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by Lopsang Gurung
Drakgo County is part of historical Tibet and is today in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of China’s Sichuan Province. A news item from there would be surreal if it were not so familiar. A place that once held a towering statue of the Buddha, a site of devotion for local Tibetans, and a landmark visible for miles has now been turned into a horseracing field. The statue itself was removed in December 2021, part of a wave that swept through the region. The Buddha that once stood outdoors as a public object of devotion has been moved into the monastery’s Dukhang, the assembly hall where only monks and a limited number of lay visitors can see it. The statue survives, but its visibility, its function, and its meaning have been radically altered.
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