Research On Buddhist Architecture In Ladakh

Talking about the regional culture、politics and economy, Ladakh and Ali area in Tibet are taken as a whole. Ladakh is worthy of the name "small Tibet" in every sense. Ladakh is located in the circle of buddhist culture in Himalaya. Buddhist buildings in Ladakh are under the influence of Tibet, central Asia, Kashmir and India especially on the aspects of the location, layout, type and decoration technology. Ladakh is situated in the northest part of India-the south Asian subcontinent and the south-east of Jammu and Kashmir.It also takes up a large area of the eastern territory of Kashmir. Pakistan is on the west side and China is closed to its north as well as the east. There are two world’s highest mountains-Karakoram and the Himalayas around the west and south of Ladakh. When looking around, what we see is all mountains. Ladakh is a long and narrow valley area cutting this two mountain systems.This thesis bases on the field investigation of Ladakh and referrs to a large number of books and pictures.Then she sums up the general history and the religious culture background from the view of architecture, assisted with related subjects like social humanities, urban planning and so on. In this way, we can futher clarify the features of buddhist architecture, art and the multivariate essence of architectural culture of this region.The paper is divided into five chapters:the first chapter is the introduction. This part describes the background, purpose, significance, methods and framework of the research Besides, it also puts forward the reasons and the ideas behind this subject so as to set the framework of it. The second chapter mainly introduces the historical evolution, natural geographical environment and construction materials. It also analyzes the population relations and religious cultural background of this region. In addition, the the most important city----the capital ’Leh’ of Ladakh domestic is also summarized with corresponding pictures.The third chapter analysis the rise of each sect in Ladakh and the change of architectural style in the corresponding period respectively from the view of the development history of the buddhist architecture. Chapter four extracts the characteristics of buddhist building as well as the achievement of art and architecture of Ladakh according to the typical temples such as Alchi, Lamayuru, Hemis, Shey, Matho, Spituk etc.which mix the essence of architecture and art of Ladakh together. Chapter five puts forward the development process under the influence of the diverse culture of Ladakh...