Author Description

"Lo", as Mustang is called by those who dwell there, is a small area in the Nepal Himalaya inhabited by people of Tibetan stock. Buddhist art flourished here, particularly between the 14th and the 16th century, in a cultural environment strongly influenced by the religious order of Sakya, the great monastic fortress in southwest Tibet. In particular, the 15th-century wall paintings in the temple of Maitreya at Montang, the traditional capital of Lo, vie with the finest in all geo-cultural Tibet, whereas the 14th-century murals in the cave temple of Luri reflect the interpretation of Indian aesthetics as transmitted to the Tibetan world by the artists of the Nepal Valley. --