Tibetan Sacred Space Research Guide: Pilgrimage and Guidebooks (gnas yig)

Titles marked with an asterisk (*) below include primary sources in English translation (or Chinese if noted.)

Huber, Toni. “Tibetan Pilgrimage: Concepts and Practice,” chap. 2 in The Cult of the Pure Crystal Mountain (New York and Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999), 10-20. 


Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo (1820-1892)

* Jamyang Khyentsé Wangpo's Guide to central Tibet = Dbus gtsang gnas yig, trans. by Matthew Akester. Chicago: Serindia Publications, 2016.

Bla-ma btsan-po, (? - 1839)

* The geography of Tibet according to the 'dZam-gling-rGyas-bShad. Roma : Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1962. In English.

Brag-dgon sprul-sku (1868-1941)

* Account of a pilgrimage to central Tibet (dBus gtsang gi gnas bskor) by 'Jam-dbyangs-bstan-pa-rgya-mtsho : a neglected source for the historical and sacred geography of Tibet.  New Delhi : Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, 2008. In English and Tibetan.

Kaḥ-thog Si-tu Chos-kyi-rgya-mtsho (1880-1925)

An account of a pilgrimage to Central Tibet during the years 1918 to 1920 : being the text of Gangs ljongs dbus gtsang gnas bskor lam yig nor bu zla shel gyi se mo do. In Tibetan, preface in English.

* Rgya-maʼi gnas yig = 松赞干布故居游 = The travelleis [sic] introduction of Gyama.  Describes pilgrimage sites in this valley, originally called Sgon brgya ma and attributed as the birthplace of Songtsen Gampo. This may be a modern guidebook. In Tibetan, English and Chinese (partly). 

SERIES: Bod-ljongs gnas mchog . This series contains at least 16 volumes, each covering a different pilgrimage site in the Tibet Autonomous Region. In Tibetan. 

* Bu-ston Rin-chen-grub (1290-1364).  The history of Buddhism in India and Tibet; trans by Obermiller. 1986 (2nd edition).  English translation originally published: Heidelberg, 1932. In English and Tibetan. This will have some references to sacred sites.

* Gedun Chopel (1903-1951). The guide to India : a Tibetan account. Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 2000.

Calculs pour l'ouverture de la bouche de la terre: étude du temps, géomancie et art divinatoire au Ladakh, by Pascale Dollfus. In Modern Ladakh : Anthropological Perspectives on Continuity and Change, ed. by Martijn van Beek, Fernanda Pirie. pp 119-138; 20

* Kaḥ-thog Si-tu Chos-kyi-rgya-mtsho (1880-1925).  Bal yul mchod rten rnam gsum la ñams gsoʾi sri źu mdzad tshul : an account of Rtogs-ldan Śākya-śrī's restorations of the three great Buddhist stupas of the Kathmandu Valley Gangtok : Sherab Gyaltsen, 1983. 

*  Huber, Toni. "Guidebook to Lapchi." In Religions of Tibet, ed. by Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Princeton University Press, 1997, p. 120-134. Translation and introduction to text on "the snowy enclave of nomadic Lapchi" -- a mountainous alpine area in eastern Nepal on the Tibetan border. In English, translated from Tibetan, with introductions.

* Kapstein, Matthew. "The Guide to the Crystal Peak." In Religions of Tibet, ed. by Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Princeton University Press, 1997, p. 103-119.Translation and introduction to text about a mountainous alpine area in western Nepal. In English, translated from Tibetan, with introductions.

Buffetrille, Katia. "Low tricks and high stakes surrounding a holy place in eastern Nepal: the Halesi-Māratika caves" .