Tibet's Lost Time Capsule

The Lost World of Tibet (2006) © British Film Institute. Video Source: Youtube.

In the interim while this blog is sleeping, see a beautiful film about pre-occupation Tibet, with rare historic footage from the British Film Institute. Before the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950, Tibet's situation in a bowl in the Himalayas ensured that the great powers left it untouched, a medieval time capsule preserved across centuries. The most distinctive aspect of that time capsule was the persistence of a living state religion, in which 20 per cent of the male population became monks. The current Dalai Lama, Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, born Lhamo Dondrub,  was chosen as the state's God King.

Present-day autonomous Tibet. Image Source: Rolf Gross.

 

Tibetan cultural area. Image Source: Tibetan Trekking.