Thangka wall

These giant thangkas are called gos ku, goku, gheku, kiku (cloth image) in Tibetan, and thongdrel in Bhutan.

Its form is that of a narrow, elongated and tall rectangular building with a battered façade and a flat roof surrounded by a parapet.

These reached Tibet, where they were well received, and the Tibetans, also already used to silk appliqué for decorating tents and clothes, began to make their own.

[13] In the original captions attached to the photos taken by the 1938–39 German expedition to Tibet, the Palcho Chode edifice is called große Gebetsmauer (large prayer wall) while its counterpart at Tashilhunpo is termed große Tangamauer (large thangka wall).

[14] At least four large monasteries in China's Tibet Autonomous Region possess a giant thangka wall : Sera (Lhasa), Palcho Chode (Gyantse), Tashilhunpo (Shigatse) and Riwo Dechen (Qonggyai).

The walls at Sera and Riwo Dechen are recent additions while those at Tashilhunpo and Palcho Chode are centuries-old monuments.

The massive, stark thangka wall at Palcho Chode towers above a hillside in the north-eastern part of the monastic enclosure built in 1425.

[19] The Riwo Dechen [fr] kagyupa monastery in the Qonggyai Town [zh] possesses a thangka wall that overbears the other monastic buildings and can be seen from afar.

The giant thangka wall at Tashilhunpo monastery in Shigatse . It is about 32 metres high by 42 metres wide (at the base) and built in 1468.
Large festival thangka hung in the courtyard at Jakar Dzong in Bhutan .
A large thangka hung on a thangka wall at Gyantse in Tibet in 1938. A large central banner and a narrower side one are displayed on the sloping front.
Sera Monastery, near Lhasa, in 2011. The thangka wall can be seen in the right upper corner.
View of the Palcho Chode monastery from the Gyantse dzong. The thangka wall is the large building in the right upper corner of the picture.
Side view or the Tashilhunpo große Tangamauer (large thangka wall) in 1938.
Tashilhunpo Monastery ; the thangka wall seen at far right from the entrance.
The Riwo Dechen monastery at Qonggyai with its overbearing giant thangka wall.