Ruins of the Guge Kingdom
In the mid-9th century, the Tubo Kingdom collapsed. The descendants of King Lang Dharma established their own independent Kingdoms Chide Nyimagon became the king of Ngari, who had three sons.
The Guge kingdom was set up after the second son had conquered Tsaparang. The main ruins of the Guge Kingdom are in Tsaparang where the dilapidated construction and the natural earth forest are perfectly integraded. More than 400 houses and 800 caves are pilled up on the mountain slope in 300 meters in height. Being the old capital city of the Guge kingdom, the Tsaparang ruins are the largest complex in Tibet next to the Potala Palace, which covers an area of 72,000 square meters. The main buildings of the Guge Kingdom consist of the red and white temples and mandala halls. The murals covering a thousand of square meters can be considered its most precious remains. Among these murals you may see the paintings of animals, which can not be seen easily in other places, and the picture of a human head with a snake body. There are other caves scattered around the ruins, which have preserved some weapons, helmets and armors used by ancient warriors.