Tibetan and Himalayan Library - THL

II.1. Stelae and accompanying structures: Funerary and non-funerary structures

Tara DoringRta ra rdo ring

Basic site data

• Site name: Tara DoringRta ra rdo ring
• English equivalent: Horse Corral Long-stones
• Site number: C-86
• Site typology: II.1b
• Elevation: 4710 m
• Administrative location (township): BaryangBar yangs
• Administrative location (county): Drongpa’Brong pa
• Survey expedition: UTAE
• Survey date: April 15, 2001
• Contemporary usage: Light grazing.
• Identifiable Buddhist constructions: None.
• Maps: UTRS XI, HAS C5
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General site characteristics

Tara DoringRta ra rdo ring is located on a sandy flat, approximately 1 km southwest of Tara GönpaRta ra dgon pa. Nearby there is standing water in the pasturelands of the TaraRta ra basin. The unusually designed enclosure of this site consists of both outer and inner walls.

Oral tradition

According to local sources, Tara DoringRta ra rdo ring was part of Ling GesarGling ge sar’s horse corral.

Site Elements

Enclosure

What little remains of the square enclosure (13 m by 13 m) is aligned in the cardinal directions. It is primarily made up of slabs (20 cm to 70 cm long) set into the ground edgewise. These double-course slab walls are 60 cm to 70 cm thick. Small parts of all four walls are intact. There also appears to have been an inner enclosure that shares its north and west walls in common with the outer enclosure. The inner enclosure, a unique design feature in this II.1b typology site, measures 8 m (north-south) by 6.5 m (east-west). Due to extreme degradation, the wall type of the inner enclosure is unclear (possibly made of slabs as well).

Pillars

Near the west wall of the inner enclosure there are two broken tabular pillars. These pillars measure 75 cm (height) by 90 cm (basal girth) and 40 cm by 90 cm. The smaller one was originally substantially taller. Approximately 2.5 m away, near the south wall of the inner enclosure, there is a broken four-sided pillar (70 cm by 90 cm). The three existing pillars are made of a beige-colored rock that has weathered to a tan color.