''SHANGRI-LA'' CAVE PICTURES: Art, Texts, Bones Revealed

''SHANGRI-LA'' CAVE PICTURES: Art, Texts, Bones Revealed
''SHANGRI-LA'' CAVE PICTURES: Art, Texts, Bones Revealed
''SHANGRI-LA'' CAVE PICTURES: Art, Texts, Bones Revealed
''SHANGRI-LA'' CAVE PICTURES: Art, Texts, Bones Revealed
''SHANGRI-LA'' CAVE PICTURES: Art, Texts, Bones Revealed
''SHANGRI-LA'' CAVE PICTURES: Art, Texts, Bones Revealed
''SHANGRI-LA'' CAVE PICTURES: Art, Texts, Bones Revealed
''SHANGRI-LA'' CAVE PICTURES: Art, Texts, Bones Revealed
More
News
Photos
''SHANGRI-LA'' CAVE PICTURES: Art, Texts, Bones Revealed
<< Previous   5 of 8   Next >>
Although looters have raided the Mustang caves over the centuries, Coburn's team was able to collect and record manuscripts (above, a pile of documents inside one of the caves) from about 30 volumes of religous text.

Preserved by the mountain region's cool, arid climate, the ancient manuscripts contain a mix of writings from Buddhism and Bön, an earlier, native Tibetan faith, Coburn said.

This combination suggests that Bön beliefs survived for at least a century or two in this region after the Tibetan conversion to Buddhism, which began in the eighth century.

ON TV Lost Cave Temples of the Himalayas and Secrets of Shangri-La premiere Wednesday, November 18, on PBS (check local listings).
—Photograph courtesy Kris Erickson
 

MOST VIEWED NEWS

"Lost" Amazon Complex Found; Shapes Seen by Satellite

Earliest Known Galaxies Spied in Deep Hubble Picture

PICTURES: Tigers Butchered for Trade at "Zoos" in China
NEWS FEEDS    After installing a news reader, click on this icon to download National Geographic News's XML/RSS feed. After installing a news reader, click on this icon to download National Geographic News's XML/RSS feed.

Get our news delivered directly to your desktop—free.
How to Use XML or RSS




 

50 Drives of a Lifetime

Listen to your favorite National Geographic news daily, anytime, anywhere from your mobile phone. No wires or syncing. Download Stitcher free today.