The demolition of a large statue of Guru Rinpoche at Darchen close to Mt Kalash, in Ngari prefecture, on September 28, 2007 became known in the west by tourist who happened to witness this act of violence. What has remained largely unknown to the outside world is the involvement of the Drikungpa in this distressing affair. Lama Kunsang, resident Lama of Drikung Kagyu Dorje Ling in Switzerland, himself a native of the Kailash region, provided valuable information about the tragic events. 

Guru Rinpoche is closely associated with the Drikung Kagyu Order of Tibetan Buddhism since the times of Gyalwang Rinchen Phuntsog (1509-1557), the 17^th holder of the lineage. Rinchen Phuntsog had discovered the famous Dzogchen treasure-text Damcho Gongpa Yangzab (dam chos dgongs pa yang zab) in a cave of the Terdrom valley in Drikung, where Guru Rinpoche and his consort Yeshe Tsogyal were conducting Tantric practice. Thus he became a renowned Dharma Treasure Revealer (gter ston) and the Dzogchen tradition of the Nyingma Order entered the Drikung Kagyu tradition. 

Dorzin Wangthang Dorje, the Drikung representative at Mt Kailash, and head of Gyangdrag, the most important Drikung monastery in the region situated above Darchen, had commissioned the construction of the large Guru Rinpoche statue. The statue was financed by Wangthang Dorje and Lama Sangye Yeshe from Nagchu. The total cost for the material and the filling of the sculpture of 25.000 Yuan, not including labor cost, was covered by the Gyangdrag Dorzin and Lama Sangye Yeshe. Their intentions to build the 10 meters tall statue of clay with a concrete covering on a slope overlooking the village of Darchen were not only because of the traditional ties of Drikung and Nyingma traditions, but also because of a prophecy by Guru Rinpoche. This prophecy states that it will be beneficial for Tibetan religion as well as political affairs, if statues of Padmasambhava are being built in the sacred places in Tibet.

   
Pictures taken by tourists show the large statue behind a stupa on the hill rising above Darchen, shortly before being destroyed (left). On one such image the statue of Guru Rinpoche can be seen in the background beyond the outskirts of the village (above the signboard in the center on the picture to the right). Mt Kailash, one of Asia's most sacred mountains, is visible in the distance.  

On September 28, 2007 local police and some soldiers, about 10 to 15 men, came up to the statue, in order to demolish it. A number of mostly young men and women from Darchen opposed the group forming a human shield around the statue. They were able to ward off an attempt to knock down the sculpture for many hours. Eventually reinforcements of about 200 soldiers were brought in, who dispersed the brave defenders of Guru Rinpoche. In a first attempt the soldiers tried to pull down the statue with a truck but did not succeed. Eventually the statue was blasted in pieces and thoroughly demolished, leaving nothing more than the pedestal on which it stood. Tourists who witnessed this brutal act described that first the head and part of the shoulders of the statue was missing. Later, the entire statue was demolished. 

 

Another photo taken by tourists shows the hill rising behind Darchen from a distance after the destruction of the Guru Rinpoche statue. The arrow in the picture points to the base of the statue left in the rock face. 

Immediately after the destruction, Chinese officials abolished the position of Dorzin and Wangthang Dorje was also removed as head of Gyangdrag Monastery. Both posts were originally granted to him by the Tibet Autonomous Region’s (TAR) Office of Religious Affairs. Wangthang Dorje’s was told of having been spared imprisonment only due to his age. But he was put under house arrest, his telephone lines were cut and his TV seized in an effort to cut off his connection to the outside world. Twice a day police from Purang drops by for a control visit. This brought enormous distress to Wangthang Dorje’s wife, his monks and his many lay followers. Sangye Yeshe fled to Nagchu where he was arrested by the police and put in jail.

The authorities justified their drastic actions with new regulatory measures introduced in the TAR in January 2007. These include the interdiction of building “large-size outdoor religious statues” without special permission by the local TAR or the Chinese Government. The demolition of the Guru Rinpoche statue in Darchen is yet another example of the aggressive enforcement of these new regulations. It follows the destruction of an enormous Padmasambhava statue at Tibet’s oldest monastery Samye. Another statue of Guru Rinpoche, which was under construction at Rongpatsa, Kardze County, was suspended in mid-August following the local authorities' issuance of order prohibiting construction of the sculpture. Under the pretense of implementing the new regulatory measures, people wishing to undertake the traditional pilgrimage circumambulations (skor ra) around Mt. Kailash and Lake Manasarovar are currently being strictly controlled.