Original subtitles

West Tibet.

The Roof Of The World.

In the thin air 6000 meters high

a vast arid wasteland as far as the eye can see.

In this remote corner of Western Tibet

lie the ruins of a mysterious kingdom.

A kingdom whose army was feared by all its neighbors.

A kingdom which once dominated the trade in gold,

silk, and spices between India and China.

It was a kingdom of fabulous wealth

and great religious significance.

Scholars argue that without this kingdom,

Tibetan Buddhism would have withered and died centuries ago.

Yet this spiritual and commercial hub

which prospered for seven centuries

vanished almost without a trace in 1630.

What happened to bring this great civilization to an end?

Was it the arrival of the first ever westerners to visit Tibet?

Or was it the intense rivalry

between two brothers fighting for power?

Why was it completely abandoned?

And what silent secrets do these decapitated remains tell?

To unravel this mystery,

a Tibetan historian and an American archaeologist

travel to the far reaches of Tibet.

To these four hundred year old ruins

where they will discover the answers to what happened

to the extraordinary Kingdom of Guge.

Today this is all that remains of Guge.

Its capital city, Tsaparang.

The grand vision of the first kings of Guge

is reflected in this extraordinary city,

literally carved into the side of a mountain.

Soaring to the heavens the height of a modern 80-story skyscraper

it is even today

one of the largest structures in Tibet.

Along its narrow lanes

you can almost hear the echoes of the many people

who toiled to gouge a city

from this impenetrable mount of clay.

A labyrinth of tunnels and stairs

leads vertically 300 meters to the very top of the structure.

The view is breathtaking

But this is only a small part of the once mighty Kingdom of Guge.

At its height it was twice the size of Great Britain.

Experts believe that somewhere here lies the answer

to one of the most intriguing archaeological enigmas in Asia.

Who exactly built this extraordinary structure?

And what could have possibly led

to the downfall of this civilization?

In its day, Guge was the Florence of The East.

At a time when Genghis Khan's Mongols

were advancing into Central Asia and Europe

and the Crusades were being fought in Palestine,

Guge was a flourishing centre of commerce,

art, religion and political power.

It dominated a strategic crossroads on the Silk Road

between Central Asia and China,

a crossroads for the numerous caravans trading gold,

silk, wool and spices.

Guge was the centre of sophisticated art and ideas

a magnet for artisans and intellectuals.

It was at the heart of a religious renaissance,

and home to some of the greatest Buddhist thinkers of its time.

Yet having prospered for 7 centuries,

this magnificent Kingdom disappeared in 1630

leaving only an enigmatic structure

the very last remaining clue to a lost civilization.

These are the first ever photographs of the Guge Kingdom.

They were captured in 1933

by Italian explorer Giuseppe Tucci.

Tucci was the first Westerner to document these magnificent ruins.

Tucci was awestruck by what lay before him.

He wrote...

"In front of us the whole hill side is

covered with tremendous ruins;

a dead city which seems to be keeping vigil

over a tormented waste of stone."

Tucci's visit to the ruins of Guge

unearthed no clues to its demise.

That task would be left to two modern-day experts on Tibet.

American John Bellezza is an explorer and archaeologist

who has studied this region's rich past for the last 20 years.

Tibet is ringed by these incredibly high snow mountains,

it's a limpid country of fantastic mountain ranges

and broad rivers and pure lakes.

Tibet is really an inspirational land.

The colors in Tibet,

the quality of light,

the ways the shadows are cast

are unmatched anywhere else our planet.

Tibet is surrounded

by the mighty mountain ranges of the Himalaya.

To the South and West stands India.

And to the North and East, China.

The Kingdom of Guge occupied the arid Western arm of Tibet.

Tsaparang is a 5-day drive west of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

It is an arduous journey across unpaved roads

in some of the least inhabited

and harshest landscapes on the planet.

The hardship and harshness of nature

has forged a unique spirit in the people who live here.

It's often said that Tibetans are inherently a spiritual people.

I think part of it is the landscape.

The Tibetan plateau just is so high,

you are so close to the heavens.

The closest most people would get to at this extreme altitude

would be flying in an aeroplane.

It is a harsh, demanding environment.

This is where Tsering Gyalpo

a leading international authority on Tibetan history

was born and raised.

This is his land

and these are his people

Tsering has brought John Bellezza here

to learn about ancient tales and fables

from his tribal elders

The rule inside each tent is the same for everyone.

The left side of the tent belongs to the women

and the right side belongs to the men.

The area at the back of the tent belongs to the older generation

as a form of respect.

Tsering has become a collector of stories from Guge's past

with the help of these elders.

Oral legends passed down from generation to generation

provide one of the few sources historians like Tsering have

to piece together the rise and fall of this lost kingdom.

The tales are intriguing

the constant struggle for water in an arid,

inhospitable plateau,

the encounter with strangers from the outside world

Tsering and John

embark on a quest to solve one of Tibet's greatest mysteries.

How did the mighty kingdom of Guge flourish

in the middle of a harsh desert?

And what later caused its dramatic collapse

in the 17th century?

Of all the stories that shroud this lost city,

there is one that is most often told.

It is an extraordinary legend about a bitter power struggle

between two brothers

that eventually brought this magnificent

700-year-old kingdom to a bloody end.

One brother was the last King of Guge.

His name was Chodakpo

and he was considered both the religious

and political ruler of the land.

The other was the chief abbot of one of Tibet's greatest monasteries.

What is said to have begun as an argument over authority,

turned into a bitter ongoing dispute

fuelled by jealousy and the thirst for power.

This, it is speculated,

is one plausible explanation for the eventual demise of Guge.

There are a lot of stories out there

about how the kingdom of Guge ended.

We know that all through its history there were intrigues,

there were times when royalty were assassinated,

the kings lost their positions,

usurped by a brother or half-brother

so there were problems all along the way.

King Chodakpo came from a long line of royalty

who had ruled the Kingdom

from the extraordinary acropolis at Tsaparang.

This unusual structure was once a burgeoning metropolis,

a city fortress.

Today, it's an archaeological bonanza

for explorers like Bellezza.

Tsaparang is a wonderful place to... to wander about.

It's like reliving your childhood

exploring all the nooks and crannies,

seeing things for the first time,

I mean you never know

what you're going to discover in the ruins.

I mean It brings the civilization alive,

and its people and its beliefs.

The heart of Chodakpo's city

was a sophisticated labyrinth of tunnels

connecting the many caves called pugos.

But not all caves were created equal.

The base of the city complex is where the poor,

foot soldiers, farmers and their families live.

These laborers worked the fields,

constructed public works and served the rich.

They were the foundation of Chodakpo's kingdom.

Out here in the extreme harsh climate,

a cave made quite a comfortable home.

The clay walls provided insulation

from both the searing heat of summer

and the freezing cold of winter.

Climbing up the mountain

also means climbing up the social ladder.

Living in caves halfway up were merchants,

the middle-class and monks.

Further up,

the mountain becomes more fortress-like,

protecting those of higher status.

And at the very top lived King Chodakpo,

his family,

the ministers and their retainers.

The royal palace is located on the summit of the Tsaparang formation.

And it's really like being in a penthouse.

You have unobstructed views 360 degrees,

you can see the rest of the kingdom,

the rest of the people below you.

It really gives you a sense of being in command

and literally on top of the world.

Being so high also made the palace

a perfect strategic location.

The sheer cliffs on three sides and the steep summit

made the citadel virtually impregnable.

From here the slopes are very steep.

Any invaders would find it almost impossible to climb up.

John Bellezza and Tsering Gyalpo

believe that this is where the mystery

slowly begins to unfold.

What stories could these weathered walls tell?

Perhaps an answer to a question

that's stymied experts for decades.

How did the royals of Guge

make their way to the top of the acropolis?

Certainly not the steep 30-minute hike up the narrow,

craggy paths used by commoners?

Tsering thinks he may have discovered

a clue to this mystery.

At the far end of the royal complex

is a wide-open space

which for years experts assumed was a reception hall for the king.

But after analyzing the soil composition there,

Tsering found traces of horsehair and manure.

When you study the ground,

you can discover horse manure in the soil.

For example, this here is horse manure.

Horse hair can actually be found mixed in together with the manure.

Some people believe that this manure has sacred properties.

But if indeed there was a stable high on this mountain,

the question still remains,

how could these horses have made their way

300 meters to the top of the citadel?

The answer may have revealed itself after heavy rains.

Soil erosion uncovered the entrance to a dark tunnel,

with a passageway

that seemed to head down towards the valley below.

The royalty depended on this passageway.

It provided safe and secure access to transport supplies from below.

This secret tunnel would eventually prove to be useful

not just as transport

but for the survival of the entire kingdom.

But perhaps the greatest revelations on Guge

were found here

Within this nearly inaccessible structure

are clues that hint at what life in Guge

must have been like.

This is the Red Temple.

Behind these ancient doors,

some of Buddhism's finest murals tell a story

of one of the greatest civilizations in Asia

one that in its heyday

was unsurpassed across the Himalayas.

These murals, document life in Guge

and present a pictorial history of this once great kingdom.

The murals of Guge are simply stunning.

Not only are they great artwork,

but they encapsulate the experience of the kingdom,

its culture, its people, its society,

the ways in which they did business,

the ways in which they moved about and traded.

These are all represented in the murals.

This is not merely artwork;

this is history in visual form.

Over the centuries Tibet and its people

have seen great upheavals.

It began as a unified empire.

Then around the year 850,

the empire fell apart

after a series of brutal civil wars.

What emerged from the battles and the bloodshed

was a separate kingdom - Guge.

Guge flourished at the geographical crossroads

to some of the greatest civilizations of the time.

Tsaparang was the center of trade For the Guge kingdom

In the autumn and spring, nomads would bring wool,

skins and salt to trade in Tsaparang.

And in the summer,

people from the south side of the Himalaya

would come down here to trade.

Therefore the prosperity of the Guge

Kingdom depended on all this trade.

The king's wealth came from gold mines.

And this was supplemented by alms given by pilgrims

traveling through the Kingdom.

None of these riches however

could ensure what the Kingdom needed most:

water.

Tsaparang lay amidst a vast and arid desert.

In order to guarantee Guge's survival,

the King was forced to spend much of his resources

transporting water to the city

and to the farms that it depended on.

The ancient irrigation canals, wells

and even a 20 kilometer long aqueduct

stretching from the Sutlej River

to the citadel can still be seen amidst the ruins

evidence of the massive undertakings

to keep this oasis alive.

With their power and livelihood secure,

the royals proceeded to live a life

full of absolute opulence.

The whim of the noble elite in Guge

to dress well goes beyond our bounds in the modern period.

These were people who wore their clothes,

their jewels with no sense of guilt or regret.

They reveled in beauty,

they reveled in opulence.

Not only did they wear their beauty,

they lived amidst it too in their houses,

the way they decorated them

with the greatest artworks of the times.

In this banquet room,

Chodakpo and his queen would have enjoyed many social occasions,

entertained by song and dance.

Guge's armory held the finest weaponry of the time.

Its sword smiths used sophisticated techniques

to craft superior steel alloys,

making their swords much sought-after.

But Guge's wealth and power

also attractd the attention of envious neighbors

who launched frequent attacks on the kingdom.

Eventually one such neighbor would discover

a weakness to capitalize on

and Guge's fate would be sealed forever.

Just 30 kilometers away down the valley

from the palace at Tsaparang

is the monastery of Tholing.

Today, it is a modest structure,

an eighth of its original size.

But at its peak,

Tholing housed more than 900 monks

and was the largest of Guge's monasteries

both in size and influence

a power base akin to the Vatican.

Pilgrims flocked to Tholing and with them came wealth,

which they gave to the monastery.

At the centre of this spiritual power base,

was the Chief Abbot

King Chodakpo's brother.

Tholing had great power over the people of Tibet,

Central Asia and the sub-continents.

It was the greatest religious center par excellence of its time

and that gave it the moral authority,

intellectual power and political prestige

that no other institutions of the time had.

Even before the rise of Guge,

Buddhism had long-established roots in Tibet.

But civil war in Central Tibet would fragment

and dilute Buddhism's role in society.

From the wake of these upheavals,

it was the early kings of Guge

that championed Buddhism in Western Tibet.

According to Tsering Gyalpo,

the third King, Yeshe Od,

convened a Buddhist council,

the great prayer festival of 1076.

He invited great Buddhist thinkers from Tibet and beyond to attend.

His aim was to strengthen Tibetan Buddhism

and to propagate its philosophies.

Yeshe Od's initiative was to prove successful.

Amazingly well preserved centuries old murals

speak of this religious convention

a spiritual gathering which planted the first seeds

from which Tibetan Buddhism was reborn.

From that point onward,

Guge became the spiritual

and cultural heart of Tibetan Buddhism.

The King enticed some of the greatest Buddhist

leaders of his time.

Not unlike headhunting CEOs today,

he offered them riches beyond their dreams

if they would only move to his kingdom.

Guge was at the centre of a religious renaissance

one that was about to get even more intense.

From the 11th century,

Kashmir, part of Ladakh

and much of northeast India were been converted to Islam.

For the next 300 years,

Islam spread throughout most of the Indian sub continent.

As the Muslims advanced,

they sacked Buddhist temples and persecuted the devout.

Artists, scholars and monks fled in fear.

And it was Guge that they fled to.

Because here they found sanctuary.

Buddhism flourished in Guge, for two reasons.

One was the fulfillment of the dream of the Tibetan emperors,

the other was the need of the intellectual community in India

to find a safe and secure home.

Guge was able to cater to both.

And with these devotees came artisans

leading to an explosion of creativity.

Frescoes hidden across the ancient Guge ruins

offer us a glimpse of these heady times

not unlike Medici Florence during the Renaissance.

Foreign artists from across the Buddhist world

brought their own distinctive style of art

and here influenced each other,

copying and fusing styles

ultimately creating an entirely new direction in art

the Guge school.

For me one of the stunning things about these murals

is the sheer diversity

they hold in terms of human culture;

they depict people from all over the Buddhist world.

All of the cultures within the orbit of Guge,

are there on these murals,

The dry mountain air and remoteness of this area

have helped make these murals some of the best preserved in Asia.

It is argued that the Guge Kingdom's commitment to Buddhism

and the influx of refugee-followers,

was such a powerful force,

Tibetan Buddhism may never have survived without it.

Today Buddhism is still

an integral part of everyday life in Tibet.

It is an ancestral gift

that permeates all levels of society,

Tibetans still flock to Guge even today.

Not so much for the temples

as for the wondrous peak towering over Tsaparang

the sacred Mt. Kailash.

These pilgrims are a reminder of the thousands

who have come to Guge before them.

They are living proof of a deeper reason

for this most unique journey in life.

We are from Shigatse, three days' drive away.

So you've come from Shigatse, on a pilgrimage!

Yes, this year I will spend two days circumambulating Mount Kailash.

How long would it normally take you?

Two days if I go quickly.

How far will you get after one day?

How far will we get?

We will reach Seripug.

Ahh, the village of Seripug.

Pilgrims like the one Tsering has come across here,

are on a trek around the perimeter of a sacred site

in a ritual known as 'Kora'.

Some pilgrims will even go to profound lengths

to demonstrate their faith through prostration.

A devotee may take years

to travel hundreds of miles in this manner.

The Tibetans had this deep abiding interest

in understanding the nature of human existence:

why are humans born,

where they come from and where did they go.

First through their native traditions

and later on through the medium of Buddhism,

Tibetans explored the nature of human existence,

what it means to be a human being.

At the height of Tholing's influence,

it amassed considerable wealth from donations made by pilgrims.

By King Chodakpo's reign,

legend has it that Tholing's influence

and wealth was so great

it began to overshadow the practical needs of the Kingdom.

Guge relied on a large pool of labor

to work the irrigation schemes,

grow the barley, and raise the herds.

But as more and more men flocked to the monasteries

King Chodakpo saw his human resources dwindle

and the economy began to suffer.

By 1630,

relations between the King and his brother

had reached an all time low.

A bitter dispute broke out between them

a power struggle between the monastery and the monarchy,

between religion and state.

In the midst of this tension

all that was needed was a tiny spark

to bring about the beginning of the end for Guge.

For centuries,

the abandoned ruins of Guge

and the Kingdom that once flourished here

remained a mystery and virtually unknown to the West.

Its remote location in the arid highlands of Western Tibet

kept it preserved almost intact.

In 1957,

China's People's Liberation Army visited Tsaparang,

giving us the first ever motion pictures of the abandoned city.

Amongst the heavily eroded ruins,

they discovered intricate religious objects,

icons and murals telltale signs of grandeur and opulence.

But it was inside caves deep within the city

that the soldiers found the most intriguing revelations:

Amour, shields and hundreds of arrows.

And in one particular cave

the Cave of the Dead they found the most grisly of evidence:

the remains of hundreds of headless corpses.

Whose macabre remains are these?

And how did they get here?

Perhaps answers to these questions would shed some light

on the mysterious disappearance of Guge.

But we would have to wait another 20 years

for that illumination.

In 1985, a team from Xi'an Archaeological Institute

stumbled upon an intriguing clue.

An ancient paper mask probably used in a religious ceremony.

It seemed quite ordinary at first,

but when they turned it over,

they found traces of an unrecognizable Western script.

Months of research would reveal this

to be a section of pages from a Bible

written in an ancient from of Portuguese

used by early Jesuits.

But how could the pages of an old Catholic Bible

come to be part of a Tibetan shaman's mask

in the far reaches of Guge.

In 1624,

a Jesuit missionary Father Antonio Andrade

wrote a book highly popular across Europe.

In it he describes his visit to an amazing country called Tibet.

Father Andrade and his companion trekked from their mission in Goa

in Search of a long forgotten Christian state

called Shambhala.

Instead, they discovered Guge.

By this time, the story goes:

tensions between Chodakpo and his brother

were at an all time high.

And they were about to get worse.

The King warmly welcomes Andrade.

In his book Andrade writes:

"As holy men.

The king treated us with great reverence and then explained,

somewhat to my surprise,

that he wished to understand our faith.

This was as welcome as it was unexpected."

Not only does Chodakpo proclaim the pair

to be his personal guests,

he invites them to stay and teach their beliefs,

even ordering the building of a chapel.

Such behaviours would have infuriated the Buddhists at Tholing.

They saw the King's actions as a betrayal against Buddhism.

It was a move that would not go unanswered.

According to stories later recorded by Andrade,

what happened next was an uprising against the King

that would forever change the course of Guge's history...

Seeking to protect his stronghold,

the Head Abbott sends word to his supporters

in the neighboring Kingdom of Ladakh 500 kilometers away.

Seizing this long awaited opportunity,

the Ladakhis marched across the border of Guge,

overcoming each fortress

and embattlement in their path

until they reached the capital Tsaparang.

By this time,

Guge's economic and political resources were strained.

No reinforcements would be coming.

And Tsaparang would have to face the invaders on its own.

But taking Tsaparang would not be easy.

The capital's Western and Southern approaches

are sheer vertical walls virtually attack-proof.

At the summit,

the royal palace was protected by a defensive wall

running along its perimeter.

The only possible approach for the Ladakhi forces

was up a gently sloping hill on the north-east,

but even this route was blocked by a substantial wall.

When the Ladakhi army reached Tsaparang

they were flush with victory.

They had conquered all the satellite fortresses.

They were now primed for the final battle.

How this final battle began is a matter of some uncertainty,

but scholars believe

the entrance to the city was stormed by the Ladakhis.

Breaking through the city gates,

the Ladakhis overcame Guge's resistance

and took control of the lower part of the citadel.

But as they chased the retreating soldiers and citizens of Guge

up the passageways and tunnels to its summit,

the Ladakhis found themselves sitting ducks.

As they snaked towards the summit,

these passageways narrowed.

The Ladakhis had to pass through them almost single file

making them easy targets for Guge's forces.

After taking heavy losses,

the Ladakhis retreated to the lower ramparts to regroup.

It became clear to the Ladakhis

that a frontal assault on the citadel would be impossible.

Instead, they chose to sit and wait.

By surrounding the citadel the Ladakhis were confident

they had blocked all avenues of escape and fresh supplies

especially water.

How long could Chodakpo and his people

hold out In this dry environment?

But unknown to the Ladakhis,

Guge might have had a trick or two up its sleeve.

Deep beneath the citadel lies a network of caves

that John Bellezza and Tsering Gyalpo found to be most unusual.

These were originally thought to be a royal winter retreat.

To escape the bitter cold of winter,

scholars believed the royal family would have come here to keep warm.

But as John and Tsering explore further,

they find evidence that suggests these caves

may have had some other purpose.

There is no sign of smoke in this cave.

You're right.

There is no evidence of soot in this cave.

I think that this cave must have been used as

a storeroom or warehouse of some sort.

Every cave connected to this one is similar.

I think these are obviously not dwelings,

but rather, rooms for storage.

If this was being used for lodging,

there would be some kind of trace from the smoke of a fire.

Also there would be a proper doorway,

maybe a wooden one.

The ceiling would also be much higher

Tsering reckons these caves

could have stored food and supplies to last a year.

So in theory,

Guge could have held out for a while.

Apparently these secret passages

also allowed the besieged people of Guge access to water.

Some passages led to an exit near the Sutlej River.

With food and water available,

Tsaparang held out for close to a month

before the Ladakhis stepped up the offensive.

By now the invaders had taken over

the unprotected lower sections of the citadel,

and had gained had a crucial bargaining chip in the process

thousands of Guge prisoners.

Half way up the citadel stands a very peculiar stone partition,

unlike anything else found in Tsaparang.

The wall is very interesting.

It's built of stone,

while the other buildings were

primarily built of earth or mud brick.

It doesn't have any obvious habitational function;

it doesn't have any obvious defensive function.

So why was the wall there?

If storming the citadel through the tunnels was impossible,

then the only other option would be to build a siege tower

and by the most ruthless of means

on the backs of captured Guge prisoners.

The royal precinct was virtually unassailable.

The Ladakhi army reached a shelf beneath the sheer summit.

They were stuck here for close to a month

so they began to build a siege tower

with pressed Guge labor.

They had to bring stones from a black mountain

from the far side of the Sutlej River.

As the siege tower rose,

it claimed the lives of many Guge slaves.

Ancient stories tell of how the slaves were beaten so mercilessly

that their organs showed through their flesh.

But building a 100-meter structure of this kind

would have been a near impossible engineering feat for its time.

Instead, experts believe the Ladakhi siege tower

was a psychological rather than physical gambit

how long could King Chodakpo bear to watch the daily torture

and suffering of his captured subjects?

As legend has it,

the last king, Chodakpo seeing the great suffering

that his people were enduring building this wall without food

and as they died as they succumbed to the pressures of construction.

He saw the great sufferings that his people were undergoing.

And he had great pity,

the king of Guge and he decided,

it must have been a difficult decision

but he decided in the end to surrender.

According to legend,

in the final hour of Guge,

King Chodakpo and his retinue

made their poignant descent from summit to base,

even bearing gifts of gold and silver

to appease the invaders.

But the reception they received from the Ladhakis

is surrounded in controversy.

In one fell swoop,

the 700-year-old kingdom of Guge had been conquered.

But what happened after the King surrendered

is still shrouded in mystery.

John Bellezza and Tsering Gyalpo have their own ideas

ideas that take them to the infamous Cave of the Dead.

Could the bodies that the Chinese Army

saw more than 50 years ago

be the corpses of the last royals of Guge?

The only answer

is the overwhelming stench of more recent decay.

The cave, unfortunately,

has once again become a burial site.

And in recent years,

remains of Tibetans have once again been deposited that.

And this is actually complicating the archaeology of determining

what was really there originally,

or what's come after.

In Tibet, the dead received a "sky burial".

This means corpses are "carried away by birds."

Skilled morticians cut up the dead body

to encourage eagles and vultures to consume the flesh.

Local tales suggest that at one time

the cave may have held as many as 400 skeletons.

But over time, bandits,

scholars and the curious have taken much,

leaving but a few remains.

Tibetan rituals of the dead forbid any possible DNA studies.

But John Bellezza believes this could very well be

the resting place of the last King of Guge.

There is some evidence that lends credence

to the idea that indeed

the corpses in the cave were those of the royal family of Guge.

Most of them seem to have been beheaded,

to have undergone execution

so that probably would not have been the case

for the common soldier

who would have fallen on the battleground.

John's theory supports one legend

that tells of a brutal and merciless execution.

After having surrendered his Kingdom,

the King and his ministers were beheaded on the spot.

The royal women also met an equally gruesome end.

There is a poem that purportedly tells of the Massacre.

It describes how the royal women were taken

and thrown from the palace ramparts.

To the people below these brightly dressed princesses

"looked like spring flowers falling from heaven"

The Ladakhi soldiers

yelled and shouted to see more and more flowers!

As for the Abbott,

he met his doom at the end of a Ladakhi sword.

Treachery was repaid by treachery

as he was double-crossed by his supposed allies.

But a mystery still remains.

Why was Tsaparang entirely abandoned?

According to local legend,

an aqueduct was built by the last king of Guge

to bring water from the sacred snow mountain, 80 kilometers away.

The aqueduct crossed through sacred territory

so the local deities became angry with the king.

They cursed him,

and it is said that this was the reason for his defeat.

From the top of the citadel

you can still see the imprint left by the ancient aqueduct

following the contours of the hill.

Even the legend Tsering Gyalpo speaks of

has a basis in science.

Guge is in the shadow of three of the world's largest mountain ranges,

the Himalayas,

the Karakoram and the Kunlun.

Research shows that the climate in West Tibet

has been steadily changing over the past millennia.

And that Man has been on the losing end

of an age-old battle with Nature.

Areas that were once moist

and relatively lush are now dry

and have become deserts.

And in Guge this process is all the more intensified

because it's located in a rain shadow

of Asia's greatest mountain ranges.

Evidence of this ongoing force known as desertification

comes from satellite photographs of once arable fields now abandoned.

But not all of them moved away.

In the middle of the desert-like conditions

that surround modern Tsaparang,

there are still a few places with enough moisture to grow barley.

The fall of the Guge kingdom might not have been triggered

by just one major military campaign,

but rather from a long term

sustained assault from Mother Nature herself.

Even today,

400 years after the fall of the citadel,

nature is still battling with the remaining few farmers

struggling to eke out an existence from the land.

The farmers explain to John

that they have been trying to grow barley in these fields.

During the time of the Guge Kingdom,

the water level was much higher than it is now.

The lack of water has now driven them to the lower areas

right next to the river.

The demise of the Guge Kingdom

was the end of a line of Tibetan monarchs

that stretched from 1630 back to 200 years AD.

But the legacy of Guge lives on in festivities

like this annual horse fair

As they would have centuries ago,

Buddhist monks are on hand to bless the jockeys,

wishing them a successful and safe endeavor.

Participants dip their fingers into beer and flick it heavenward

a sign of gratitude,

and an offering to the divine.

But it is when the races begin,

that we are reminded of the lineage of these hardy men.

Cavalry skills passed down for generations from father to son.

Each the proud bearer of the heritage of his warrior-ancestors.

At a sacred prayer site

Tsering Gyalpo, a native of these parts,

makes his offering to these ancestors and the divine:

This is my prayer

I will make offerings again and again

and give thanks for the blessing and protection provided me.

My spirit offers eternal devotion.

After the fall of the last King of Guge,

Tsaparang became an unpleasant place for its citizens.

The Ladakhis administered the region for 50 years

before being driven out by the Tibetans

and their Mongol allies.

The Mongols did not take well to the deep canyons

and dry lands of Western Tibet.

And they decided to relocate the capital

to higher more open grounds.

With that relocation of the capital of Western Tibet,

Guge utterly falls into ruins and decay,

which has continued till the very present day.

After the defeat and demise of Guge's last king,

the reins of power were eventually taken over

by the spiritual leader of another Buddhist sect

the 5th Dalai Lama.

Ironically, the king's brother

the Abbot who fought for a Buddhist state

had won the final battle after all.

The ancient kings of Guge had a vision of a land of dharma,

of sacred holiness,

which has left an indelible mark

not only on Tsaparang but on all of Tibet.

Their gift of Buddhism remains strong and deeply ingrained

in the memory of what was once a great kingdom

the Kingdom of Guge.