[ Prem Chetry ]
BOMDILA, 10 Dec: Two Buddhist spiritual leaders, whose bodies had been mummified by art master Phuntsok Tsering, remain preserved to this day.
Tsering, a Buddhist art master at the Gontse Gaden Rabgye Ling monastery here in West Kameng district and brother of the late 13th Tsona Rinpoche, has mastered mask-making, Tangka painting, frescoes, murals, sculpture, and, most importantly, ‘ku mardung’ mummification.
On 7 May, 2017, when Jetsun Lobsang Tsultrim – one of the highly learned monks from Zanskar, Ladakh – passed away, the 14th Dalai Lama advised that his body be preserved, and Tsering was contacted for the task.
“I am so fortunate to have been entrusted the task by the Dalai Lama. In January this year, His Eminence Kundey Ling Rinpoche officially asked for this task,” said Tsering.
“The body of Jetsun Lobsang Tsultrim was kept in a monastery in Leh. It took nearly two months, and I finished the task in mid-July this year. As per the Dalai Lama’s advice, the ku mardung – the mummy of Jetsun Lobsang Tsultrim – was taken to the Stongday monastery in Zanskar, and was on display for the public in the last week of July,” he said.
“I do not use any artificial or chemical stuff in making of ku mardung. The basic thing is the fine quality soil extracted out of anthills. It needs a great deal of patience, right from collecting the finest soil by draining and evaporation process, to give details on facial lines,” he said.
As of now, there are only four ku mardungs or mummies of highly learned rinpoches in India. Tsering, on the Dalai Lama’s advice, also in 2019 mummified the body of the 103rd Gaden Tripa Jetsun Lobsang Tenzin Rinpoche, who passed away on 21 April, 2017. The mummy is kept in the Drepung Loseling monastery in Karnataka.
