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The Khar, or Palace, at Skurbuchen stands on a high rocky promontory above the Indus River. The original defensive village site is built on the steep slopes below the khar, although the subsequent growth of the village has all taken place some distance away at the foot of the monastery which developed around the meditation cave of Jordan? and its statue of Skyopa Jigten Gonpo, founder of the Drikung school.
The most striking feature of the Khar is the four-storey tower, dominating the landscape and visible from far up the Indus to the east. This was probably a three-sided rammed-earth fortification, open on the south side so that if captured it could not be used against the inner line of defence to the south. A second similar tower, not so high but still retaining its splayed loopholes and internal floor beam sockets, provides an outer defence half a kilometre up the ridge to the north.
The interior of the tower is now a chapel with a thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara statue and wall paintings. The once-open south side of the tower has been closed with a three-storey wing: a high entrance hall and a top floor painted room looking down through a carved screen onto the main statue. This painted room was originally a fine reception room with a rabsal balcony and three smaller windows, but now the windows are blocked and painted over to create an upper chapel.
To the southeast and a little lower than the tower entrance is another decorated rabsal room, built over a lower level of storerooms. The building formerly extended further to the south, where several rooms, the entrance gate and passageway have now collapsed.
Two large chörten lie to the southeast, and a shelter containing eight small chörten.
Condition of the Monument
Tower
The rammed-earth tower has suffered from lack of maintenance to the roof and drainage, and consequent damage internally to wall paintings and externally with some water runs cutting into the wall surface. On the east wall there has been a separation between the rammed-earth and the butt-jointed mud brick walls. There is a crack running up the external north face of the rammed-earth. Most of the foundations to the tower, and much of the stone walls elsewhere, consist of round boulders susceptible to movement when the earth mortar is eroded.
Three-storey mud-brick wing
Leaking roofs have caused some damage in the east, to the external wall and an internal wall over the staircase. The west wall of the painted room has severe cracks to the northwest and southwest corners, and across the floor between, as this wall has moved outwards.
Two-storey south wing
There is some damage internally in the lower rabsal room caused by roof leaks, and the south front wall had started to collapse before emergency rebuilding was undertaken in 2002. There has been complete collapse of several rooms and the former entrance at the southwest, presumably caused by roof failure and poor bonding of round river stone walls and foundations.
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Measures per Year
The first Achi Association inspection of Skurbuchen Khar was made by EZ and JH in 1999. JH returned in 2000 to make a measured survey of the Khar, and again in 2002 to monitor movement of the major structural cracks. Structural repairs were discussed with the local mistrys and money left to undertake emergency rebuilding of the collapsing south front wall.
In 2003 MB made a first inspection of the building with JH, and money was left with the village to purchase timber for tie beams and roof beams.
2004
In August 2004 MB undertook further emergency measures pending the start of full repair works. Major cracks in the south wall of the tower were filled with a straw/earth/makalag mix; the junction of the base of this wall and the roof was improved with a stone/makalag coving to provide better rainwater run-off; improved rainwater run-off was provided at the west of this roof; holes in the roof cover were filled; and the dessicated timber tie-beams on the south wall of the tower were lubricated with oil.
JH revisited Skurbuchen at the end of September 2004, six weeks after the crack-filling work undertaken by MB. There was no evidence of further movement having taken place, nor of drying shrinkage.
In the upper painted room a half-metre section of floor had collapsed on the main floor crack line. From below it could be seen that the taloo ceiling had slipped off the beam. As no new or wider cracks in wall or floor were visible, I assume that someone had stepped on this area of floor. The shelves and statues had been removed from the west wall of the room.
When Konchok Pandey and I visited, the annual two-day Kongshags puja was being held in the lower rabsal room of the palace. Lama Kunchok Zangpo from the monastery was officiating, with two monks and senior nun Tsering Chodol. The wooden kilchor, pyramidal mandala, in the centre of the room, was furnished with torma and butter lamps for the ceremony, held, according to KP, to purify obscurations and sins for the whole village.
Village and monastery are keen to proceed with repairs to the Khar, in particular to prevent further damage to the Avalokiteshvara statue and paintings in the tower. They will undertake piecemeal repairs themselves if Achi does not. They would like to see the collapsed southern entrance area of the building rebuilt to provide nunnery accommodation. For this the gompa would provide beams, taloo and stone, and the village voluntary labour.
The village has established a special committee to promote the restoration of the Khar.
Suggested initial measures
- Repair upper tower roof to prevent water damage to wall paintings and external rammed-earth surface.
- Stitch and fill crack between rammed-earth and brick on east wall of tower.
- Monitor wall and floor cracks at west side of painted room; fill crack between rammed-earth and brick at northwest corner of painted room, and monitor.
- Point all stone wall bases.
- Repair water damage to wall in lower rabsal room and adjoining southeast room.
- Clear collapsed south entrance buildings and set aside all materials for reuse.
2005 and 2006
In 2005 MB was unable to continue work in Skurbuchen for medical reasons and so no further work was undertaken by Achi. EZ and JH with KP met the village committee in 2005 to discuss future work, and again in 2006.
It was noted in 2006 that the village had rebuilt the eight chörten and shelter on the hilltop to the south of the Khar; entirely reconstructed in concrete painted blue.
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