 Sumda Chun Monastery Located at 12,700 feet above sea level in a remote part of the Himalayas, the village of Sumda Chun is accessible only by a 3- to 4-hour hike up a steep and winding river valley trail. The monastery (gonpa) there is one of the most important surviving early Tibetan Buddhist temples of the Ladakh region of northern India. Its remoteness has both helped and hindered its preservation. Once a sprawling complex covering an entire hill, today the assembly hall, main shrine, two adjoining Bodhisattva chapels, a prayer wall, and several stupas are among the structures still standing. The Restoration NIRLAC, in conjunction with World Monuments Fund (WMF), has recently completed a four-year restoration of Sumda Chun. The program began with the preparation of a site survey; conditions mapping of the temple structure, wall paintings, and sculptures; provisional repairs to the leaking mud roof; and the preparation of a conservation plan to guide all future work. In 2008 the restoration of the roof and repairs of the vertical cracks in the exterior walls rendered the building watertight and structurally sound; test cleaning of the decorative features and preconsolidation of severely deteriorated areas of painted surfaces was also accomplished. In 2009 work continued on the exterior and interior features of the temple and adjacent structures and included the provisional stabilization of the painted stupa. Materials testing of the wall paintings continued and microclimate data was collected from data-loggers installed in 2008. In the summer of 2011 the project at Sumda won a UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for excellence in cultural heritage conservation. The award cited the "combined world-class scientific methods with vernacular building know-how," and observed that the "art conservation is particularly notable for its sophistication."still standing. NIRLAC is especially appreciative of WMF's ongoing support and dedication to this project. You can learn more about their work here: http://www.wmf.org/project/sumda-chun-monastery Photos      |
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Sumda Chun Monastery |