ngari
Ali(Ngari) is one of the six special administrative deistricts in tibet. It is located in West Tibet, with India, Nepal and Kashmir as its neghbors. It covers a total area of 310,000 square kilometers. The average elevation reaches 4,500 meters. It is subdivided into seven counties. The total population is around 60,000. It has the lowest population density in the world.

Ali is at the juncture of the great mountain ranges of Himalayas, Gangdise, Karakorum and Kunlun. It is also the source of various great rivers. Its topography is characterized by high mountains ranges,numerous lakes and stretches of plains. It is recorded in history that Ngari was know fro having " three Enclosures"- Purang enclosed by snow, Guge enclosed by rocks and Maryul enclosed by lakes.

Many of the mountains in Tibet have been deified as sacred mountains. Mt. Kailash in Ngari is revered by different faiths as " King of All Sacred Mountains". Legend has that Mt. Kailash is in fact the Mt. Sumeru right at the center of the Buddha- world. Every year numerous pilgrims come to pay homage to it. Equally holy is the Lake Manasarouvar, " Mother of All Rivers in the World".The lake derviers its water from the melting snow of Mt. Gangdise. It is extremely clear. this lake is revered as the Sacred Lake. It is belived that bathing in this lake can cleanse away the " Five Dirts" in the human heart. For this reason, numerous pilgrims bath in it.

The Guge Kingdom that emerged in the mid 10th century was founded by Kyide Nyimagon, great-grandson of King Langdharma of the tubo Kingdom. This kingdom played a significant role in the develpment of tibtan Buddhism. It was destroyed in 1630 by Senge namgye, King of Ladakh. In a famous temple relic in the region, there are still mural paintings, sculptrues and rock carvings of distinct styles and with extremely high artistic value. Three sites in Rutog also have rock paintings, which provide archaeologists with valuable research materials The majority of these works are devoted to the depiction of swastikas(the Yungdrung sign), scenes of sacrifice and worship, and images of animals, which are related to the Bon faith of Tibet. They have proved to a cetrtain extent that Ngari is the birthplace of the Bon faith.

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