Now, a multidisciplinary research team from Graz University of Technology, Austria, is employing state-of-the-art 3D technology. Their mission is to save endangered Buddhist temples of the remote Dolpo region in northwestern Nepal. Led by Carmen Auer, the team aims to enhance knowledge about the sacred architecture and historical context of these sites, which face significant risks from environmental factors and infrastructure development.
Between 2018 and 2023, Auer and her research team traveled back to Lodgepole three different times. They managed to survey and document a whopping 18 Buddhist archaeological sites in the region. Their advocacy has already led to the survey and analysis of 16 assemblies. The project team used a powerful combination of 3D surveying technologies. Helmut Woschitz and Peter Bauer, both from the Institute of Engineering Geodesy and Measurement Systems, underscored their use of a laser scanner, surveying total station, mini-drone and DSLR camera.
The Shey Sumdo Monastery is an important religious center, built in the 17th century. It’s perched on the shores of alpine Lake Phoksundo, and it’s one of the 6 documented sites. The temples in this region have a glorious history that goes back to the 11th century. Now, they’re being threatened by earthquakes, landslides and an on-going or planned infrastructure bombardment like the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. The guiding mission of the research team is to expose these vulnerabilities while documenting these still-existing buildings within their historical and art-historical contexts.
The choice of location, type of construction, and orientation of the buildings are deeply influenced by traditional narratives, geographical conditions, and symbolic representations unique to the region. Thus, there are limited written and pictorial resources documenting the temples in Dolpo. As such, these interiors frequently tell the best—if not the only—stories about when and why these important buildings were built.
Carmen Auer has been conducting research in the western Himalayas since the early 2000s, with a particular emphasis on preservation of cultural heritage. The purpose of the current project is to provide a chronicle of these rare and historic structures. It aims to ensure more funding is targeted toward maintaining their existing assets. This time, I’m going to travel to the farthest, northernmost corner of Dolpo. I’ll begin first with the region surrounding Yangtze Monastery, which lies near the border with Tibet. Many of the buildings in the spaces targeted for this research still lack documentation, so this work is especially important.