All language subtitles for Guge.The.Lost.Kingdom.of.Tibet.2008.1080p.BluRay.x264-OFT.[eng]

West Tibet.

The Roof Of The World.

In the thin air 6000 meters high

a vast arid wasteland
as far as the eye can see.

In this remote corner
of Western Tibet

lie the ruins of
a mysterious kingdom.

A kingdom whose army was feared
by all its neighbors.

A kingdom which once dominated
the trade in gold,

silk, and spices
between India and China.

It was a kingdom
of fabulous wealth

and great religious significance.

Scholars argue
that without this kingdom,

Tibetan Buddhism would have
withered and died centuries ago.

Yet this spiritual
and commercial hub

which prospered
for seven centuries

vanished almost
without a trace in 1630.

What happened to bring this
great civilization to an end?

Was it the arrival of the first
ever westerners to visit Tibet?

Or was it the intense rivalry

between two brothers
fighting for power?

Why was it completely abandoned?

And what silent secrets
do these decapitated remains tell?

To unravel this mystery,

a Tibetan historian
and an American archaeologist

travel to
the far reaches of Tibet.

To these four hundred
year old ruins

where they will discover
the answers to what happened

to the extraordinary
Kingdom of Guge.

Today this is
all that remains of Guge.

Its capital city, Tsaparang.

The grand vision of
the first kings of Guge

is reflected
in this extraordinary city,

literally carved
into the side of a mountain.

Soaring to the heavens the height
of a modern 80-story skyscraper

it is even today

one of the largest
structures in Tibet.

Along its narrow lanes

you can almost hear
the echoes of the many people

who toiled to gouge a city

from this impenetrable
mount of clay.

A labyrinth of tunnels and stairs

leads vertically 300 meters
to the very top of the structure.

The view is breathtaking

But this is only a small part of
the once mighty Kingdom of Guge.

At its height it was twice
the size of Great Britain.

Experts believe that
somewhere here lies the answer

to one of the most intriguing
archaeological enigmas in Asia.

Who exactly built this
extraordinary structure?

And what could have possibly led

to the downfall
of this civilization?

In its day,
Guge was the Florence of The East.

At a time when Genghis
Khan's Mongols

were advancing into
Central Asia and Europe

and the Crusades were
being fought in Palestine,

Guge was a flourishing
centre of commerce,

art, religion and political power.

It dominated a strategic
crossroads on the Silk Road

between Central Asia and China,

a crossroads for the numerous
caravans trading gold,

silk, wool and spices.

Guge was the centre of
sophisticated art and ideas

a magnet for artisans
and intellectuals.

It was at the heart of
a religious renaissance,

and home to some of the greatest
Buddhist thinkers of its time.

Yet having prospered
for 7 centuries,

this magnificent Kingdom
disappeared in 1630

leaving only
an enigmatic structure

the very last remaining clue
to a lost civilization.

These are the first ever
photographs of the Guge Kingdom.

They were captured in 1933

by Italian explorer
Giuseppe Tucci.

Tucci was the first Westerner to
document these magnificent ruins.

Tucci was awestruck
by what lay before him.

He wrote...

"In front of us
the whole hill side is

covered with tremendous ruins;

a dead city which seems
to be keeping vigil

over a tormented waste of stone."

Tucci's visit to the ruins of Guge

unearthed no clues to its demise.

That task would be left to
two modern-day experts on Tibet.

American John Bellezza is
an explorer and archaeologist

who has studied this region's
rich past for the last 20 years.

Tibet is ringed by these
incredibly high snow mountains,

it's a limpid country of
fantastic mountain ranges

and broad rivers and pure lakes.

Tibet is really
an inspirational land.

The colors in Tibet,

the quality of light,

the ways the shadows are cast

are unmatched anywhere else
our planet.

Tibet is surrounded

by the mighty mountain
ranges of the Himalaya.

To the South
and West stands India.

And to the North and East, China.

The Kingdom of Guge occupied
the arid Western arm of Tibet.

Tsaparang is a 5-day drive west
of the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

It is an arduous journey
across unpaved roads

in some of the least inhabited

and harshest landscapes
on the planet.

The hardship
and harshness of nature

has forged a unique spirit
in the people who live here.

It's often said that Tibetans are
inherently a spiritual people.

I think part of
it is the landscape.

The Tibetan plateau
just is so high,

you are so close to the heavens.

The closest most people would
get to at this extreme altitude

would be flying in an aeroplane.

It is a harsh,
demanding environment.

This is where Tsering Gyalpo

a leading international authority
on Tibetan history

was born and raised.

This is his land

and these are his people

Tsering has brought
John Bellezza here

to learn about
ancient tales and fables

from his tribal elders

The rule inside each tent
is the same for everyone.

The left side of the tent
belongs to the women

and the right side
belongs to the men.

The area at the back of the tent
belongs to the older generation

as a form of respect.

Tsering has become a collector
of stories from Guge's past

with the help of these elders.

Oral legends passed down
from generation to generation

provide one of the few sources
historians like Tsering have

to piece together the rise
and fall of this lost kingdom.

The tales are intriguing

the constant struggle
for water in an arid,

inhospitable plateau,

the encounter with strangers
from the outside world

Tsering and John

embark on a quest to solve one
of Tibet's greatest mysteries.

How did the mighty
kingdom of Guge flourish

in the middle of a harsh desert?

And what later caused
its dramatic collapse

in the 17th century?

Of all the stories
that shroud this lost city,

there is one that is
most often told.

It is an extraordinary legend
about a bitter power struggle

between two brothers

that eventually brought
this magnificent

700-year-old kingdom
to a bloody end.

One brother was
the last King of Guge.

His name was Chodakpo

and he was considered
both the religious

and political ruler of the land.

The other was the chief abbot of
one of Tibet's greatest monasteries.

What is said to have begun
as an argument over authority,

turned into
a bitter ongoing dispute

fuelled by jealousy
and the thirst for power.

This, it is speculated,

is one plausible explanation
for the eventual demise of Guge.

There are a lot of
stories out there

about how the kingdom
of Guge ended.

We know that all through
its history there were intrigues,

there were times
when royalty were assassinated,

the kings lost their positions,

usurped by a brother
or half-brother

so there were problems
all along the way.

King Chodakpo came
from a long line of royalty

who had ruled the Kingdom

from the extraordinary
acropolis at Tsaparang.

This unusual structure
was once a burgeoning metropolis,

a city fortress.

Today,
it's an archaeological bonanza

for explorers like Bellezza.

Tsaparang is a wonderful place
to... to wander about.

It's like reliving your childhood

exploring all
the nooks and crannies,

seeing things for the first time,

I mean you never know

what you're going to discover
in the ruins.

I mean It brings
the civilization alive,

and its people and its beliefs.

The heart of Chodakpo's city

was a sophisticated
labyrinth of tunnels

connecting the many caves
called pugos.

But not all caves
were created equal.

The base of the city complex
is where the poor,

foot soldiers,
farmers and their families live.

These laborers worked the fields,

constructed public works
and served the rich.

They were the foundation
of Chodakpo's kingdom.

Out here
in the extreme harsh climate,

a cave made quite
a comfortable home.

The clay walls provided insulation

from both the searing
heat of summer

and the freezing cold of winter.

Climbing up the mountain

also means climbing up
the social ladder.

Living in caves halfway up
were merchants,

the middle-class and monks.

Further up,

the mountain becomes
more fortress-like,

protecting those of higher status.

And at the very top
lived King Chodakpo,

his family,

the ministers and their retainers.

The royal palace is located on the
summit of the Tsaparang formation.

And it's really like being
in a penthouse.

You have unobstructed views
360 degrees,

you can see
the rest of the kingdom,

the rest of the people below you.

It really gives you
a sense of being in command

and literally on top of the world.

Being so high also made the palace

a perfect strategic location.

The sheer cliffs on three sides
and the steep summit

made the citadel
virtually impregnable.

From here the slopes
are very steep.

Any invaders would find it
almost impossible to climb up.

John Bellezza and Tsering Gyalpo

believe that this is
where the mystery

slowly begins to unfold.

What stories could these
weathered walls tell?

Perhaps an answer to a question

that's stymied experts
for decades.

How did the royals of Guge

make their way to the top
of the acropolis?

Certainly not the steep 30-minute
hike up the narrow,

craggy paths used by commoners?

Tsering thinks
he may have discovered

a clue to this mystery.

At the far end of
the royal complex

is a wide-open space

which for years experts assumed
was a reception hall for the king.

But after analyzing
the soil composition there,

Tsering found traces of
horsehair and manure.

When you study the ground,

you can discover
horse manure in the soil.

For example,
this here is horse manure.

Horse hair can actually be found
mixed in together with the manure.

Some people believe that this
manure has sacred properties.

But if indeed there was a stable
high on this mountain,

the question still remains,

how could these horses
have made their way

300 meters to
the top of the citadel?

The answer may have revealed
itself after heavy rains.

Soil erosion uncovered
the entrance to a dark tunnel,

with a passageway

that seemed to head down
towards the valley below.

The royalty depended
on this passageway.

It provided safe and secure access
to transport supplies from below.

This secret tunnel would
eventually prove to be useful

not just as transport

but for the survival of
the entire kingdom.

But perhaps the greatest
revelations on Guge

were found here

Within this nearly
inaccessible structure

are clues that hint
at what life in Guge

must have been like.

This is the Red Temple.

Behind these ancient doors,

some of Buddhism's finest
murals tell a story

of one of the greatest
civilizations in Asia

one that in its heyday

was unsurpassed
across the Himalayas.

These murals,
document life in Guge

and present a pictorial history
of this once great kingdom.

The murals of Guge
are simply stunning.

Not only are they great artwork,

but they encapsulate
the experience of the kingdom,

its culture, its people,
its society,

the ways in which
they did business,

the ways in which
they moved about and traded.

These are all represented
in the murals.

This is not merely artwork;

this is history in visual form.

Over the centuries
Tibet and its people

have seen great upheavals.

It began as a unified empire.

Then around the year 850,

the empire fell apart

after a series of
brutal civil wars.

What emerged from the battles
and the bloodshed

was a separate kingdom - Guge.

Guge flourished at
the geographical crossroads

to some of the greatest
civilizations of the time.

Tsaparang was the center of
trade For the Guge kingdom

In the autumn and spring,
nomads would bring wool,

skins and salt to trade
in Tsaparang.

And in the summer,

people from the south
side of the Himalaya

would come down here to trade.

Therefore the prosperity
of the Guge

Kingdom depended on
all this trade.

The king's wealth came
from gold mines.

And this was supplemented by alms
given by pilgrims

traveling through the Kingdom.

None of these riches however

could ensure what the Kingdom
needed most:

water.

Tsaparang lay amidst
a vast and arid desert.

In order to guarantee
Guge's survival,

the King was forced to spend
much of his resources

transporting water to the city

and to the farms
that it depended on.

The ancient irrigation
canals, wells

and even a 20 kilometer
long aqueduct

stretching from the Sutlej River

to the citadel can still
be seen amidst the ruins

evidence of
the massive undertakings

to keep this oasis alive.

With their power
and livelihood secure,

the royals proceeded
to live a life

full of absolute opulence.

The whim of the noble
elite in Guge

to dress well goes beyond
our bounds in the modern period.

These were people
who wore their clothes,

their jewels with no sense
of guilt or regret.

They reveled in beauty,

they reveled in opulence.

Not only did they
wear their beauty,

they lived amidst it too
in their houses,

the way they decorated them

with the greatest artworks
of the times.

In this banquet room,

Chodakpo and his queen would have
enjoyed many social occasions,

entertained by song and dance.

Guge's armory held the finest
weaponry of the time.

Its sword smiths used
sophisticated techniques

to craft superior steel alloys,

making their swords
much sought-after.

But Guge's wealth and power

also attracted the attention
of envious neighbors

who launched frequent attacks
on the kingdom.

Eventually one such
neighbor would discover

a weakness to capitalize on

and Guge's fate
would be sealed forever.

Just 30 kilometers away
down the valley

from the palace at Tsaparang

is the monastery of Tholing.

Today, it is a modest structure,

an eighth of its original size.

But at its peak,

Tholing housed more than 900 monks

and was the largest of
Guge's monasteries

both in size and influence

a power base akin to the Vatican.

Pilgrims flocked to Tholing
and with them came wealth,

which they gave to the monastery.

At the centre of
this spiritual power base,

was the Chief Abbot

King Chodakpo's brother.

Tholing had great power
over the people of Tibet,

Central Asia
and the sub-continents.

It was the greatest religious
center par excellence of its time

and that gave it
the moral authority,

intellectual power
and political prestige

that no other institutions
of the time had.

Even before the rise of Guge,

Buddhism had long-established
roots in Tibet.

But civil war
in Central Tibet would fragment

and dilute Buddhism's role
in society.

From the wake of these upheavals,

it was the early kings of Guge

that championed Buddhism
in Western Tibet.

According to Tsering Gyalpo,

the third King, Yeshe Od,

convened a Buddhist council,

the great prayer festival of 1076.

He invited great Buddhist thinkers
from Tibet and beyond to attend.

His aim was to strengthen
Tibetan Buddhism

and to propagate its philosophies.

Yeshe Od's initiative
was to prove successful.

Amazingly well preserved
centuries old murals

speak of this religious convention

a spiritual gathering
which planted the first seeds

from which
Tibetan Buddhism was reborn.

From that point onward,

Guge became the spiritual

and cultural heart
of Tibetan Buddhism.

The King enticed some
of the greatest Buddhist

leaders of his time.

Not unlike headhunting CEOs today,

he offered them
riches beyond their dreams

if they would only move
to his kingdom.

Guge was at the centre of
a religious renaissance

one that was about to
get even more intense.

From the 11th century,

Kashmir, part of Ladakh

and much of northeast India
were been converted to Islam.

For the next 300 years,

Islam spread throughout
most of the Indian sub continent.

As the Muslims advanced,

they sacked Buddhist temples
and persecuted the devout.

Artists, scholars
and monks fled in fear.

And it was Guge that they fled to.

Because here they found sanctuary.

Buddhism flourished in Guge,
for two reasons.

One was the fulfillment of
the dream of the Tibetan emperors,

the other was the need of
the intellectual community in India

to find a safe and secure home.

Guge was able to cater to both.

And with these
devotees came artisans

leading to
an explosion of creativity.

Frescoes hidden across
the ancient Guge ruins

offer us a glimpse
of these heady times

not unlike Medici Florence
during the Renaissance.

Foreign artists
from across the Buddhist world

brought their own
distinctive style of art

and here influenced each other,

copying and fusing styles

ultimately creating
an entirely new direction in art

the Guge school.

For me one of the stunning things
about these murals

is the sheer diversity

they hold in terms
of human culture;

they depict people
from all over the Buddhist world.

All of the cultures
within the orbit of Guge,

are there on these murals,

The dry mountain air
and remoteness of this area

have helped make these murals
some of the best preserved in Asia.

It is argued that the Guge
Kingdom's commitment to Buddhism

and the influx of
refugee-followers,

was such a powerful force,

Tibetan Buddhism may never
have survived without it.

Today Buddhism is still

an integral part of
everyday life in Tibet.

It is an ancestral gift

that permeates
all levels of society,

Tibetans still flock
to Guge even today.

Not so much for the temples

as for the wondrous peak
towering over Tsaparang

the sacred Mt. Kailash.

These pilgrims are
a reminder of the thousands

who have come to Guge before them.

They are living
proof of a deeper reason

for this most unique
journey in life.

We are from Shigatse,
three days' drive away.

So you've come from Shigatse,
on a pilgrimage!

Yes, this year I will spend two days
circumambulating Mount Kailash.

How long would it
normally take you?

Two days if I go quickly.

How far will you get
after one day?

How far will we get?

We will reach Seripug.

Ahh, the village of Seripug.

Pilgrims like the one Tsering
has come across here,

are on a trek around
the perimeter of a sacred site

in a ritual known as 'Kora'.

Some pilgrims will even
go to profound lengths

to demonstrate their faith
through prostration.

A devotee may take years

to travel hundreds of miles
in this manner.

The Tibetans had this
deep abiding interest

in understanding
the nature of human existence:

why are humans born,

where they come from
and where did they go.

First through
their native traditions

and later on through
the medium of Buddhism,

Tibetans explored
the nature of human existence,

what it means to be a human being.

At the height of
Tholing's influence,

it amassed considerable wealth
from donations made by pilgrims.

By King Chodakpo's reign,

legend has it that
Tholing's influence

and wealth was so great

it began to overshadow the
practical needs of the Kingdom.

Guge relied on
a large pool of labor

to work the irrigation schemes,

grow the barley,
and raise the herds.

But as more and more men
flocked to the monasteries

King Chodakpo saw
his human resources dwindle

and the economy began to suffer.

By 1630,

relations between
the King and his brother

had reached an all time low.

A bitter dispute
broke out between them

a power struggle between
the monastery and the monarchy,

between religion and state.

In the midst of this tension

all that was needed
was a tiny spark

to bring about the beginning
of the end for Guge.

For centuries,

the abandoned ruins of Guge

and the Kingdom that
once flourished here

remained a mystery
and virtually unknown to the West.

Its remote location in the arid
highlands of Western Tibet

kept it preserved almost intact.

In 1957,

China's People's Liberation Army
visited Tsaparang,

giving us the first ever motion
pictures of the abandoned city.

Amongst the heavily eroded ruins,

they discovered intricate
religious objects,

icons and murals telltale
signs of grandeur and opulence.

But it was inside caves
deep within the city

that the soldiers found
the most intriguing revelations:

Amour, shields
and hundreds of arrows.

And in one particular cave

the Cave of the Dead they found
the most grisly of evidence:

the remains of hundreds
of headless corpses.

Whose macabre remains are these?

And how did they get here?

Perhaps answers to these questions
would shed some light

on the mysterious
disappearance of Guge.

But we would have to wait
another 20 years

for that illumination.

In 1985, a team from Xi'an
Archaeological Institute

stumbled upon an intriguing clue.

An ancient paper mask probably
used in a religious ceremony.

It seemed quite ordinary at first,

but when they turned it over,

they found traces of
an unrecognizable Western script.

Months of research
would reveal this

to be a section of pages
from a Bible

written in an ancient
from of Portuguese

used by early Jesuits.

But how could the pages of
an old Catholic Bible

come to be part of
a Tibetan shaman's mask

in the far reaches of Guge.

In 1624,

a Jesuit missionary
Father Antonio Andrade

wrote a book highly
popular across Europe.

In it he describes his visit to
an amazing country called Tibet.

Father Andrade and his companion
trekked from their mission in Goa

in search of
a long forgotten Christian state

called Shambhala.

Instead, they discovered Guge.

By this time, the story goes:

tensions between Chodakpo
and his brother

were at an all time high.

And they were about to get worse.

The King warmly welcomes Andrade.

In his book Andrade writes:

"As holy men,

the king treated us with great
reverence and then explained,

somewhat to my surprise,

that he wished to
understand our faith.

This was as welcome
as it was unexpected."

Not only does Chodakpo
proclaim the pair

to be his personal guests,

he invites them to stay
and teach their beliefs,

even ordering
the building of a chapel.

Such behaviours would have
infuriated the Buddhists at Tholing.

They saw the King's actions
as a betrayal against Buddhism.

It was a move
that would not go unanswered.

According to stories later
recorded by Andrade,

what happened next was
an uprising against the King

that would forever change
the course of Guge's history...

Seeking to protect his stronghold,

the Head Abbott sends
word to his supporters

in the neighboring Kingdom of
Ladakh 500 kilometers away.

Seizing this
long awaited opportunity,

the Ladakhis marched
across the border of Guge,

overcoming each fortress

and embattlement in their path

until they reached
the capital Tsaparang.

By this time,

Guge's economic and political
resources were strained.

No reinforcements would be coming.

And Tsaparang would have to face
the invaders on its own.

But taking Tsaparang
would not be easy.

The capital's Western
and Southern approaches

are sheer vertical walls
virtually attack-proof.

At the summit,

the royal palace was protected
by a defensive wall

running along its perimeter.

The only possible approach
for the Ladakhi forces

was up a gently sloping hill
on the north-east,

but even this route was blocked
by a substantial wall.

When the Ladakhi army
reached Tsaparang

they were flush with victory.

They had conquered
all the satellite fortresses.

They were now primed
for the final battle.

How this final battle began
is a matter of some uncertainty,

but scholars believe

the entrance to the city
was stormed by the Ladakhis.

Breaking through the city gates,

the Ladakhis overcame
Guge's resistance

and took control of
the lower part of the citadel.

But as they chased the retreating
soldiers and citizens of Guge

up the passageways
and tunnels to its summit,

the Ladakhis found themselves
sitting ducks.

As they snaked towards the summit,

these passageways narrowed.

The Ladakhis had to pass through
them almost single file

making them easy targets
for Guge's forces.

After taking heavy losses,

the Ladakhis retreated
to the lower ramparts to regroup.

It became clear to the Ladakhis

that a frontal assault
on the citadel would be impossible.

Instead,
they chose to sit and wait.

By surrounding the citadel
the Ladakhis were confident

they had blocked all avenues of
escape and fresh supplies

especially water.

How long could Chodakpo
and his people

hold out In this dry environment?

But unknown to the Ladakhis,

Guge might have had a trick
or two up its sleeve.

Deep beneath the citadel lies
a network of caves

that John Bellezza and Tsering
Gyalpo found to be most unusual.

These were originally thought
to be a royal winter retreat.

To escape the bitter
cold of winter,

scholars believed the royal family
would have come here to keep warm.

But as John and Tsering
explore further,

they find evidence
that suggests these caves

may have had some other purpose.

There is no sign of
smoke in this cave.

You're right.

There is no evidence
of soot in this cave.

I think that this cave
must have been used as

a storeroom
or warehouse of some sort.

Every cave connected to
this one is similar.

I think these are
obviously not dwellings,

but rather, rooms for storage.

If this was being
used for lodging,

there would be some kind of trace
from the smoke of a fire.

Also there would be
a proper doorway,

maybe a wooden one.

The ceiling would
also be much higher

Tsering reckons these caves

could have stored food
and supplies to last a year.

So in theory,

Guge could have
held out for a while.

Apparently these secret passages

also allowed the besieged
people of Guge access to water.

Some passages led to an exit
near the Sutlej River.

With food and water available,

Tsaparang held out
for close to a month

before the Ladakhis
stepped up the offensive.

By now the invaders had taken over

the unprotected lower
sections of the citadel,

and had gained had a crucial
bargaining chip in the process

thousands of Guge prisoners.

Half way up the citadel stands
a very peculiar stone partition,

unlike anything
else found in Tsaparang.

The wall is very interesting.

It's built of stone,

while the other buildings were

primarily built of
earth or mud brick.

It doesn't have any obvious
habitational function;

it doesn't have any obvious
defensive function.

So why was the wall there?

If storming the citadel through
the tunnels was impossible,

then the only other option would
be to build a siege tower

and by the most ruthless of means

on the backs of
captured Guge prisoners.

The royal precinct was
virtually unassailable.

The Ladakhi army reached
a shelf beneath the sheer summit.

They were stuck here
for close to a month

so they began to
build a siege tower

with pressed Guge labor.

They had to bring stones
from a black mountain

from the far side
of the Sutlej River.

As the siege tower rose,

it claimed the lives
of many Guge slaves.

Ancient stories tell of how the
slaves were beaten so mercilessly

that their organs showed
through their flesh.

But building a 100-meter
structure of this kind

would have been a near impossible
engineering feat for its time.

Instead, experts believe
the Ladakhi siege tower

was a psychological
rather than physical gambit

how long could King Chodakpo
bear to watch the daily torture

and suffering of
his captured subjects?

As legend has it,

the last king, Chodakpo
seeing the great suffering

that his people were enduring
building this wall without food

and as they died as they succumbed
to the pressures of construction.

He saw the great sufferings
that his people were undergoing.

And he had great pity,

the king of Guge and he decided,

it must have been
a difficult decision

but he decided
in the end to surrender.

According to legend,

in the final hour of Guge,

King Chodakpo and his retinue

made their poignant descent
from summit to base,

even bearing gifts of
gold and silver

to appease the invaders.

But the reception
they received from the Ladhakis

is surrounded in controversy.

In one fell swoop,

the 700-year-old kingdom of Guge
had been conquered.

But what happened
after the King surrendered

is still shrouded in mystery.

John Bellezza and Tsering Gyalpo
have their own ideas

ideas that take them
to the infamous Cave of the Dead.

Could the bodies
that the Chinese Army

saw more than 50 years ago

be the corpses of
the last royals of Guge?

The only answer

is the overwhelming
stench of more recent decay.

The cave, unfortunately,

has once again
become a burial site.

And in recent years,

remains of Tibetans have
once again been deposited that.

And this is actually complicating
the archaeology of determining

what was really there originally,

or what's come after.

In Tibet,
the dead received a "sky burial...

This means corpses are
"carried away by birds."

Skilled morticians
cut up the dead body

to encourage eagles
and vultures to consume the flesh.

Local tales suggest
that at one time

the cave may have held
as many as 400 skeletons.

But over time, bandits,

scholars and the curious
have taken much,

leaving but a few remains.

Tibetan rituals of the dead
forbid any possible DNA studies.

But John Bellezza believes
this could very well be

the resting place of
the last King of Guge.

There is some evidence
that lends credence

to the idea that indeed

the corpses in the cave were
those of the royal family of Guge.

Most of them seem to
have been beheaded,

to have undergone execution

so that probably would
not have been the case

for the common soldier

who would have fallen
on the battleground.

John's theory supports one legend

that tells of a brutal
and merciless execution.

After having surrendered
his Kingdom,

the King and his ministers
were beheaded on the spot.

The royal women also
met an equally gruesome end.

There is a poem that purportedly
tells of the Massacre.

It describes
how the royal women were taken

and thrown from
the palace ramparts.

To the people below
these brightly dressed princesses

"looked like spring flowers
falling from heaven"

The Ladakhi soldiers

yelled and shouted to see
more and more flowers!

As for the Abbott,

he met his doom
at the end of a Ladakhi sword.

Treachery was repaid by treachery

as he was double-crossed
by his supposed allies.

But a mystery still remains.

Why was Tsaparang
entirely abandoned?

According to local legend,

an aqueduct was built
by the last king of Guge

to bring water from the sacred
snow mountain, 80 kilometers away.

The aqueduct crossed
through sacred territory

so the local deities became
angry with the king.

They cursed him,

and it is said that this was
the reason for his defeat.

From the top of the citadel

you can still see the imprint
left by the ancient aqueduct

following the contours
of the hill.

Even the legend
Tsering Gyalpo speaks of

has a basis in science.

Guge is in the shadow of three of
the world's largest mountain ranges,

the Himalayas,

the Karakoram and the Kunlun.

Research shows that
the climate in West Tibet

has been steadily changing
over the past millennia.

And that Man has been
on the losing end

of an age-old battle with Nature.

Areas that were once moist

and relatively lush are now dry

and have become deserts.

And in Guge this process is
all the more intensified

because it's located
in a rain shadow

of Asia's greatest
mountain ranges.

Evidence of this ongoing force
known as desertification

comes from satellite photographs of
once arable fields now abandoned.

But not all of them moved away.

In the middle of
the desert-like conditions

that surround modern Tsaparang,

there are still a few places with
enough moisture to grow barley.

The fall of the Guge kingdom
might not have been triggered

by just one major
military campaign,

but rather from a long term

sustained assault from
Mother Nature herself.

Even today,

400 years after
the fall of the citadel,

nature is still battling
with the remaining few farmers

struggling to eke out
an existence from the land.

The farmers explain to John

that they have been trying to
grow barley in these fields.

During the time of
the Guge Kingdom,

the water level was
much higher than it is now.

The lack of water has now driven
them to the lower areas

right next to the river.

The demise of the Guge Kingdom

was the end of
a line of Tibetan monarchs

that stretched
from 1630 back to 200 years AD.

But the legacy of Guge
lives on in festivities

like this annual horse fair

As they would have centuries ago,

Buddhist monks are on hand
to bless the jockeys,

wishing them a successful
and safe endeavor.

Participants dip their fingers
into beer and flick it heavenward

a sign of gratitude,

and an offering to the divine.

But it is when the races begin,

that we are reminded of
the lineage of these hardy men.

Cavalry skills passed down for
generations from father to son.

Each the proud bearer of the
heritage of his warrior-ancestors.

At a sacred prayer site

Tsering Gyalpo,
a native of these parts,

makes his offering to
these ancestors and the divine:

This is my prayer

I will make offerings
again and again

and give thanks for the blessing
and protection provided me.

My spirit offers eternal devotion.

After the fall of
the last King of Guge,

Tsaparang became an unpleasant
place for its citizens.

The Ladakhis administered
the region for 50 years

before being driven out
by the Tibetans

and their Mongol allies.

The Mongols did not take
well to the deep canyons

and dry lands of Western Tibet.

And they decided to
relocate the capital

to higher more open grounds.

With that relocation
of the capital of Western Tibet,

Guge utterly falls
into ruins and decay,

which has continued
till the very present day.

After the defeat
and demise of Guge's last king,

the reins of power were
eventually taken over

by the spiritual leader
of another Buddhist sect

the 5th Dalai Lama.

Ironically, the king's brother

the Abbot who fought
for a Buddhist state

had won the final battle
after all.

The ancient kings of Guge
had a vision of a land of dharma,

of sacred holiness,

which has left an indelible mark

not only on Tsaparang
but on all of Tibet.

Their gift of Buddhism remains
strong and deeply ingrained

in the memory of what was
once a great kingdom

the Kingdom of Guge.