2.4. For Merit and Meditation. Form and Meaning of Ceiling Paintings at Nako

Early West Tibetan Buddhist Monuments

“…The Tabo sculptures are raised ca. 160 cm from the current ground level, indicating a form of worship through a meditative walk under these sculptures-paying homage and receiving their blessings-and thus giving a lead to the circumambulation of the temple and dynamic perception of its programme (Kalantari 2016). 30 The practice of veneration through respectful greeting and bowing down in front of the image in veneration, touching the feet of the sculpture, can be found in relevant texts such as the , 2009: 53).…”

“…The motifs in the corridor allude to Indian cotton prints and take up patterns and elements of material culture used in previous phases such as at Tabo (cf. Kalantari 2016). 42 This notion of continuation of elements of material and ornamental culture and their variation is a distinctive feature in this artistic tradition and it plays an important role in the construction of a distinctive West Tibetan visual identity.…”

“…These are found as separating elements between the ceiling and the decorations at compositions of lotus tendrils in the centre framed by valance-44 This distinctive conception of centralised ceiling designs is related to singlechamber sanctuaries at Dungkar, with their characteristic raised niches in the rear wall in which sculptures are placed combined with three-dimensional structures of the ceilings. One of them features a centralised decorative scheme allusions (Papa- Kalantari 2000, Kalantari 2016. These spatial traditions are reminiscent of cave temples at Dunhuang from the Tang to the Western Xia periods, some of them featuring niches and trapezoid sloping roofs mimicking ceilings (cf.…”