holds a vast number of images of deities throughout its structure with Vhajra Dhara, the cosmic Buddha, at the top. |
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