By: Craig Lewis
Jigme Dorje Palbar Bista, the last king of
the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Upper Mustang died on Friday in Kathmandu at
the age of 86. Prior to stepping down from the throne eight years ago, Bista
had reigned over the isolated Himalayan region high on the Tibetan plateau for
more than 50 years. Ceremonies were held at temples in the Nepalese capital to
mark his passing. His remains are being held at a monastery at Bauddha, where
final rites were held today.
“He passed away at 1am at the hospital this
morning [Friday]. He was admitted three days ago. He had not been well on and
off since about a year. But was having more difficulty recently because of the
cold,” the former monarch’s nephew, Tsewang Bista, said last week. “We will
have rituals until Sunday and the final rites will be performed on Monday
[today] in Kathmandu.” (Gulf Times)
Upper Mustang, formerly the kingdom of Lo, which makes up the northern
two-thirds of Nepal’s Mustang District, was annexed by Nepal in the 18th century, although
the king was permitted to retain his centuries-old title. Mustang's status as a
kingdom ended in 2008 when Nepal abolished its own monarchy and became a
republic. The region was a restricted demilitarized area until 1992. While it
is now open to outside visitors, access is still strictly regulated. This
relative isolation had the unintended side effect of helping to preserve the
region’s culture, historically closely linked with that of Tibet, creating a
time capsule of Tibetan heritage and Buddhism.
In an interview in 2002, Bista said he viewed
the modern ways he witnessed during his visits to Kathmandu as a negative
influence. In particular, he criticized the effect of violent videos on
children and the increase in street children in the Nepalese capital, observing:
“I do not want that to happen in Mustang.” (Al Jazeera)
Born in 1930, Bista, who succeeded his father
Angun Tenzing Tandul as king in 1964, spent the majority of his life in the
walled capital of Lo Manthang, where he acted as a spiritual leader to the local
Loba community and used much of his power to strictly preserve Tibetan Buddhist
culture in the region. He supported the resistance against Beijing's occupation
of western Tibet and at one time allowed Upper Mustang to be used as a base in
support of a CIA-funded guerrilla campaign that sought to oust occupying
Chinese forces from Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959. Bista relocated to
Kathmandu more than a year ago as a result of health issues, including heart
and kidney problems.
The royal family traces its lineage back to
Ame Pal, a warrior and devout Buddhist from Western Tibet, who founded the
independent kingdom in 1380 and oversaw the construction of much of Lo Manthang
and the kingdom of Lo. Lo Manthang, home to the Loba people, the original
inhabitants of Mustang, who are culturally and linguistically more closely
related to Tibet than Nepal, is today relatively unchanged, considered by some
scholars to be the best-preserved medieval fortress to the world, and is a
UNESCO World Heritage candidate.
The kingdom once occupied a strategic
position on the ancient trade route between Tibet and India, which also allowed
lamas from Lo to study in Tibet and exposed the city to religious teachers from
both directions. A new road linking the ancient Buddhist kingdom with China and
India was completed in 2014, offering direct access to the region direct that
was formerly shielded from the modern world by a ring of mountains and canyons.
This post was republished from buddhistdoor.net. You can find the original post here.
