The Stūpa of Gyantse may well be accounted the chief wonder of the Tibetan Buddhist world in that it records iconographically in its interior practically the whole pantheon of Indo-Tibetan religion up to the time of its construction during the first half of the 15th century. Its wall paintings and its images, although relatively fragile, have survived remarkably well the wear and tear of five centuries, and it is a further wonder that they should have survived at all the ruthless destruction deliberately perpetrated during the Chinese Cultural Revolution of 1960s-70s. -- Preface.