The Chuchikjyal Renovation
Update from Summer 1999 

In the summer of 1999 Kim Gutschow visited the Karsha Lonpo and reported on the progress of the restoration of the oldest temple at Karsha, the Chuchikjyal. Now that the Karsha Lonpo has finished encasing and strengthening three of the four outer walls, he has turned his attention to the roof. He has removed the heavy-welled room on top with a much lighter room which has a roof stretching over a larger portion of the old roof. This does two things: 1) reduces the weight on the roof by removing the heavy walled previous room and lining up the new support columns with solid supports in the lower part of the building; and 2) acts as a buffer for the rain and especially snow which now falls not directly onto the old roof but on a new and strong roof. This new meditation room was constructed using traditional Zangskari materials and methods as can be seen from Kim's photographs below. The roof itself, wooden supports and walls are completed. What remains now is purchasing and transporting the glass for the walls -- notice the empty window frames in the photo below. I (Rob Linrothe) will be applying for a grant to help defray those costs and plan to deliver the money to the Karsha Lonpo myself in the summer of 2000.