| Photo Information |
Copyright: Sanchia PD (Sanchia)
![Silver Star Critiquer [C: 15 W: 0 N: 4]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/s-n-n.gif) (47) |
| Genre: Places |
| Medium: Color |
| Date Taken: 2007-06-16 |
| Categories: Architecture, Artwork |
| Exposure: f/3.5, 1/640 seconds |
| More Photo Info: [view] |
| Photo Version: Original Version |
| Date Submitted: 2007-10-30 2:11 |
| Viewed: 814 |
| Points: 0 |
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
This is a detail from one of the buildings in the monastery/dzong complex at Wangdue Phoedrang. Wangduephoedrang Dzong ("fortress") is built on a ridge strectching out into the river -- the river is on either side of it, and this location brings with the haunting sound of silence in which only the wind can always be heard, and human voices tend to drift away as if unreal.
The picture here shows an area approximately 5-6 feet high and 7-8 feet in width. The painting is on wood, and this feature is over the doorway used to enter the building in which the main temple is situated. The set of painted blocks sticking out at the top is a common feature of Bhutanese Dzong architecture, the eaves under the roofs are thus highly decorated.
The skeletons dance to celebrate their detachment from the world, suffering, and life itself, in death. The central face is a wrathful avatar of a bodhisattva (anyone who seeks enlightenment out of compassion not just for himself but also for others) wearing a crown of skulls; the skulls represent the deaths of negative qualities/emotions like anger, desire, etc. The bodhisattva's wrath is directed against the negative qualities in themselves, not against any being who manifests them.
The black triangle in the right lower corner came about because a roof of an adjacent building was sticking out there. :) |
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![Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor [C: 34 W: 15 N: 3]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/s-s-n.gif)
(147)
I like the symetry here, and the colours. Thanks for sharing.